Computing Sciences Department

Travel & Reimbursement Tips

Reimbursement

• Reimbursement is now done like this:
  1. Spending something while traveling or whatever
  2. Take a picture of the receipt or scan it
  3. Use the mobile app or the online interface to add it to a reimbursement request (NovaPay)
  4. Submit it and await the emails confirming each step along the way (dept, accounts payable, etc.)
• The stuff below is out-of-date

Travel Procedure

1. Faculty should acquire a Travel Request and Advance Fund form from the file cabinet in the department office.  Graduate students can obtain a Travel Fund Request Form from the Graduate Studies web site.  Undergraduate students should contact the Chair directly to discuss travel funding.  Either way, fill out the form and submit to Chair for approval.
2. Register for conference early enough to get pre-registration rate, and use the department credit card. Get the credit card number from the department gatekeeper. Quite often students pay a very low rate for conference registration, and there is usually a need for student volunteers who then can register for free.
3. For distant locations, reserve airline flight early enough to get the lowest rates possible.  Frequent travelers can obtain a "Procurement Card" for use to pay for travel expense. Infrequent travelers should use a personal credit card.
4. For hotel reservations, hotel shuttle reservations, and other ahead-of-time expenses, use a personal credit card. Be sure to coordinate hotel reservations with travel partners, if you plan to share a room.
5. For closer locations, consider renting a car rather than using a personal vehicle, as the cost for mileage is frequently higher than the cost to rent a car.
6. Keep all receipts.
7. Upon return, tape receipts onto the front side only of 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper. These will be scanned into Villanova's digital document storage system.
8. Fill out the official expense report (an Excel document), called "Expense Report: for use without procurement card", and then print it out.
9. Make a copy of the expense report and all receipts (i.e., backup your data).
10. Submit the original expense report and original receipts first to Chair for approval in the form of the correct account number and the Chair's signature.
11. Then, send the original expense report and original receipts to the Procurement Office, The American College, Huebner Hall, 270 S. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010.  When sending through campus mail, send to Wendy Kinsey & Leslie Paynter in the Procurement Office.
12. Wait to receive your reimbursement check.

Non-Travel Procedure

1. Get a Request for Payment form (policy) from the file cabinet in the department office.

2. Determine the account number (e.g., your 4 account) and account index (list).

3. Prepare receipts for reminbursement by taping them onto 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper.

4. Fill out the form (get your Banner ID from Novasis).

5. Get appropriate signature(s).

6. Make a copy of everything.

7. Submit the original material to the Procurement Department, Huebner Hall, via campus mail.

8. Wait to receive your reimbursement check

Resources

• Villanova University Travel Office - potential one-stop for booking flight and hotel, travel and business expense procedures, information, reimbursement. Also known as the Procurement Office.
• Southwest Airlines - often the lowest or comparable airfares.

updated: 1/26/06