Frequently Asked Questions

A Spend Authorization is required for all business travel that is 45 miles or more from the traveler's headquarters to document for duty of care purposes.  When the business travel is financially supported by a third party, the Spend Authorization must include each expense line for anticipated expenses with appropriate expense item type (e.g., airfare) and entered with the amount of $0.01, along with comments in the memo field indicating expenses paid by third party name.

An approved Spend Authorization must be established before any travel arrangements are secured by personal or university payments.  Any travel related purchases made with personal funds without an approved Spend Authorization may not be reimbursed.

Traveling with computers, web enabled cell phones, advanced GPS units, scientific equipment, proprietary information or unpublished data may require an Export Control License. The Office of Research Compliance will monitor when International travel is initiated in order to coordinate specific restrictions and guidance with the traveler.

For additional information contact the Office of Research Compliance at exportcontrol@osu.edu or visit the Office of Research Compliance website.

The university will pay for the cost of round trip airfare for travel to the business destination. A cost comparison must be pulled from the online Booking Tool at the same time the booking is made to document the allowable business expense portion of airfare.  

When combining personal travel with business travel, only those expenses directly related to the business travel can be paid/reimbursed by the university. Travelers must ensure that all business related and vacation expense variances are clearly documented and available for audit review. It is best practice to keep all business related expenses separated when possible; this ensures that documentation is as clear as possible. When this cannot be done (e.g. Airfare), cost comparisons should be done to show the pricing differences as if only business time was included. Cost comparisons should be conducted at the same time the expenditure of funds occurs and must be clearly documented and available for audit review. Expenses such as parking and Per Diem will be prorated and limited to only the business travel date/time.

Travelers may combine personal travel with a business trip, but should consult with their supervisor before initiating arrangements. When arranging travel in these instances, travelers must ensure that arrangements are made in such a way that stewardship of university resources and administrative time is the priority. Travelers incurring additional costs by taking personal travel in conjunction with business travel must pay for the costs of travel and other expenses with personal funds and request reimbursement for the business travel costs. Travel expenses to and from alternate vacation destinations occurring before, during, or after university business travel are not eligible for payment with university procurement methods. In cases when personal travel is added to university business travel, any cost variance in expenses such as airfare, vehicle rental, and/or lodging must be clearly identified and documented in Workday, to validate that the vacation time does not add additional cost to the university.

Business travel mileage should follow the travel policy.  The travel policy limits reimbursable miles to the number driven in excess of the number of miles involved in the individual’s daily commute (round trip) for work.  Generally:

• If the traveler’s headquarters (or primary work location as defined by the traveler’s flexible work agreement or HR documentation) is different than their residence, then the mileage reimbursement is calculated by deducting the daily commute.
• If the traveler’s headquarters (or primary work location as defined by the traveler’s flexible work agreement or HR documentation) and their residence are the same location, then a daily commute deduction is not required.

Yes. Use of a personal vehicle for business purposes may be excluded on the average private insurance policy. Additional coverage may need to be purchased to cover specific circumstances and requirements. Employee and guest travelers are advised to check with their insurance company for provisions and rates to cover such activity.

For more information visit Risk Management.

Best Practice Tip: Consider using one of the university's contracted rental car agencies in lieu of personal vehicle for business travel. Costs are considerably less expensive and the required insurance is included in the rate.

In the event an injury or accident occurs during business travel status, while in a private vehicle (OSU non-owned), the vehicle driver’s insurance company assumes primary liability for personal injury or property damage incurred by the accident. Primary insurance coverage follows the vehicle’s owner. If this occurs during business travel, injuries to employees may be covered by Worker’s Compensation. Injuries to other parties would fall under the driver’s insurance policy or other insurance such as health insurance of the individual injured. Any private insurance used will have its own deductibles. The University policy may be excess to the owners policy.

For one-time trips between two primary destinations, an online map source (e.g. MapQuest or Google Maps) is the best source of address-to-address documentation. When traveling to multiple destinations, or travel covering a wide range of dates (for the same business purpose), a log including odometer readings and address-to-address locations are required to document for audit review.

No receipt is required as long as the amount reimbursed is within the Per Diem allowance of the applicable city location.  However, a general description of what was purchased must be documented for auditing purposes (i.e. Breakfast on 6/22, and Dinner on 6/23).

Full meal allowances while on travel status will not be paid if provided through other travel-related purchases (e.g. continental breakfast built into the hotel room rate).  The allowance must be adjusted by deducting the appropriate meal percentage (25% – breakfast; 25% – lunch; 50% – dinner) from the full Per Diem allowance for the applicable city location.

Miscellaneous expenses considered necessary for business travel (e.g. taxi fares, baggage fees, parking, tolls, internet connectivity, Visas, immunizations, etc.) may be reimbursed without a receipt for each individual expense that is $50 or less.  However, a detailed description (e.g. “taxi fare to and from JFK airport”) and associated business purpose for the expense must be documented for auditing purposes.  Individual expenses in excess of $50 require an original, itemized receipt. 

Note:  Travel related expenses that are specifically noted in the Procedure Section of the Travel Policy (e.g. airfare, hotel, rental car, et al) have specific documentation requirements and should not be included as a miscellaneous expense.

Yes, all travelers, including guests/recruits/speakers/students/groups must adhere to the Travel Guidelines.

It is not recommended to use a personal credit card to pay for travel-related expenses for another traveler. Instead, travelers should use a university payment method (e.g. PCard) if such a need arises.

Contact the Travel Office for further assistance.

It is generally advisable to give one travel day for domestic travel and two travel days for international travel. However, the amount of travel days can be adjusted if the traveler provides a business justification to their unit and the unit approves of the justification for a change in the amount of travel days. This documentation should be provided in the Spend Authorization.

The unit/service center should process expenses as normal, ensuring that if submitted greater than 60 days there is a comment as to why. No additional action is needed by the department or the service center.

It is not recommended to use a personal credit card to pay for travel-related expenses for another traveler. Instead, travelers should use a university payment method (e.g. PCard) if such a need arises.

Contact the Travel Office for further assistance.