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Otter Travel

For additional support during this transition, ongoing open labs every Wednesday from 10-12pm in the Mountain Hall, Suite A, Training Lab to have all of your questions addressed or to receive extra support with entering your Requests and/or Expense Reports. 

Finance

Overview of Concur Travel Management System

 CSU policies are integrated within the three modules to make for easier reporting, approving, and processing. 

Employees can book air travel and car rentals directly through Concur, which reduces out of pocket costs. Additionally, employees who travel at least three times per year may apply for a travel card if needed.

Reminder: All domestic and international travel must be approved in Concur prior to making any travel arrangements!

Roles and Responsibilities of Approvers

Travelers can check the status of their Request at any time by clicking on the Request Details tab and selecting 'Audit Trail' or 'Timeline'.  If your department requires more signatures than is set as the default within Concur, you or anyone in the approval workflow may add as many Additional Signers as needed.

  • Validate chartstring (fund, dept, etc.)
  • Review expenses to confirm they align with approved budgets
  • Review for travel policy compliance
  • Confirm that all necessary documentation, such as agendas or other required attachments, is included and complete
  • Add an additional approver if required to comply with department-specific policies and approval workflows
  • Review destination and related alerts (e.g., high hazard destinations, international, etc.)
  • Confirm/Approve business purpose of trip 
  • Review all expenses and attachments for reasonableness and completeness
  • Confirm that the employee is not on vacation or leave during the requested business travel dates
  • Approve use of budget, if applicable
  • Add an additional approver if required to comply with department-specific policies and approval workflows

Travel Process

Stateside employees may assign a delegate to create requests, book travel, and prepare expense reports. Travelers must review and submit their own requests and expense reports (submission can’t be delegated). Non-employee travel is managed end-to-end in Concur by a stateside delegate.

Complete your employee profile!

Basic information will be pre-populated from the HR system. It is the traveler’s responsibility to review this information and update it as necessary. This is a one-time set up, and only needs to be updated if your information changes. 

Examples of profile information include contact information, verifying your CSUMB email, adding traveler rewards programs, emergency contact, and assigning delegates. These are only a few examples. To avoid delays in submitting your trip request, take the time to go through each section and fill out all required fields.

Complete and submit your request to travel. Submit your requests a minimum of 30 days prior to domestic travel and 60-90 days prior to international travel to allow sufficient approval time. You will receive an email from Concur when your request has been approved. 

A business justification document is required for all trip requests. This can be an agenda, meeting invite, registration confirmation, etc. 

Important: if your trip involves a personal component and/or you are driving more than 250 miles one way, a cost comparison is required to ensure compliance with CSU policy!

Travelers should book airfare, car rental and hotels when possible through Concur. Using Concur for your travel arrangements ensures you receive the CSU contracted rates and provides easy access to unused ticket credits for future business travel when you have a change in your travel itinerary. 

If desired, you can add your personal travel rewards program information to your profile to accumulate miles/points from your business travel, which may be used for non-business travel if desired. Note: it is not required to have a separate travel rewards program for business travel.

When you return from your trip, submit your expense report to reconcile all of the charges. This is required to be completed within 60 days of the end date of your trip. Failure to do so will result in a reimbursement that is considered taxable income per IRS guidelines. 

Pro tip: for easier reporting of your expenses when you return, keep track of your receipts as you go! Click here for a how-to guide for the email and/or Concur app option. Receipts will automatically attach to your user profile, eliminating the need to scan them when you return. Another added benefit is reducing the possibility of lost receipts.