You are here: Home / Physics / Local / Policies and Documents

Travel Policies and Procedures

As of 1 August 2005, all travel requests are to be applied online via the website: http://www.spendvision.com. The SDO/SDA (also formerly known as S010) forms have been replaced by an online travel requisition, better known as the Spendvision Expense Management System.

Who does the travel policy cover?

The University’s current travel policy only covers staff travelling on pre-approved University business. It covers university staff only, and does not apply to travel for Special Studies Program (SSP), Visiting Scholars, Students or Interviews or relocation of new appointees.

As mentioned above, the University's current travel policy does not cover students which means that student travel is not entered onto Spendvision. Students who are required to travel need to complete a Fieldwork/Special Duties form and obtain the Head of School's approval. Please note, a student field trip (excursion) is regarded as travel only where the trip involves the purchase of an airline ticket and/or overnight stay. Students can make their own payments and claim reimbursements later or they can ask David Young or someone in the School with a Corporate Card to pay for them.

Honorary staff need to put their travel requisitions through Spendvision provided their travel is for University business and paid for by the University (in cases where expenses is involved). If there are no expenses to claim, honorary staff will still need to register their travel requisitions through Spendvision for insurance purposes.

Getting Started

Before logging onto the http://www.spendvision.com website, you will need to obtain a username and password. Your username will usually be your staff number with a prefix u (lower case). Please send an email to the Finance Officer, Marlyn Horgan at requesting that you be given access to Spendvision. Marlyn will then send you a spreadsheet to complete and once completed, she will forward the form to the travel helpdesk who will then send you an email with your password. Once you have been given a password, you will be prompted to change your password on the first logon. The password consists of at least 6 characters alpha and/or numeric.

All staff who are required to travel for business should request for spendvision access regardless of whether they have a corporate card or not. If you do not have a corporate card, you have three options for payment:

  1. you can use someone else’s corporate card in your research group (with their consent) or
  2. you can request cash in advance (to be submitted at least 21 days before travel) via the spendvision travel requisition or,
  3. you can seek reimbursement after the trip via the Spendvision travel requisition

You will need to obtain quotes from one of the University’s preferred travel management companies before logging on:

  1. Anywhere Travel
    Phone: 9663 0411
    Fax: 9662 2860
    Email:
  2. Travel Services
    Phone: 9036 9555
    Fax: 9036 5386
    Email:
  3. Venture Travel
    Phone: 9236 5311
    Fax: 9236 5340
    Email:

Creating a New Travel Requisition

  1. After logging into the system, click on Statement
  2. Click on Card Account 1 – No Requestion to access Travel Requisitions
  3. Then click on Create New Requisition
  4. Give this requisition a meaningful label (something that will help you identify the trip) eg. attend Plasma Conference 2005 in London. The source currency and billing currency will default to AUD, and the requisition date will default to current date.
  5. Select Requisition Type:
    * International
    * Domestic
    * Cash Advance
  6. Complete Allocation tab:
    * Enter amount of airfare plus description
    * Enter amount of accommodation plus description
    * Enter conference fee plus description
    * Enter amount anticipated to cover all meals ie. breakfast, lunch and dinner plus description
    * Enter travel other for other related incidental costs not covered by any of the above categories
    * Total allocated will automatically total the above

If more than one person is travelling, individual names can be inserted by clicking on the “employees” icon. Please remember that Cash Advance must be requested through the Cash Advance Panel.

  1. Complete Comments tab:
    * Enter travel start date (departure date), click on calendar icon to select the date
    * Enter travel end date (return date), click on calendar icon to select the date
    * Enter the travel destination, try and include city, state, province and country
    * Enter reason for travel and purpose of the trip
    * Enter the day by day itinerary, a brief statement of the daily activities eg. Day 1: ABC Conference, Day 2: Tour of the labs etc
    * Enter departure time (if known)
    * Enter flight number (if known)
  2. Complete declarations – if you require a per diem answer yes
  3. Click Save
  4. Review the default RC and Project Codes. If these need to be changed, do so now
  5. Click on the printer icon to Print the travel requisition, if you want to keep a hard copy for yourself
  6. Email the requisition to HOS for his approval by clicking on the Print Icon, and then scrolling down and entering email address in the box at the bottom of the printable page, and clicking on the envelope icon.
  7. Close printable window and save.
  8. You should now see your requisition marked with at least one green tick.

Requesting Cash in Advance

  1. Click on the green tick, it will open up details
  2. Click on Cash Advance and the Allocation panel will appear
  3. Enter cash amount followed by a short description
  4. Click on the Comments tab, read the declaration and enter the reason for cash advance payment eg. You don’t have a corporate card or you’re unable to use your corporate card.
  5. Select coding – confirm RC and Project Code for this travel request. Amend if necessary from default.
  6. Click on Save
  7. Cash advance goes directly into the staff’s nominated bank account on a fortnightly basis (same as pay day) and the cut off is the Friday before the pay day

Claiming Per Diems or Reimbursements

  1. Press Home (left hand side of the screen)
  2. Go to Cash Management
  3. Select New Expense Wizard
  4. Select Claim Per Diem (or reimbursement category), and AUD as currency. For currency conversions, go to: www.oanda.com/convert/classic or http://www.xe.com/ucc/)
  5. Enter the amount required in Details Tab (if claiming a per diem, use the link to the per diem calculator to determine amounts owing – less any meals included in conferences, accommodation etc).
  6. Enter details of the trip – add the same name as you gave your requisition label
  7. Check coding screen to ensure correct RC and Project have been selected, and Save
  8. Submit to the Finance Officer by clicking the Green Person icon. If claiming a Reimbursement, you MUST give your original receipts to the Finance Officer before they will approve your claim.
  9. All staff receive the same per diem rate regardless of level of position

This is the end of the travel requisition for the traveller and is now reliant on the HOS to approve. Once approved, payments will be made to your nominated bank account.

For more information about the University Travel Policy and Procedures:
http://www.finance.usyd.edu.au/travel

To contact the University Travel Helpdesk:


You can view the full Spendvision Travel Requisition and Cash Module User Manual at:
http://www.finance.usyd.edu.au/about/spendvision_guides.shtml

Travel Insurance Details Form
http://www.usyd.edu.au/risk/docs/insurance/TravelInsuranceSchedule0405.pdf