When traveling on behalf of the Institute, Georgia Tech employees are expected to comply with the travel policies set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), State Accounting Office, University System of Georgia, and Georgia Tech. To help ensure that expense reports are completed correctly and in compliance to these policies, Procurement and Business Services’ (PBS) travel and expense team is providing the following detailed instructions for travel-related expenses. These requirements will be strictly enforced beginning July 1, 2024.  

Expense Dates:  

• Each expense line should be reported individually. 
• If multiple payments were incurred for the same expense item (e.g. lodging with a deposit and a final payment), use the last date the payment was incurred. 
• Expense dates must match the date the expense was incurred.   
• Lodging expense should reflect the checkout date. 
• Airfare expense should reflect the return flight date. 

Expense Reimbursement Submission Timeliness: 

• Travelers should submit all reimbursement and reconciliation expenses within 10 days of trip’s completion but no later than 45 calendar days. 
• You will be asked to complete a late submission questionnaire if you submit an expense report 45 days after travel has been completed. Please note that the 45-day late justification is calculated from the employee’s spend authorization end date to the date the expense report was submitted. 
• Expenses submitted more than 60 calendar days after completion of the trip, if reimbursed, may be considered taxable income. See IRS publication 5137 for further details.  
• Expense reports submitted later than one calendar year after the travel date may not be reimbursed.  

Expense Memo and/or Business Reason: 

• Ground Transportation - a description of the expense's purpose must be provided in the memo field. Examples include: airport to hotel, hotel to customers office for meeting, etc. 

To assist employees with completing expense reports, text has been added to several fields (click on the question mark) to provide clarification.  

Additional resources are also available on domestic in-state, domestic out-of-state and international travel requirements. The "Know Before You Go" documents outline important travel-related procedures and other information when preparing for travel. Click here to learn more.  

PBS will provide additional guidance and support in the coming weeks. Beginning July 1, expense reports that do not fully comply with the above procedures will be returned.   

If you have any questions or need clarification on this matter, please submit a request to ServiceNow or contact Travel and Expense Manager Xinia Richards.