Travel Services is excited to announce the release of 8 new training modules for review in preparation of system improvements to be implemented October 26, 2009.

We recommend review of these modules prior to implementation, but these modules are available anytime for your convenience.

Please share this email with any Accountants, Business Officers, Supervisors or Travelers as appropriate.

Please make time to review these modules prior to October 26th. Once you have had an opportunity to review them, we will be happy to answer any questions you may still have. We will be contacting those who have not taken the quiz by the end of the week.

• Travel Agency Training: (1 Module) [30 minutes]
• Travel Accounting: 7 Modules: (7 Modules)
  • 1 of 7 Register Trip [10 minutes]
  • 2 of 7 Hotel Payment [10 minutes]
  • 3 of 7 Conference Prepayment [10 minutes]
  • 4 of 7 Cash Advance [7 minutes]
  • 5 of 7 Early Reimbursement [7 minutes]
  • 6 of 7 Final Reimbursement [20 minutes]
  • 7 of 7 Trip Info [5 minutes]
• Total time: [1 hour 39 minutes]

You can connect to all Modules from our home page (see below):

Click here for Online Quiz Self-Enrollment Instructions.

Send us your comments/ideas about these training Modules.

if you have any questions.

The Direct Deposit (ACH) payment option has been available to University employees since 2005. We recently simplified the rules for authorizing this electronic payment method and revised the form for employee sign up. Employees interested in accelerating their travel and expense reimbursements can now sign up for Direct Deposit by using their Payroll Direct Deposit account information without having to provide a blank check, deposit form or bank statement as proof of ownership. The details and authorization form can be found on the Accounts Payable Direct Deposit web page.  If you have any questions,

As reported in an earlier news post, the Financial Web Apps (located in the FBS pagelet and FBS Admin pagelet) in the Campus Information System have moved to a different WEB Server.

As of today, March 13, 2009, ALL OLD Bookmarks  for  all U of U Web Applications (urls begin with www.acs.utah.edu/prod/financials, www.acs.utah.edu/prod/bin, and www.acs.utah.edu/prod/hrbin) will not work! 

Since these applications are all located inside the CIS, it is always best to select the desired application from the appropriate CIS menu. 

Ask Us if you have any questions.

Effective January 1, 2009, the mileage rate decreased to 55 cents per mile for business related private automobile expenses.  Please refer to the Schedule of Allowable Rates.

Ask Us if you have any questions concerning this post. 

A new page has been added to the FBS Web presence that will allow users to know of any issues with FBS Web Applications.  If known, issues are listed on the new page. If you are experiencing any issue not listed, a link exists on the page to report the issues to FBS.  The link to the new page is a picture of a lifesaver (below). This lifesaver has been strategically placed in various places in the FBS Web presence as well as the FBS pagelet in CIS.

Please be aware that the Travel Department has updated the Schedule of Allowable Rates to include new and changing fees airline companies, such as Delta, American and United, are charging our travelers at check-in or at the time of exchanges. 

Some important changes include:

First Checked Baggage Fee:  Beginning December 5, 2008, Delta will be charging $15 each way for the first checked bag.  Other airline companies have already implemented baggage fees.  We will reimburse the cost of one checked bag for business trips with the duration of up to 7 days with proper documentation.  Reimbursement for subsequent bags may require additional documentation and explanation.

Change Fee:  Exchange fees have been increased to $150 for domestic flights.  To avoid these change fees, the State Contracted fares may become more appropriate than non-refundable fares, check with our OnSite Agents.

“Churning:”  The airlines allow one 24 hour hold per reservation.  Additional holds on the same reservation are referred to as “churning,” and the airlines are beginning to enforce their rules and are assessing penalty fees of $50 per segment.  The reservation system does not have adequate tools to help us detect prior holds, so we will rely upon the Travel Planners to tell us if a reservation has been previously held, and we will require confirmation if the itinerary still meets the travelers needs.  Penalties for “churning” will be passed on to the department.

Please refer to the Schedule of Allowable Rates for changes as they occur, and as always, our OnSite Agents are our best resource for appropriate business decisions as they relate to airfare.  You may reach our agents with either the new “Ask Us Form,” the “Reservation Request Form,” or when the department is ready to book a ticket, the “Reservation Confirmation Form.”

A new WEB Server now hosts the University Financial Applications (Management Reports, Chartfield Lookups, etc.). This change should be transparent to the End-User.

Please contact someone in Financial and Business Services immediately if you experience any problems. 

Two new FORMS pages have been added to the FBS web presence.  This will enable visitors to have access to all the FBS forms in one place.  The forms are sorted alphabetically and by department.  A FORMS link on the top row of the FBS website has been added.  This will make it easy to find the form you need especially if you are not sure which department to look in for that form.  This is similar to the FORMS pages in the FBS pagelet in CIS.  On September 15, 2008, the FORMS links on the FBS pagelet will be changed to direct users to the new FBS FORMS pages.

Due to rising fuel costs, the IRS has increased the mileage rate to 58.5 cents per mile for business related private automobile expenses incurred after July 1, 2008.  Please refer to the Schedule of Allowable Rates.

During the normal course of business, airfare tickets are exchanged for a different flight time or date, or may even go unused if the trip is cancelled.  Airfare changes or cancellations often result in an airline credit that must be used within one year of issue.  The onsite agents provide all necessary information for the travel planner to “cash in” the value of an airline credit.  Departments must keep track of their own airline credits and redeem them with the next business trip taken by the passenger.  To avoid forfeiture of these credits, unclaimed airline credits and unused tickets issued by our office will be taken as an institutional credit within 10 days of the expiration date.