Handle the expenses prior to Feb 22nd with the old paper process, and handle all other travel expenses within chrome river. Just attach your approved travel authorization to the travel expense report in Chrome River when you submit.

Yes! We believe with time, as everyone – travelers included – becomes more comfortable and proficient with the software, reimbursements will happen significantly faster than they did with the old paper-based process.

Yes! Just highlight the change with a comment to help eliminate confusion during the approval process.

Yes, you will process the P-card transactions every month. If the transactions are in advance (e.g. airfare, conference fees, etc.), you will likely generate two reports based on timing: one for the expenses in advance of the travel and one for the expenses after the trip is completed.

A prepaid expense is a travel-related expense paid on a university pro-card by someone other than the traveler. Pre-paid expenses will be reported by the expense owner on a travel expense report using the appropriate expense-type. The expense owner will need to attach the .pdf version of the Chrome River Pre-Approval report that the traveler completed for the trip.

Approvers will have the ability to reduce expense amounts to accommodate departmental and other limits. It will be important for the traveler to understand that there are limits on the trip prior to the travel.

If the charge is on your pcard, you will complete a Travel expense report for those purchases in your own Chrome River account.  You will need to attach a copy of the other person’s pre-approval, which they can easily forward to you from Chrome River as a PDF, as backup documentation to support the expense.  

Under the hotel expense, you can select both your index and the other person’s index in the allocation drop downs and split the expense appropriately.

If we understand your question correctly, use the Meals/Per Diem tiles in Chrome River to accurately reflect dates and times of travel, what type of travel (in-state, out of state, international, etc) and what meals may have been provided at your hotel, by a conference, etc.  

Yes, it will! It does require accurate input for dates and times of travel, what type of travel (in-state, out of state, international, etc) and what meals may have been provided at your hotel, by a conference, etc.  

Yes. Attach/upload them to the applicable Travel Expense Report. No need to reaccomplish a PreApproval.  

We believe it will be more efficient to keep it grouped as a single expense, but certainly Chrome River has the flexibility to break them up if it is easier for certain circumstances. 

Great questions. In the training we demonstrated the hotel itemization by breaking out the taxes/fees. This is not required for hotel expenses. Taxes and lodging fees are part of the hotel lodging expense. Fees/charges you may have to itemize out on your hotel bill would be expenses like parking, wi-fi, conference room charges or non-reimbursable expenses that may have been errantly placed on your bill. Apologies for the confusion.  

No, not all expenses have to be itemized. Only receipts with multiple expense types would need to be itemized. Car rentals would be a good example of an expense that would not need to be itemized unless you are needing to prorate it for personal travel.

If the total expense is on your P-card, you can select ‘Personal-Non Reimbursable Expenses’ for the portion that is not business related. Documentation showing your reimbursement to MSU of those expenses would be included along with your vendor receipt. (For Travel Only) If you have incurred the entire expense on your personal card and are seeking reimbursement, you would submit the request for payment due to you as a regular Chrome River expense for the business portion.

Remember: MSU P-cards are for university business purposes only and may not be used for any personal transactions, even if the university is reimbursed. Also, you must use your P-card for employee flights, rental cars, lodging expenses, etc. incurred for official travel. Extenuating circumstances may exist—please ask your FSS service team if you are unsure. In those instances where a personal credit card MUST be used, yes, Chrome River can handle the reimbursement process after travel is complete.

Apologies for the limited time.  Review the Mileage Expense Quick Help Guide for this example. If you need further assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to your FSS rep or email chromeriverhelp@montana.edu. 

Yes, any travel expenses incurred after February 22nd (new P-card cycle) will be processed through Chrome River.  You will not need to complete the Pre-approval through Chrome River.  You can simply attach a PDF of your approved paper travel authorization along with your Travel Expense report.

In the situation you are describing, where the expense is hitting a central account, the traveler
without the P-card with follow the same procedures they are currently using—no change. The central Pcard holder will need to accomplish a travel expense report and attach a PA, if required.

In most cases the receipt should suffice, however, proof of travel is still required and more information is always better than too little when it comes to proving the business need.

If a state employee, with their supervisor's prior approval, chooses to use a private vehicle when a government vehicle is available, the employee is reimbursed at a reduced rate from the current standard IRS mileage rate. The reduced standard IRS mileage rate is referred to as the "Standard Rate,” and is currently 27.7 cents per mile

 

When a private vehicle is used because a government vehicle is not available, or it is in the best interest of the state not to use a government vehicle, AND either a Notice of Vehicle Unavailability from the State Motor Pool or a specific exemption is noted on the travel expense report with the prior approval of the supervisor, the standard IRS mileage rate of 57.5 cents per mile is paid for the first 1,000 miles driven in a calendar month. This is referred to as the "High Rate."

For each mile driven over 1,000 miles in a calendar month, the standard IRS rate is reduced to 54.5 cents per mile and has a separate dropdown selection on the mileage expense form.

You can input it directly and attach appropriate documentation showing the miles traveled. Chrome River will warn you that you didn’t use the Google Maps tool, so just include a short statement of why the mileage tool didn’t work for your situation (e.g. site visit to Hayden Valley, YNP).

International Travel

All international travel requires registration with OIP.  Please see the MSU International Travel Policy https://www.montana.edu/policy/international_travel.  We are unsure which International Travel form you are referencing. If you could forward an example to chromeriver-help@montana.edu, we will check with OIP to ensure we pass along the correct information.  

Great questions! Yes, you can choose a different currency.  On each expense form, there is a USD (currency) button, click that to select the appropriate currency from the drop down and Chrome River takes care of the rest. The exchange rates are updated daily, so ensure the correct date is selected.