Travel and Expense Reimbursement System
Authorized UB faculty and staff use the travel and expense reimbursement system Concur to book business travel, and to submit business travel and non-travel expenses for reimbursement.
UBITName and Password are required
Check System Status
Check System Status
The status of the travel and expense system and all its related services are continously monitored. If there are any interruptions in service, a note will be posted here > Check the Concur Service Status Dashboard
Pre-Approval is Required for All UB Travel
The university strongly recommends that all UB faculty, staff, students and non-employees (guests) avoid traveling to regions impacted by COVID-19. If a faculty, staff, student or non-employee (guest) travels for essential university business, they must adhere to NYS COVID-19 Travel Advisory guidelines. For those circumstances in which overnight business travel is required, the traveler/department must obtain pre-approval before making any travel arrangements. Travelers should follow guidance from their Unit Business Officer (UBO) to obtain required approvals, including the Deans approval for Academic units and Vice Presidential approval for Academic support units. Once your travel is pre-approved, and after your trip has occurred, you must attach a copy of the completed signed travel pre-approval form to your expense report for reimbursement. This is required for all funding sources (State, Research Foundation and UB Foundation).
Complete the Travel Pre-Approval Form
Getting Started in the Travel and Expense System
Follow these steps to get started using the travel and expense reimbursement system.
Getting Started Steps
1. Review System Eligibility
Review your eligibility to see if you are authorized to use the travel and expense system.
Authorized Users:
UB faculty, staff and students with active, paid employment appointments are authorized to use the system.
- Your profile is set up with your UBITName and password.
Unauthorized Users:
Guests and non-employees of UB are not authorized to use the system:
- This is temporary; the campus will be notified when this becomes available.
- Continue to submit paper reimbursements for guests and non-employees as you currently do.
UB faculty, staff and students with terminated employment appointments are not authorized to use the system:
- Terminated employees will remain active and able to log into the system for 4 weeks after their appointment end date.
- After 4 weeks, terminated employees become inactive and unable to log into the system and have to submit paper reimbursements as non-employees.
2. Follow Getting Started Guide
To get started using the system, follow the getting started guide for your role for detailed instructions to:
- Watch system training videos
- Complete and update your system profile
- Learn about your role in the system
- Review instructional tip sheets and videos
- Get help using the system
Learn About System Modules
There are three modules in the travel and expense system that you will use to complete your work:
Expense Module
Use the Expense module to submit your business travel and non-travel expenses for reimbursement.
- An expense report is used to process reimbursements and will result in reimbursement.
- Create an expense report to submit your actual expenses for reimbursement.
- All individuals are required to use this module to submit expense reports.
Request Module
If required by your department, use the Request module to request permission and approval for your estimated business travel and non-travel expenses before your incur them.
- This is optional, ask your department if you are required to use this module.
- A request is used for budgetary purposes only and will not result in reimbursement.
- Create a request to request permission and approval for your estimated expenses before you incur them.
- Travel reservations requested in this module are monitored by Duty of Care, the system’s travel risk management program.
- In the event of a natural disaster or emergency during your travel, the Duty of Care program will contact you to assess your safety.
Travel Module
Use the optional Travel module to book your business travel reservations.
- Booking travel reservations in this module is optional, but highly recommended.
- The travel booking tool is contracted through The Travel Team Inc. and there are no service fees charged for bookings.
- Travel reservations booked in this module are monitored by Duty of Care, the system’s travel risk management program.
- In the event of a natural disaster or emergency during your travel, the Duty of Care program will contact you to assess your safety.
Training and Labs
Register to attend a training or hands-on lab session to learn how to use the travel and expense reimbursement system.
Roles in the Travel and Expense System
Travel and Expense System Workflow Process By Role
The travel and expense system workflow process by role:
- The traveler or non-traveler creates and submits an expense report for reimbursement.
- The supervisor reviews and approves the expense report.
- The cost approver allocates expenses on the report to the correct account.
- If the expenses on the report are being charged to a sponsored Research Foundation (RF) grant, the Sponsored Projects Services (SPS) approver reviews and approves the report.
- The processor in the Travel office reviews and approves the report for reimbursement.
Delegates in the Travel and Expense System
Delegates are individuals who are authorized to complete work on another user's behalf in the travel and expense system. However, first be sure to confirm with your department that this is allowed. Refer to the following detailed instructions for how to use delegates in the system:
The cost approver role in the travel and expense system is assigned to individuals officially designated as authorized approvers on accounts. Cost approvers are responsible for allocating expenses to the correct accounts and approving reports in the system.
Follow Getting Started Guide
For detailed instructions to get started using the system, refer to the Getting Started Guide for Supervisors and Cost Approvers.
1. Receive Email Notification
- Cost approvers will receive email notifications from the travel and expense system when employee expense reports are submitted or forwarded to them for approval.
- Click the link in the email notification to log in to the system to allocate and approve the expense report.
2. Go to Required Approvals
To view and allocate employee expense reports submitted or forwarded to you for approval, go to your Required Approvals. There are several ways to go to your Required Approvals from the home page:
- Click Required Approvals in the Quick Task bar.
- Click Required Approvals in My Tasks.
- Click Approvals in the top menu bar.
3. Review Reports Pending Your Approval
- Select a report pending your approval and click on the Report Name to open it.
- Review the report header to confirm or change the funding source account information.
- Review exceptions for errors on the report.
4. Allocate All Expenses
- Cost approvers are responsible for allocating the expenses on reports to the correct accounts.
- To allocate the expenses on a report:
- At the top of the report click Details, then click Allocations.
- Select the checkboxes for the desired expenses, then click Allocate Selected Expenses.
- Use the dropdown menus to enter the account information, then click Save.
5. Verify Expenses are Fully Allocated
- When finished reviewing the report, verify that all expenses are fully allocated:
- At the top of the report, click Details, then click Allocations.
- Click the Summary button.
- On the Allocation Summary, verify that the account information is complete for all expenses.
6. Return, Forward or Approve Report
- After reviewing and allocating the employee's expense report, select one of the following options:
- Send Back to User — return the report to the employee if it requires correction. Cost approvers cannot modify calculated fields on expense reports.
- Approve and Forward — approve and forward the report to another cost approver if it requires additional review and allocation.
- Approve — approve the report if it has been completed correctly and if all expenses have been fully allocated.
Travel and Expense System Instructions and Videos
Review instructional tip sheets and videos to learn how to use the travel and expense reimbursement system.
Travel and Expense System Mobile Apps
The travel and expense system mobile apps are optional and available to complement the online site.
Concur Mobile App
The Concur Mobile app complements the desktop site and fully integrates the expense management process.
Use the app to make travel reservations, create expense reports, and take pictures of your receipts and automatically turn them into expenses. This functionality was previously part of the ExpenseIt app which has been discontinued.
Before you download the app, you must first create a mobile PIN as your password to sign in.
Download the App
Android
BlackBerry
IOS
Windows
Getting Help
Travel and Expense System Support
System users are encouraged to follow these steps for help and support:
1. Review Tip Sheets and Videos
- Review tip sheets and videos for instructions to use the system.
2. Contact Business Services Customer Support
- Send an email to ubs-travel-expense-support@buffalo.edu
- Call 716-645-4500, press 2 for the travel and expense reimbursement system.
- Click the live chat button on the travel and expense reimbursement system and travel and expense system tip sheets and videos web pages to chat with a member of our UB Business Services Customer Support team.
3. Register for Training
Register to attend a training or hands-on lab session to learn how to use the travel and expense system.