Body
The 5 W’s & 1H of Cash Advance: Everything You Need to Know
Who can get them & for how much?
All students, staff and faculty can request a cash advance for travel expenses. For individual travel you can request anywhere between $100.00 to a max of $1500.00. For group travel you can request up to $1500.00 per person traveling.
- The amount of the Cash Advance for an individual travel shall be computed using the applicable per diem rates and other allowable estimated out of pocket amounts. A Cash Advance for individual travel shall not exceed $1,500 without prior approval by the University Controller.
- The amount of a Cash Advance for group travel is limited to $1,500 times the number of travelers and the Cash Advance for group travel shall only be given to an Employee who is going on the trip. An Employee receiving a group Cash Advance has the same responsibilities as if that Cash Advance had been received for individual travel.
- Ie: For a 10 person trip the max advance is $15,000.
What can they be used for?
A cash advance is used to help with the out-of-pocket expenses associated with official university travel. It should only be used for expenses incurred while physically traveling not items that have been prepaid like airfare. Some examples of expenses that a cash advance is commonly used for are the following:
- Per Diem
- Parking & Incidentals for individuals without a University One Card
When will you receive them?
Cash advances are received up to one week prior to travel. It is automatic in Chrome River. When traveler requests an advance, the system knows to pay one week from travel date. It is crucial that advances are requested no later than 3 weeks before the beginning of your travel to ensure you receive them before you trip begins.
Where to request them?
Cash Advances must be requested by creating a Pre-Approval Report (in Chrome River) or a Travel Authorization. In these reports you must include the estimated travel expenses and business purpose of the entire trip and then there will be a space to callout the amount you need advanced.
Why would I want a cash advance?
A cash advance can mitigate the hardship of having cover legitimate business travel expenses upfront, it is especially helpful for those who do not have University issued Credit Cards and students.
How do I reconcile and or return my Cash Advance?
The most important thing to remember when you are issued a cash advance is that the money you received is essentially a small personal loan from the University. Upon the end of your travel, we need to account for how those advanced funds were spent. This means ALL out-of-pocket expenses must be included on your final expense report- do not worry about being double paid, we will always compare the reimbursable expenses to your outstanding advance. If you spent the exact amount of the advance, you would not receive any payment. If you spent more than you received as an advance, we will reduce the advance balance and only pay you for the difference. If you did not spend the full advance, please see more detailed information below based on whether you used Chrome River or not.
- If advance is requested through Chrome River and the entire advance was not used.
There will be a total of three reports made; the preapproval where you requested the advance, the final expense report, and a return cash advance (to be done by maps office only). After the trip has ended and your final expense report has been submitted the expense owner can either pay back the remaining advance using the MAPS store front, or the funds can be brought directly to (BURSAR OR MAPS?). Once the funds have been received and the final expense report has been exported to banner MAPS will create the third report; Return cash advance to being the outstanding balance in Chrome River to zero.
- If advance was requested through a non-Chrome River TA and the entire advance was not used.
There will be a total of two reports made; the preapproval where you requested the advance and the final expense report. After the trip has ended and your final expense report has been submitted the expense owner can either pay back the remaining advance using the MAPS store front, or the funds can be brought directly to (BURSAR OR MAPS?).