Group Travel
Accounts Payable
View policy pdf: Group Travel Policy
Policy Statement
Group travel exists when a third party is being paid for travel expenses of an employee
on official UGA business. More than one individual does not have to be involved to
qualify for group travel. A third party may refer to a business or another individual.
Payments under group travel requires information about the traveler, regardless of
who actually paid, to comply with the Georgia Transparency in Government Act report
requirements.
Reason for Policy
This policy is to define the University of Georgia's regulations for processing group
travel. The University follows reporting requirements set forth by the State Accounting
Office, Board of Regents, and Internal Revenue Service. The University maintains an
accountable plan for travel reimbursements. By complying with IRS rules with an accountable
plan, travel reimbursements generally are not taxable income.
Procedure
Direct Billing of Travel Expenses: The University will pay suppliers for travel expenditures on behalf of employees who are traveling on official business for the University under certain circumstances.
If no provisions exist to direct pay the supplier, then:
- University employees are responsible for seeking reimbursement of travel expenditures through university procedures as stated in the UGA Travel Policy.
If provisions exist to direct pay the vendor:
- After travel is completed, the department should submit a payment request to the third-party vendor with an invoice from the supplier. The appropriate employee travel account code should be assigned to the payment request. A Distribution Form should be attached providing the traveler's name and amount reportable for the traveler.
Employee Reimbursement for Group Travel: In the event an employee covers travel expenditures for another employee, the request for reimbursement must be treated as group travel.
If all parties involved are employees, an expense report should be created to reimburse the employee that paid for the transaction. The Group Attendees section of the expense report should be completed indicating the names and amounts reportable for the other employees. The proper expense types for group travel should be used when creating the expense report.
Record Retention
Research Grant Records Number 0472-09-006
These records relate to funded research grant proposals and research activity associated with grant funded
projects. Examples of records include supporting statistics, demographic data, draft
proposals, suggested revisions, final proposals, forms, protocols, applications, research/activity
reports, progress reports, and summary reports.
Retention: Final research report is permanent. All other records: 7 years after the
end of the grant period.
Accounting Records Number 0472-03-001
This series includes bank statements, purchase requests, purchase orders, requisitions, financial reports, accounts payable and receivable records, write-off records, discrepancy, payment schedules, operating statements, year-end projections, reconciliation and expenditure reports, cancelled checks, check stubs, moving expense records, cost accounting reports, refund/disbursement request records, returned checks, deposit slips, travel records, credit voucher requisition records, cash balances and reconciliations, sales and cash reconciliation records, journal entries, outstanding obligations, refund/disbursement requests, receipts and invoices.
Retention: Monthly and quarterly reports: 1 year. All other records: 5 years.
Related Information
Multiple training resources for processing payment requests and expense reports are available in the OneSource Knowledge Base:
Creating a Payment Request with Multiple Expense Lines
Creating a Payment Request with Multiple Accounting Distributions on the same line Approving a Payment Request
Creating an Expense Report as a Delegated User Submitting an Expense Report
Submitting an Expense Report Prepared by a Delegate Reviewing the Status of an Expense Report
Approving an Expense Report as an HR Reports To Supervisor Approving an Expense Report as an Expense Manager
Responsibilities
Responsible University Senior Administrator: Vice President for Finance & Administration
Responsible University Administrator: Associate Vice President Finance Division
Policy Owner: Accounts Payable
Policy Contact: Director Accounts Payable
Phone Number: 706-542-2786
Date Issued: 09/09/2019
Last Reviewed/Updated: