Ball State University Travel Policy

Policy & Rates

Mileage reimbursement rates will follow the federal mileage rate as determined by the IRS. This rate can fluctuate at least annually, but occasionally more frequently. This rate will be monitored by the Travel Department and communication will be sent out for any changes. Please see below for current mileage rates based on travel dates.

Mileage beginning 01/01/2025 - $0.70/mile

  • For current meal & incidental rates, please visit the U.S. General Services Administration website. Meal rates can also be found in Emburse Enterprise.
  • First and last days of travel are paid at 75% of the full GSA rate. Same day travel is allowed at 75% of the full GSA rate. Same day travel can be reimbursed at the discretion of the department.
  • If a meal is provided, that meal cannot be claimed and should be deducted by checking the appropriate deduction box in Emburse Enterprise (breakfast, lunch, dinner). 
If a meal is provided, that meal cannot be claimed and should be deducted by checking the appropriate deduction box in Emburse Enterprise (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
Meal rates
China, Singapore, the Netherlands $65.00
France, Germany, Great Britain $65.00
Korea, Taiwan $85.00
Japan $85.00
All Other Countries $50.00

Business or group meals while in travel status must be submitted in Emburse Enterprise.

  • Business meal reimbursements while in travel status are not permitted unless documented on the pre-approval in Emburse Enterprise and approved by the department prior to travel. This documentation must include who will be involved in the meal, the estimated meal amount, and a clear business purpose that supports the mission of the University.
  • Group meals are allowable when the group includes students, such as during field trips, study abroad programs, athletic team travel, and similar activities.
  • If a business or group meal is submitted for reimbursement, per diem must be removed for that meal period.
  • If a business or group meal is submitted for reimbursement, the maximum allowable tip is 20% of the total bill, which includes any taxes or fees.
  • Valet parking at hotels is only reimbursable if self-park is not available. Tips for valet parking are not reimbursable.
  • Parking at other venues is a reimbursable expense when supported by proper receipts.
  • Reasonable in-flight internet connectivity charges are allowable for international flights only, but subscriptions to in-flight services, such as GoGo, are prohibited expenses.
  • Internet connection/Wi-Fi fees for hotels are allowable expenses only if used for University business.

Request & Justification for Cash Advance Form

The Request & Justification for Cash Advance Form must be completed, in full, by travelers requesting a travel advance. The form must be approved prior to the issuance of the advance, and a detailed justification and breakdown for the amount requested must be entered on the form. Budgets/calculations should be submitted with the form, when applicable.

Notes concerning cash advances:

  • Cash advances may be received only if other payment options do not exist or are not feasible.
  • Advances are only to be used for expenses pertaining to University employees and students.
  • Advanced funds should not be used or spent by any party other than the traveler who received the advance.
  • Advanced funds are only to be used for reasons listed in the Request & Justification for Cash Advance form. If the advanced funds are used for purposes not defined on the form, the traveler may not be eligible to claim those expenses on the traveler’s expense report.
  • The amount of the advance will be used to offset any expenses prior to travelers’ receiving travel reimbursements.
  • The minimum amount requested for a cash advance is $250.00, and the maximum amount is $3,000.00. Amounts requested should be reasonable estimates of the anticipated expenses for which the advance will be used.
  • Unused funds must be returned to the Travel Department. Checks and currency should not be sent through campus mail.
  • Outstanding advances must either be settled or repaid to the University within thirty (30) days from the business travel end date.
  • The University will not accept foreign currency as a means to repay an advance or return unused funds from an advance. The traveler is responsible for converting foreign currency to US Dollars prior to repayment/return of funds.
  • If an outstanding advance is not settled in a timely manner, the amount of the cash advanced to the traveler will become taxable income reported by the University on the traveler’s Form W-2 at the end of the calendar year in which the funds were advanced.
  • Abuse of cash advances is not tolerated and will result in a travelers’ loss of cash advance privileges. Additional disciplinary action up to and including termination may also apply.

At this time, travel advances are limited to field trips/studies, international trips, or team travel. For assistance in requesting or reconciling a cash advance, please see Chrome River Cash Advances.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Travel Process
Expenses paid out-of-pocket will be reimbursed after trip completion if submitted within 60 days of the return date of travel. Some trip expenses can be prepaid using the University's Travel Card through Egencia. Please contact travel@bsu.edu for guidance.
An approved Pre-Approval is required by Transportation in order to reserve a University Vehicle. This should be submitted in Emburse Enterprise for $0. Vehicles are requested through Fleet Commander.
Please review the Ball State University Travel Policy for more information.
The University requires a traveler to have an approved Pre-Approval on file prior to traveling. It is at the discretion of each individual area to determine whether the traveler should be reimbursed or not.
This is allowed. If the traveler or department would like the University to directly pay for air, hotel, or rail, the travel can be booked through Egencia, the University's dedicated travel booking tool, using the University's travel card.
The University does not reimburse expenditures for passports. Visas may be reimbursed through Emburse Enterprise after trip completion, if submitted within 60 days of the return date of travel.

Employees and students are loaded into Emburse Enterprise daily, based on data in Workday. 

Reasons that someone is not visible in Emburse Enterprise include:

  • the employee's start date is in the future
  • the employee's termination date is in the past
  • the employee has a 'secondary' assignment but not a 'primary' one
  • the person is a retiree
  • the student is not registered for classes

Yes, the Pre-Approval is required for liability purposes for all travel. If no expenses will be reimbursed, use the 'Non-Reimbursable' expense type.  This expense type must have an amount greater than $0.

When creating a blanket Pre-Approval in Emburse Enterprise, the dates on the header can be by month, semester, or fiscal year, but cannot be backdated or cross fiscal years. Enter “various” as the location under city/state. Since the PA is a declining balance document, once it is at zero dollars, a new PA will need to be created for any future expense reports within that time period. All possible expenses for the time period of the blanket need to be estimated on the PA.

Invoices can be attached to a traveler's Pre-Approval in Emburse Enterprise. These items should be listed as a 'University Paid' expense type on the Pre-Approval.

  • Pre-Approvals - report header and expense types can be edited, and new expense types can be added, prior to re-submission
  • Expense Reports - report header and expense types can be edited, but new expenses cannot be added, prior to re-submission

If you need to add an expense type on a submitted expense report, recall the report, make your edits, and re-submit.

Individual expenses cannot be copied on a Pre-Approval at this time.

On an Expense Report, click the individual expense to copy on the left pane, and then click the ellipsis on the right pane, followed by 'Duplicate':

A 'Various' option exists for:

  • domestic travel - under 'City, State'
  • international travel - under 'Country'

Emburse Enterprise workflow is based on Workday and Banner Finance approvals and follows the routing below:

Pre-Approvals:

  • traveler and delegate receive an e-mail when a report is fully approved or has been returned
  • approvers receive e-mails whenever a report is pending approval

Expense Reports:

  • traveler and delegate receive an e-mail when a report is fully approved or has been returned
  • approvers receive e-mails whenever a report is pending approval

Yes. Approved Expense Reports export to Banner Finance for payment daily.  The next business day, the receipts that were attached in Emburse Enterprise are loaded into the B-F-DOCS application of BDM. 

These images can be viewed either by:

querying B-F-DOCS directly, using one of these options:

  • enter the specific TX* or TD* number in the 'DOCUMENT ID' field (preferred), or
  • enter the traveler's name in the 'VENDOR NAME' (last name) and 'FIRST NAME' fields, or
  • enter the BSUID in the 'VENDOR ID' field

clicking 'Retrieve' from Banner when on the FAIINVE or FGIDOCR screens

The supervisor information is fed into Emburse Enterprise from Workday.  Contact your HR representative for supervisor information.

  • Approved - Pre-Approval is approved and has not had an Expense Reports applied against it
  • Partially Applied - Pre-Approval has had at least one Expense Report applied against it, reducing the available balance on that Pre-Approval
  • Used/Expired - Pre-Approval no longer has an available balance
  • Pending Approval - report has been submitted but not fully approved
  • Exported - report is fully approved but has not yet paid
  • Paid - report has been paid to the traveler or applied to an outstanding cash advance

This is because the 'Mail' application in Windows 10 is set as your default e-mail client. There are a few workarounds:

  • Change your default e-mail client on your PC to be Outlook instead of 'Mail':
    • In the Windows bar at the bottom, type 'Settings'
    • In the 'Find a Setting' search bar in the upper-left, type 'default app settings'
    • Under 'Email,' ensure that Outlook is the default email client instead of the 'Mail' app:

              

  • Approve from another device, like a phone or different computer

In order to arrange travel for a University employee or student in Egencia, the traveler-arranger relationship must be created in Egencia.  To request or remove this relationship:

  1. Go to the HelpDesk website - https://bsu.service-now.com/helpdesk.
  2. Choose 'Request Services.'
  3. Choose 'Security Access.'
  4. Choose 'Travel & Expense - Security Access.'
  5. Your employee data should automatically be populated.  Check the 'Egencia Arranger' box.
  6. Enter a justification for the request in the appropriate field.
  7. Complete the 'List the names of the travelers, including students, the above employee would need to arrange travel for in Egencia' field.

Egencia should be used if wanting the University to directly pay for air, hotel, or rail.  It is not mandatory for travelers who wish to purchase travel fares with their own funds and then be reimbursed after trip completion, subject to the provisions of the University Travel Policy.

Travelers will be allowed to use the University's travel card in Egencia on a per-trip basis, if approved on a Pre-Approval.

  • Payment directly by the University for air, hotel, or rail with the University travel card, can be requested by selecting 'University travel card through Egencia'
  • Once approved, the traveler (or the traveler’s arranger) will have access to book travel in Egencia with the University travel card for the approved expense types up to the amounts listed on the Pre-Approval

The charges on the University travel card will appear in Banner Finance within the first week of the month following the month in which charges were assessed.

Contact an Egencia agent, rather than the airlines/hotels themselves, from either your Egencia app (tap 'Assist Me') or by calling 312-741-6713.  Be sure to have your Egencia itinerary number with you before calling. An agent should be able to make the proper accommodations.

Charges for seat selection within the same class of service (economy to economy) are reimbursable. Seat upgrades to a higher class of service (economy to any other class) are only reimbursable if entered on the pre-approval in the travel software, approved by the department and justified by a documented business necessity.

  • Pay at Hotel - the traveler must pay for the lodging and all incidentals when checking in at the hotel.
  • Pay Online - payment is made through Egencia when making the reservation.  The traveler is responsible for placing a personal card at the hotel counter for incidentals.