Frequently Asked Questions

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General

A Travel/Cash Advance (previously Per Diem Advances) are requested through the Spend Authorization task and Expense Report module. Reconciliation of a Travel/Cash Advance is completed through the Expense Report module. Learn more.

Living Allowance: A department may issue a Living Allowance to defray costs that a non-UW Foreign National may incur while in Seattle for UW Business. Living Allowances will be submitted through the Miscellaneous Payment module. 

Restrictions:  

•limited to the GSA meal per diem rate for actual dates of stay in Seattle

•payment will not be released until all required foreign national documentation is attached to the expense report

•may not be used to defray expenses for others

Time Limitations:

•allowance may not exceed 30 days at a time

•WT/B2 visa types limited to 9 days reimbursement every 6 months

Learn more.
 


It depends.  The Fly America Act mandates the use of U.S. certificated air carriers for federally funded international travel.  Learn more.

  • Effective January 1st, 2018
  • To ensure expenses are properly accounted for, documentation must comply with the IRS Accountable Plan
  • If itemized receipts are obtainable and compliant with IRS Accountable Plan, reimburse expenses as usual on their appropriate line items
  • If receipts are not itemized and not compliant with the IRS Accountable Plan, use the 'Package Deal' line item in Workday and follow the built in tax instruction
  • For UW employees, email travel@uw.edu with employee name, employee ID #, expense report #, payment description and package deal line item amount. Please attach proof to the expense report. 

The traveler will be taxed through payroll as income based on the amount of the non-compliant package deal total:

  • Current withholding (subject to change): 
    • Federal Income Tax = 22%
    • Social Security Tax = 6.2%
    • Medicare Tax = 1.45%
  • For non-UW Individuals, due to tax reporting requirements, non-UW employees are to be paid honoraria through the Miscellaneous Payments process

**All resources should be exhausted to acquire IRS Accountable Plan compliant receipts. The package deal line item should be used as a last resort when those resources have been exhausted.

Contact Accounts Payable (checks) at checks@uw.edu and provide the check # of the check you wish to cancel. The check # can be obtained by checking my FD.

To reissue the payment, a new ER will need to be processed after confirming the live check has been cancelled.

Please make a comment on the old ER stating the check number and confirmation that it has been cancelled. After confirming cancellation, on the new ER, please make a comment stating that it is replacing the previous ER.

To speed up the process, you can use the ‘copy’ function in Ariba. Note that all attachments will need to be reattached and all comments will need to be re-added. Here are the instructions:

1.            Locate the previous Expense Report by searching for it

2.            Select the Expense Report by marking the check-box to the left of it (do not actually open the report)

3.            Click on the 'copy' button, which will be right below

4.            Click the travel tab at the top of Ariba, the copy report will be in the 'My Documents' section of your dashboard

5.            Please attach all of the required receipts/documents, as they won’t be automatically copied

6.            Please re-create line item comments and overall comments, as they won’t be duplicated either

Here is a screenshot example:

*Signature from previous report may be attached as long as the expense line items/amount has not been changed. 

  • select UW box
  • have the check sent to yourself
  • reroute the check through the us postal service

Sending checks to foreign addresses is highly discouraged as they tend to take a long time to reach their destination and more often than not they are lost. Additionally, most foreign banks do not accept US checks. We recommend processing a foreign wire in lieu of a check to a foreign location.

Tips for transportation, such as taxis and shuttles are ok to reimburse, any other tips are considered an incidental expense which is included in the meal per diem as meal per diem has an added amount for incidentals.

Please prorate the car rental. Take the total amount and divide by the number of days. Multiply the daily rate by the total number of business days (please also do this if they rented at a weekly rate but business days were less).

►Mozilla Firefox:

Go to : Tools->Options->Advanced Panel->Network->Cashed Web Content->Clear Now
After clearing cache log out of all browsers and restart the computer.

 

►Internet Explore (IE9):

  1. Close all browser sessions (if needed restart computer)
  2. Open a new Internet explorer browser, and go to delete browsing history
    Go to : Tools->Internet Options->Browsing History->Delete or ctr+shift+del
  3. Make sure “Preserve Favorites website date” is unchecked and “Temporary Internet Files” and “Cookies” are checked
  4. Click Delete, it may take some time to complete
  5. Close browser
  6. Open a new browser and login into Ariba
    https://ar.admin.washington.edu/AribaBuyer/uw/login.asp
    Note: As a reminder is important to never use the back arrow on the browser, and use the “Logout” button on the screen rather than just closing the browser.

 

►Other Internet Browsers:

For more information on clearing your internet cache using other browsers, see the WikiHow article: How to Clear your Browser's Cache

 

 

 

Travel charges to grants and contracts should  comply with university travel policies unless the sponsor/award imposes more restrictive travel provisions. Or an exception is approved by the sponsor.

Yes, unless the sponsor/award imposes a more restrictive travel provision. 

Yes, both AirBnB and VRBO are considered commercial lodging facilities. Please be sure to itemize all fees as accurately as possible in the itemization of the expense.

Only if you share a joint account with the person who paid, for example a husband and wife who share the same bank account. If this is the case, add a comment to the expense report (ER) indicating this. In all other instances, reimbursement must go to the traveler who actually paid for the expense. See claimant.

We understand this. From talking to other departments that travel a lot globally, they have said they just carry a receipt book that can be handwritten and have the individual providing the service sign. For taxis and things like this we know this is probably the most we will get unless they pay with a credit card.  We need the amount listed and which currency it was paid in, the service they paid for and the date. 

This is not a proper audit trail.  It is not reimbursable, Either split payment to the vendor directly and obtain receipts showing both payments made or have one person pay for the entire expense (see claimant). 

The following car rental class types are considered upgrades to the full-size sedan and will require a business justification for reimbursement:

  • Premium/Luxury
  • Minivan/Vans
  • SUV
    • Compact
    • Midsize
    • Standard
    • Full-size
    • Premium
  • Truck
  • Electric Vehicle (EVs)
  • Hybrid
  • Jeep

Yes, mobile payment applications such as Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, are reimbursable payment methods. Please contact your department if they have internal policies for additional documentation. 

Mobile payment applications are not allowed to be used for an Exchange of Funds

No, travel expenses for spouses and family are not reimbursable. 

If the department would like to continue to reimburse the spouse and family travel expenses, the department must do the following:

(1) Discretionary funding must be used. (The Resource Worktag must state one of the following: "RS100203 Discretionary Gift Resource" OR "RS100376 Other Discretionary Gift Resource")

(2) The spouse and family travel expenses will be considered taxable income to the traveler. 

(3a) For UW employees, please email travel@uw.edu with the employee name, employee ID #, expense report #, payment description, and spouse/family expense line item(s) amount. Please attach proof to the expense report.

(3b) For Non-UW travelers, please use the "Non-Employee Travel 1099 (SC2567)".

For spouse and family travel expenses regarding Prospective Employees, please see here