Accounts Payable & Travel Accounting Update & Important Reminders

Sent to the AFS-Update mailing list on Jan. 26

Mileage Reimbursement Rate Change

The Internal Revenue Service announced an increase of the standard mileage rate to 65.5 cents per mile for business travel, an increase of three cents. The new rate is effective for expenses incurred on or after Jan. 1, 2023:

• The reimbursement rate for the use of a private automobile for University business travel will increase from 62.5 cents a mile to 65.5 cents a mile.
• The reimbursement rate for driving an automobile in connection with a move or relocation will remain the same at 22 cents a mile. Note that reimbursements for moving/relocations related expenses, including mileage, are considered taxable wage income as of January 1, 2018.

Traveling? Booking Meetings? Get a Corporate Card

Traveling on UC business or booking business meetings or events for UCI? We recommend signing up for a UCI corporate card. The card may be used specifically for:

• Cardholder’s own UC travel expenses
• Approved UC business meetings and entertainment expenses
• Gift or awards purchased on behalf of the University

Keep in mind that the corporate card does not affect your personal credit or your credit score, but just like personal credit cards, timely payments avoid late fees. To keep track of your card usage, cardholders may register to access their account online and access information on your mobile app. Additionally, corporate card business expenses must be reconciled in a Travel or Entertainment Reimbursement eDoc on a monthly, and timely basis. This is to avoid delinquent payments to the bank.

See our website for additional information on the UCI Corporate Card program.

Book Air and Lodging for Others with a CTS Card

A CTS Ghost Card Account allows airfare, hotel room and tax, and associated agency fees to be purchased in advance of a university business related trip. The program allows a credit account number to be used as a form of payment for 

these limited purchases. You may use this card to book airfare (economy/coach air tickets only) and lodging (room and tax only) for students, visitors, guests, and employees without a corporate credit card.  When airfare is cancelled, the air credits stay in control of the department.

Reduce Costs & Increase Savings With These Tools

• Book Your Enterprise, National, or Hertz Car Rental in ConnexUC
  ConnexUC offers incredible discounts and savings, includes insurance when traveling on UC business, a free vehicle upgrade when available, and you can bypass long lines at most airport car rental counters by making sure you’ve signed up for one of the car rental agency’s premiere level memberships. The memberships are complimentary when booking through ConnexUC.

• Save on Southwest Airlines Airfare With ConnexUC
  Book all your air travel with Southwest SWABIZ, and pay no booking fees. Use the company ID 99723724, when booking in SWABIZ. Domestic discounts range from 8% to 12%. University of California travelers earn 50% more Rapid Reward Points than you normally would earn on a flight not booked through SWABIZ.

• Consider Using BCD Travel or the UC Travel Center
  Travelers are automatically signed up for the free UC Travel Insurance when booking with the ConnexUC travel agencies.

Travel Meal & Incidental Expense (M&IE) Reimbursements

The current Meal and Incidental Expense (M&IE) daily maximum amount is $79.00 per person, per day, for travel in the 48 states. Based on UC Policy G-28 Travel Regulations – see pages 23 and 24 of the policy – The M&IE cap for continental U.S. travel under 30 days shall not be treated as a per diem. M&IE reimbursement must be limited to the actual reasonable costs incurred.

Campus business offices should remind their travelers that only expenses actually incurred are reimbursable. Travelers should be required to submit meal receipts if it appears that they are treating the cap as a per diem by routinely claiming the full M&IE amount. Best business practice is to include itemized meal receipts. Per diems are only allowed when travel in the U.S. is 30 days or longer or when on foreign travel assignments.

Travel Reimbursements for Non-Employees and Students: Don’t Forget the Non-Employee Certification Form

UC Policy G-28 Travel Regulations requires all non-employees to sign or DocuSign a Non-Employee Certification Form, which can be downloaded from the Forms & Reports tab (see image below)  in the KFS Travel Reimbursement (TR) document. This is required documentation based on the UC policy.

Internal departmental expense claim forms are not an acceptable alternative for obtaining the traveler’s signature. Please be sure to have the signed KFS generated Non-Employee Certification Form uploaded in scanned images before the reimbursement reaches Travel Accounting’s Action list. A missing form will delay the reimbursement to the payee, and the TR eDoc may be returned to the initiator/arranger. This applies to the non-employee’s actual travel expenses as well as when a CTS card is used to book the non-employee’s airfare or lodging.

TEM and DV KFS Vendor Payments

Paying a vendor? Search for the onboarded vendor name in KFS and please be sure to check the address. The address in the KFS TEM/DV eDoc must match the address on the vendor invoice.  If the addresses do not match or the address is not on the invoice, the eDoc will be returned and you will be advised to have the vendor update their profile in PaymentWorks.

To ensure the vendor payment is properly applied to your department, include the following information in the TEM/DV Check Stub Text field:

1. Invoice number
2. Invoice date
3. TOTAL AMOUNT DUE – please note, initiators may use multiple account numbers in the Accounting Lines tab.