Travel News Bulletins
Office of Controller - Travel Accounting
The Concur Travel Management System will be getting an update! Changes are being made to make the request and expense reporting experience quicker and easier.
The new user interface will change over in September 2022.
While you will notice a change of layout, everything you need to complete your request and expense reports are still there. This experience should be simple and intuitive to navigate, but if you’d like more information please visit the Concur user welcome page.
The NextGen UI for Concur improves the overall efficiency, usability, and accessibility from the previous UI. It provides an improved employee experience: the updated UI is designed to be more intuitive and provide a guided experience for all users.
The first time the user visits the request or expense homepage in the updated UI, the user will see a three-slide product tour. This tour will introduce the updated UI and briefly explain the most notable changes and their benefits.
Users will also experience User Assistant by WalkMe. This tool provides self-service guidance for users that can help them complete a new task or navigate a product update. Users can access help content directly in the product. Depending on which page the user navigates to, different walk-throughs will appear to help them complete the task at hand.
The Concur request and expense homepages provide a new way to list all active reports. The updated user experience based on color code and bold text enhances the user experience and helps users to easily identify key information.
The Request and Expense Details menus are the main source for Concur content. These menus give the user access to the Header, Audit Trail, Timeline, and other add-ons like Cash Advance.
A major improvement with the NextGen UI is the removal of the “tabbed” view that requires a user to click on each tab for different items on the headers, expenses, approval flow, and more. Items are now combined in single, easy-to-use drop-down menus that are grouped intelligently, with clear action buttons for managing the request and expense reports.
Please visit the EWU Travel Website to see a description of what is changing, and to see updated Quick Start guides for entering requests and expense reports.
The following provides important information about fiscal year end processing of travel-related expenses.
Airfare -- for airfare paid prior to June 30th for travel taking place in July or later, the expense will be charged to your next fiscal year budget (spans July 1 of the current calendar year to June 30 of the following calendar year).
CTA Holders -- for airfare where travel begins in the next fiscal year, within PaymentNet please use account 16020 to record the prepaid expense in the associated fund where the activity occurs. Indicate in your transaction notes which index and account should be charged in the new fiscal year.
Cash Advances -- for any advances issued prior to June 30th for travel taking place in July or later, the expense will be charged to your next fiscal year budget.
Conference Registrations -- registration fees (in connection with travel) can be charged to your current fiscal year budget only if payment is required to obtain an "early bird" discount, to hold a seat, or payment is due on or before June 30th. Otherwise, the expense will be charged to your next fiscal year budget. Note: You can help reduce our payment processing work by waiting to use your Procurement Card until July 1st to make these purchases (if practical to do so).
Per direction from the University Office of Risk Management, we are following the CDC’s guidance related to travel. This is in accordance with Governor Inslee’s Proclamation 20-83 on travel restrictions. Please see the following links to read more:
Enterprise Rent-a-Car has deployed a new method for booking rental vehicles at the state contract rate. One of the benefits is that EWU employees will be able to use both Enterprise and National Car Rental locations as part of a unified Washington state contract.
The new booking method provides a Master Corporate ID and department billing number which identifies Eastern Washington University as the Agency making the reservation. The Department Billing Number is associated with your department’s CTA card. Ask your department CTA cardholder for the billing number, and provide that number when making your reservation if you are requesting to bill your department.
Other payment options are available. See the Rental Car section on the Travel Accounting Website for directions on how to reserve/pay for rental cars or vans when traveling on university business.
On Call Full Program Description
Eastern Washington University is contracted with On Call International, a global assistance services company that provides many insurance functions while employees are traveling internationally. Each employee traveling abroad is covered under this plan. This plan provides the services and benefits travelers need to prepare for their destination as well as to help with any problems they may encounter while traveling or on assignment.
When filling out your travel request, specify Trip Type as International Travel and check the box that states “I will contact Travel Accounting for international travel requirements.” Then, contact the Travel Accounting office for further instructions. Each employee who is traveling internationally will receive an email from the Travel Accounting office with important paperwork describing the full program, as well as a Plan ID card with contact information.
Before you depart for your trip:
- Contact On Call with any pre-travel health or security questions
- Closely review your full plan description
- Save On Call Contact information in your mobile phone or print and carry your Plan ID Card
Effective January 1, 2020, the mileage reimbursement rate for privately owned vehicles (when used for university business travel) will decrease to $.575 per mile.
Please contact Nancy Yan at yyan@ewu.edu or 509.359.7905 if you have questions or need further clarification.
