by Tracey L Besemer | Oct 23, 2019 | Business, Finance, Travel |
Hey BMB’ers,
This is going to be a quick one as it’s just a reminder.
When you are registering for a conference please don’t forget that things like a t-shirt, or an excursion should be paid for by you. These are extras beyond the conference. This also includes any social events that take place during the conference, like a dinner or dance that you have to pay extra to attend.
Let’s do our best to keep the finance ninjas happy, and follow all the rules.
by Tracey L Besemer | Sep 18, 2019 | Finance, Travel |
Happy Half Friday BMB’ers!
It’s been a couple of weeks and today I’m coming ‘atcha with a request straight from the almighty powers that be: the Finance Office.
Science is pretty great in that it can take you to some pretty cool places.
Trust me, I’ve booked your travel, I know.
So, it’s only understandable that you would want to hang out in California for a few days after the conference or get to Australia a week before the big symposium. And that’s great, you can do that! But you need to do a couple of things for us back here.
- If it’s international travel you have to fill out a travel record BEFORE you travel. And you can do that by clicking here.
- Send me a postcard.
- Once you return, you have to provide the details for the personal legs of your travel as well as the business portions when you hand in your paperwork for reimbursement.
If this includes a flight, please provide the airfare itinerary for the personal portion of your trip too. If it’s anything else, like say you took a train to Italy or rode a donkey to the next village before flying home, just make a note of it.
This will make getting your travel reimbursed a lot quicker and easier. Seriously, I’ll be looking for that postcard!
by Tracey L Besemer | Jun 19, 2019 | Business, Finance, Travel |
Raise your hand if this is you.
You’ve just received the email saying your travel report is ready to go; you should look it over to make sure everything looks fine, and then submit it. You log into CONCUR, glance at a list of expenses, see a couple of dollar amounts at the bottom, shrug and say, “Uh, sure,” and then hit submit and hope for the best.
Alright, put your hand down, people are staring.
I’m going to show you where to look to see exactly how much money you will be getting back, or if you owe money how much will be deducted from your payroll.
When you get that email, log into CONCUR and open up the report, in the upper left-hand area, just below the report header it says, “Details”
Click on it and it will give a drop-down menu with access to all kinds of information.
For instance, if you want to see which grant/fund the report will be paid out of, click on “Report Header.” But the one you really want is “Totals”
Clicking on “Totals” opens up this nifty little box. From here you can see how much you will be reimbursed or how much will be deducted from your payroll.
There now, wasn’t that easy? No more hitting “Submit” and hoping for the best.
by Tracey L Besemer | Jun 12, 2019 | Business, Finance, Purchasing, Travel |
Happy Half Friday BMB!
Have you seen the weather out there? If not I strongly suggest a walk to the HUB for a sugary caffeinated beverage from Starbucks. As my great grandmother used to say, “You need to go out and get the stink blown off you.”
Yeah, I don’t get it either. My grandma Ralph was a bit odd.
We have a special blog post this week. I’ve been asked to cover some best practices for handing in paperwork at the office.
It’s a Paperwork Extravaganza!
Only with less confetti. And more paperclips.
We would like to make a few requests that will help things run a little more smoothly in the main office.
- If you can avoid printing travel paperwork double-sided this would be immensely appreciated. Think airfare, conference itineraries; all of that stuff should be one-sided. Of course, we all want to do our part to help reduce our carbon footprint, but unfortunately when it comes to ERS reports we have to make scans. Lot’s of them. And that gets pretty interesting when you have a couple of things printed one-sided and others double-sided.
- No staples. Paperclips are your friends. Remember the scanning? Now that you’ve gone to the trouble to staple your nice stack of paperwork and bring it to us, the first thing we do is pull the staple out because we need to scan the paperwork. So much scanning. Yeah, this applies to just about everything; travel paperwork, pcard paperwork, you name it. No staples. Take that Swingline stapler and chuck it right out the window. Okay, maybe don’t do that. But at least put in an eBuy order for a few boxes of paperclips. Kim and Joyce will thank you.
- Don’t tape receipts to a sheet of paper for travel reports. I know, I know, you’re trying to be helpful. But remember the scanning? When we process a travel report if there is any superfluous backup included we are asked to remove it from the report. That means that your coffee and donut receipt from the airport that’s taped next to your parking receipt and your taxi receipt has to be pried ever so gently and slowly off of your carefully taped up Sheet o’ Receipts. It’s a bit like trying to pull a price tag off of a gift and still having the price glaring at you after the fact. Again, for this, paperclips or an envelope are your friends.
- Please begin using the Portrait Pcard Support form and discontinue using the landscape version. The portrait pcard support form actually gives you more character space in the description areas. And since we’re on the whole portrait/landscape debate let me give you a bit of smartphone advice–friends don’t let friends take videos in portrait mode. Portrait for pcard, not for video. You’re welcome.
And that’s it! Nothing super crazy to change up. Just a few small adjustments that will help us run a bit more efficiently. To recap: my grandmother was odd, paperclips are awesome, and portrait mode is for pcard forms. Now go pick up your stapler, I was only kidding about throwing it out the window.
Hit me up in the comments with suggestions for new BMB Buzz topics. Share with me your plans for the summer. Or tell me what you prefer for phone videos: portrait or landscape.
by Tracey L Besemer | May 1, 2019 | Travel |
- Did you know Anthony Travel is the official travel partner of Penn State? Try using them the next time you need airfare, a hotel, or a car rental. 814-258-6111 / 833-827-3331 or email pennstate@anthonytravel.com. No, you can’t have a limo, it’s against Penn State policy.
- If you don’t book your airfare through CONCUR or Anthony Travel you must have a comparison flight, please do this when booking your flight. Or just call Anthony Travel and they can get you the flight you are looking at elsewhere for the same price or cheaper.
- Will you have any personal days while you travel? Make sure you get a comparison flight that shows how much it would cost to travel directly to and from the conference. The best time to do this is the same time you purchase your ticket.
- Are you a member of a lab? Talk to your PI about your upcoming travel as they may have specific requests to help conserve grant money.
- Are you traveling internationally? Then you must fill out a TSN Travel Record prior to your trip, otherwise, you risk not getting reimbursed. (Also, if you are kidnapped by international jewel thieves, this makes it easier to find you.)
- When you return, be sure to completely fill out the appropriate reimbursement form for CONUS or OCONUS travel. This will ensure your reimbursement is processed quickly and easily. Be sure to note any special circumstances, changes, or delays. You know like if you sat next to RuPaul on your flight, please include a picture with your receipts.
- Remember that we have 60 days from the date you return to get your travel expenses and/or reimbursement through the approval system. This does NOT mean you have 60 days to turn in your receipts/forms for reimbursement. Ideally, receipts and travel reimbursement forms should be turned in to the main office within two weeks of your return. Anything turned in after 90 days will need approval from Larry Bell to be processed.
We are always here to answer any questions or concerns and to make this process as easy as possible.
Have a great conference season, and may your swag bags be plentiful and lacking in lame stuff!
