Pre-Approval

My lab group goes to Yellowstone for research, in the summer as many times as 15x. Can we file a bulk preapproval form for the entire summer that estimates the entire costs for summer, describing that each trip only takes a single day? Or do we need to file an individual for for each and every trip? There are never personal days and we always use the same index nr for billing.

The preference for your pre-approvals, would be to have a separate one for each month.  There is no need to do one for every individual trip, but doing one that encompasses more than 30 days is not ideal.  All our financial reporting is done on a monthly basis.  Being able to tie one pre-approval to all the expenses for one month, then having that pre-approval 'cleared' is a best practice.

For travel in Chrome River, when we process the pre-approval, for example, we are using estimated expenses for things like airfare... suppose I see $500 for airfare when I put the request in but when I get approved for travel and book the airfare it could be $650... so I submit a separate request for the difference of $150, or the new price $650? Sorry, might be misunderstanding what is being said on this piece.

No separate pre-approval or request is needed as far as MSU policy is concerned. The estimates used on pre-approval are just that: estimates. However, please check with your department to inquire if internal policies differ—it may be a good practice to alert your supervisor to the difference prior to travel in case it changes their approval decision. When you complete your travel expense report, you may also want to include a comment to explain the difference in cost in the “Description” or “Comments” fields on your airfare expense to ensure your supervisor understands and approves.

So do you have to do the OSJ again if after the fact when you get back that you need to change funding.

(OSJ=Out of State Justification for travel) If we understand your question correctly, no separate preapproval or request is needed as far as MSU policy is concerned. When you complete your travel expense report, please include a comment to explain the change to ensure the review team understands the change and your supervisor approves.

As I understand these instructions, we no longer need preapproval for in-state travel, is that correct?

Pre-Approval for employee in-state travel IS required if a cash advance is requested or if the nightly lodging rate of your destination exceeds the federal nightly rate. https://www.gsa.gov/travel/planbook/per-diem-rates/per-diem-rateslookup/?action=perdiems_report&state=MT&fiscal_year=2020&zip=&city= If either of those two conditions exist, complete a Pre-Approval for In-State Travel. Always complete a Pre-Approval for employee out of state or international travel.

So for travel auth's, the person buying the tickets will have to fill out the travel auth for those whom ARE traveling? I only ask, as I buy all of the travel tickets, flights, hotels, etc. for those traveling. However, I do not do any traveling at all.

No, you will not need to complete the Pre-Approval for those who are traveling. See below for how to process a Travel Expense when you are not the individual traveling.

How can my supervisor give me, his Admin. Assoc. III, permission to see Travel Requests that he has approved. I am specifically talking about those that need travel, hotel, registration, etc.? I have the corporate p-card for doing those for our department.

If you are not a delegate for the travelers in question, our recommendation is to have the traveler forward the Pre-Approval to you when it has completed the approval process. You can then complete a Travel expense report for those purchases in your Chrome River account. You will need to attach a copy of the traveler’s pre-approval, as backup documentation to support the expense(s).

May my team members create one pre-approval for the fiscal year for travel in their state? I picture that for each trip they would start a new expense report, import the pre-approval, enter the specifics (departure time/date, return time/date, mileage or rental car and per diem)

The preference for your pre-approvals, would be to have a separate one for each month. There is no need to do one for every individual trip, but doing one that encompasses more than 30 days is not ideal. All our financial reporting is done on a monthly basis. Being able to tie one pre-approval to all the expenses for one month, then having that pre-approval 'cleared' is a best practice.

Will the system take last minute or late pre-approval forms?

Yes, however, per MSU and State of Montana policy, travel (some in-state, all out of state and international) must be PRE-approved. Additionally, no less than 30 days before departing, all International Travelers, whether individual or group travel, must register their travel plans in the MSU International Travel Registry, and proof of registration must be attached to International Travel PreApprovals or funding will not be approved. Last minute submission also affects cash advance receipt, if requested.

Are hospitality forms considered pre-approval forms?

Pre-approval in Chrome River is only for travel. While the Hospitality Approval form is another type of pre-approval, these are not part of the Chrome River system. We will continue to utilize the existing process for Hospitality Approvals.

I forgot, did you mention how we are to do student pre-approvals for out of state travel?

Not all student travel is currently being managed through Chrome River. If students are traveling on their own and there are no associated P-card expenses, you will continue to use the current system for them. This includes requesting cash advances.