Know Before You Go

Traveler Responsibilities

Pre-Approval: All business travel must be pre-approved by an authorized RIT individual, budget authority, or department head.

Get to Know RIT's Travel Policies & Resources: Employees are expected to follow relevant policies. Expenses must be necessary, reasonable, allowable, and required for RIT business needs. Utilize RIT Designated Travel Agencies to book travel and minimize your out of pocket costs.

Faculty and Staff: RIT Travel Policies apply to all Faculty and Staff, and cover travel from the RIT campus, home, or work location to destinations in or outside the Rochester area.

Student & Non-RIT Travelers: Departments have the flexibility to set reimbursement rates for student travel expenses such as meals and incidentals. To help determine appropriate reimbursement processes and amounts for students, vendors, and other non-employees, refer to the Decision Guide for Purchases and the Travel & Expenses web pages. These resources provide useful guidance and best practices.

Traveler Checklist

Before you Travel

	Familiarize yourself with RIT's Travel Policies Understand the policies that apply to your trip by reviewing RIT's Travel & Expense Policies.
	Request Access to Oracle Your Travel Expense Report (TER) will be entered into Oracle when you return. If you do not already use Oracle, visit the RIT Service Center to request access.
	Check for Sales Tax Exemptions Visit the Sales Tax Exemption web page to check for any tax benefits in the state you’ll be traveling to. If an exemption applies, print the certificate and present it during the trip when making purchases.
	Pre-Approval & Prepaid Airfare Obtain pre-approval for your business trip from an authorized individual within your college/division. Then, reach out to an RIT Designated Travel Agency to make reservations. RIT prepays the cost of the airfare to minimize your out of pocket travel expenses.
	Apply for a PNC Travel Card RIT employees who expect to incur $500+ per year in RIT business travel or hospitality costs may request an Individual PNC Travel Card by submitting this RSC form. The travel card keeps personal credit lines free from business expenses and facilitates sales tax exemptions. The employee is responsible for paying their individual travel card bill.

During your Trip

Keep All Receipts

Receipts for purchases will need to be uploaded into your Travel Expense Reports (TER) when you return. Note that receipts are not required for electing per diem meal reimbursements (more information can be found on the Meals Per Diems web page).

Request Sales Tax Exemptions when Making Purchases

Present the sales tax exemption certificate to vendors prior to completing a purchase, so the vendor can exclude sales tax.

When you Return

Submit Travel Expense Report (TER) within 2 Weeks

It is recommended that TERs are completed within 2 weeks of returning from a trip. This helps ensure compliance and timely processing, and avoids potential tax implications. Under RIT's Accountable Plan, taxability of an expense report is based on how soon it is submitted after the expense date:

Within 60 days: Reimbursement requests submitted within 60 days of the trip end date (or the date the expense was incurred for non-travel expenses) are non-taxable.
61-119 days: Requests submitted 61 or more days after the trip (or expense date) are taxable. Payroll will withhold applicable taxes and the amount reimbursed will be reported on your Form W-2.
120+ days: Requests submitted 120 or more days after the trip or expense date will not be processed.

Visit the Employee Expense Reimbursement page for detailed instructions on completing your expense report.

Account for Your 'Prepaid Airfare' or 'PNC Travel Card' Expenses if Applicable

When completing your Travel Expense Report, be sure to account for any RIT-prepaid airfare booked through a Designated Travel Agency if applicable to a trip. Prepaid airfare transactions show up in your expense report application. You must select the relevant transactions with the relevant expense report, to process and clear them. Upon completion of the expense report, the amount is then charged to your department/project.

PNC Travel Card transactions also show up in your expense report application. Be sure to select those expenses for processing as well when applicable.

TIP: If you have an 'Individual' PNC Travel Card, be sure your PNC bill is paid on time so you don't incur a late fee!

Additional Information

Link your Direct Deposit Account

Did you know that you can sign up to have expense reimbursements deposited to your payroll direct deposit account?
Instructions for Setting Up Direct Deposit for Reimbursements

Assign Access to Expense Reports

You can assign a delegate to enter expense reports on your behalf, or view your expense report details.
Instructions for Assigning Delegates