1. Home
  2. Offices
  3. Business Affairs
  4. Financial Services
  5. Policies/Procedures

Travel Per Diem and Mileage Request Procedures

A properly completed Travel Expense Report (Report) must be prepared by the employee, reviewed and approved by the appropriate supervisor and submitted to the Controller’s Office to obtain payment for domestic travel. International travel is governed by the Foreign Travel Policy.

To comply with documentation requirements and to allow for consistency in preparation, only the official Bradley University Travel Expense Report will be accepted. All sections of the form need to be completed including attachment of original receipts when required. The form must be signed by the traveling employee requesting payment and the appropriate supervisor. By signing the form, the supervisor affirms knowledge of the business purpose and approval of the funding account(s) for the expenditures.

Every University traveler is advised to review the Per Diem for Meals and Incidentals for University Employees. In addition, the following procedures are important:

  • In General: The per diem is only for meals and incidentals. Receipts are not required. Mileage is calculated at the established University rate (not to exceed the federal rate). Lodging may be procured with the traveler’s University travel card. If the traveler has no University travel card, lodging, transportation and other expenditures may be reimbursed at actual cost through this Report. Original receipts must be attached in this case.
  • Payment for per diems, mileage and other out-of-pocket expenditures will be made only after the travel has occurred. Due to IRS regulations, the Report must be submitted within 60 days of return from travel. . All requests for academic year travel must be submitted by the close of the fiscal year (May 31).
  • Travel reimbursements for per diem, mileage, and other out-of-pocket expenditures submitted by the 1st of the month will be paid by the 15th of that month; requests submitted by the 15th of the month will be paid by the last day of the month. Checks will be sent by the Controller’s Office to the University employee through campus mail, unless indicated otherwise pending implementation of electronic deposits. If the request is for less than $300, cash may be given at the Cashier’s window in lieu of a check. Cash reimbursements will only be given to the traveler employee (i.e., student workers cannot be sent to pick up the payment.
  • The Meals and Incidentals Per Diem rates used by the University are the rates established by the General Services Administration located at http://www.gsa.gov under the Per Diem search. The rates are listed by city/state or zip code and date. It is recommended that travelers use the zip code of their travel destination to identify the applicable per diem rates. If a city is not listed, then the per diem rate is the rate for the county of the destination city (use state map lookup). If the city and the county are not listed, then that area is considered to be a Standard CONUS location which is $46 for meals and incidental expenses. Be sure to pick up the Meals and Incidentals (M&IE) rate at the far right and not the Lodging rate. (While not required, it will be extremely helpful for documentation if the traveler prints the page reflecting the perdiem rate and attaches it to the Report.)
  • Please note that days of travel should be calculated at 75% of the per diem rate for the destination city (first day) and the return city (last day) (e.g., Peoria).
  • If travel includes multiple cities, use the city of destination for each particular day for determination of the rate.
  • If the travel includes meals and entertainment of a guest, the traveler may use his University travel card for the purchase of the meal. In this case, the per diem for that particular meal cannot be submitted for reimbursement on the Report. The remaining meals of the day, however, may be submitted. The per diems for individual meals can be accessed on the General Services Administration website by clicking on the title “M&IE Exp” for the rate of the destination city.
  • If the travel includes meals and entertainment of a guest and the employee does not have a University travel card, the expense can be itemized on the Travel Expense Report. The itemized original receipt must be attached to the form and the “Other Expenses and Business Substantiation” section of the form must be completed (name of guest and business purpose). The other meals of the day will be paid according to the rate for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Again, the per diems for these individual meals can be accessed on the General Services Administration website by clicking on the title “M&IE Exp” for the rate of the destination city.
  • When meals are included in conference registration fees or hotel rates, a deduction must be made from the applicable per diem rate. The deduction is equal to the individual meal per diem for that locale. For example: A Bradley university traveler stayed in a hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The cost of breakfast was included in the hotel rate. At the time of travel, the maximum daily per diem rate for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) for Atlanta was $56 ($9 breakfast, $13 lunch, $29 dinner and $5 incidentals). Therefore the traveler would adjust the daily per diem rate to $47 ($56 - $9).
  • Due to IRS guidelines, meals for one-day trips will not be paid unless the workday exceeds (12) hours. If the trip does exceed 12 hours, a per diem may be requested for the evening meal for Peoria (return city). In completing the Report, if several one-day trips are reported and they exceed the space provided on the Report, an additional listing by day of the Time of Departure and Time of Return must be attached to the Report.
  • The Travel Expense Report may be used by those traveling employees who do not have a University travel card for reimbursement of all travel expenses including lodging, rental cars, fuel for rental cars, conference registration, etc. All original itemized receipts must be submitted with the form. Travelers are encouraged, however, to contact the Accounts Payable/Purchasing Department to find alternative methods of payment so that they do not have to use their own funds and wait for reimbursement after the travel has occurred.