Accounting Details are the combined set of chartfield values (referred to as a "Chartstring" or Budget Code), used to record and track financial transactions. It's essentially a combination of fields that store specific pieces of information about a transaction, like its source, department, or purpose.These Chartfield values provide a detailed accounting record for each transaction. There is a default Chartstring value that can be established for employees that will automatically populate into travel transactions, and it is possible to define a 'default' Chartfield combination that can be established uniquely for an individual travel transaction. Those not sure where their travel expenses should be charged to can ask their supervisor or Travel Coordinator. It is the responsibility of the Budget Manager Approver to review the entered Chartfield values before the transactions can achieve final approval. These help us to manage budgets by tracking travel expenses and manage commitments by enabling the ctcLink system to track and encumber funds for approved travel, ensuring that the organization doesn't exceed its budget.

The default chartstring sets everything about the budget for travel except for the Account Code, which is defined by the chosen Expense Type. The chartstring value reflects the specific budget that will be charged for the travel, but the Expense Type has a direct correlation to how OFM expects those expenditures to be reported and follows the strict OFM guidelines. This is why it matters when travel is within the state of Washington, or outside the state of Washington. OFM has very specific regulations regarding Out-of-State travel, and what is considered In-State travel in states other than Washington for approval purposes only.

In PeopleSoft, approval workflow refers to a framework, often called the Approval Workflow Engine (AWE), which enables users to define, manage, and execute approval processes for transactions and documents. It facilitates the routing of items to "approvers," allowing them to review and either approve or deny them, ensuring adherence to business rules and policies. Each college has locally defined who their approvers are for each scenario of travel (in-state, out-of-state, international) and the routing order of approver.

OFM has specific rules around the approval process. Unique travel situations, such as traveling to border states (Idaho and Oregon), or states or territories outside the contiguous United States (Hawaii, British Columbia or in future, once OneWa goes live, Puerto Rico and Guam) require higher levels of approval. Be mindful that approval requirements from OFM for unique travel situations can sometimes appear to conflict with the allowable GL Account Code (referred to in OFM terms as "coded") for the same travel situation. Those rules are embedded in the Expense Type configurations in ctcLink.

In the Travel & Expenses module, an authorized expense user is an employee who has been granted permission to enter expense transactions for themselves or for other employees. This user can access the system and submit expense transactions on behalf of others. In the process step checklist, this person is identified as the "Delegated Submitter" due to the individual being delegated the responsibility to submit requests on behalf of other employees.

In the Travel & Expenses module, the "Business Purpose" field is a required field when entering travel expenses. It specifies the reason for the trip, which is needed for tax purposes and policy compliance. You select from a predefined list of purposes established during the implementation of the expense system. This field helps categorize and track expenses for reporting and analysis. Tax laws require a justification for business expenses, and the business purpose field helps meet this requirement. The business purpose helps categorize and track expenses, which is crucial for reporting and analysis, such as understanding spending on meetings, trade shows, or customer visits.

A travel cash advance is a sum of money provided to an individual in advance of or before travel to cover business travel expenses. These funds are typically used for expenses like meals, lodging, and transportation, especially when using a corporate card isn't feasible. The advance is expected to be fully accounted for and/or repaid upon completion of the trip, through an expense report. Not every college allows for providing cash advances, so confirming with your supervisor or Travel Coordinator in advance of submitting a Cash Advance request is advised.

A ChartField is a segment of the chart of accounts used to record and track financial transactions. It's essentially a field that stores specific pieces of information about a transaction, like its source, department, or purpose. Sometimes in our common language in the CTC community we refer to this as the "Budget Code". Multiple ChartFields combined (a Chartfield Combination or "Chartstring") provide a detailed accounting record for each transaction. There is a default Chartfield values that can be established for employees that will automatically populate into travel transactions, and it is possible to define a 'default' Chartfield combination that can be established uniquely for an individual Travel Authorization. Those not sure where their travel expenses should be charged to can ask their supervisor or Travel Coordinator. It is the responsibility of the Budget Manager Approver to review the entered Chartfield value before the authorization can achieve final approval.

In accounting, "encumber funds" means to reserve or commit a portion of an organization's budget for a specific future expense, like a purchase order or a contract. This action helps ensure that sufficient funds are available when the payment is due, preventing overspending. Essentially a way for the college to put money aside for a specific upcoming bill that has not actually been paid it yet. It is simply to help the college or agency plan and control budgets by tracking commitments and future expenses.

The "Expense Location" is a city, country, or geographical area where you will incur expenses that you want to appear by default onto your travel authorizations and expense reports. The ctcLink system supports attributing specific locations with a pre-defined Expense Location amount. When the traveler enters an Expense Type and this information is correlated with the location, the system can automatically populate an Expense Location. 

In the Travel & Expenses module, an Expense Report (ER) is Travel document created after travel to record actual cost of travel; it may also produce a reimbursement and/or reconcile a Cash Advance. It is used for ALL Employee Reimbursements and replaces A-19.

The Expense Report can be used for more than travel reimbursement, it can be used for other reimbursements. Check your local business process on other reimbursements that are not travel related.

Refers to a category used to classify expenses when creating and submitting expense reports. It's a way to organize and track different types of spending, like meals, lodging, travel, etc.,. Setting up and using expense types helps with accurate accounting and reporting. When creating an expense report, travelers or their delegated submitters select the appropriate expense type for each line item.

The official duty station is driven by the Unique Facility Identifier (UFI) and represents the location of a position’s assigned, permanent state facility worksite (if a state owned or leased facility), field assignment city/ state, or home-based city/state. A state official or employee's official duty station is to be assigned by the agency. [As defined in the SAAM Glossary by the Office of Financial Management]

An employee's "Official Residence" is not the employee’s home, but the city, town, or other location where an employee maintains their primary residence. If your residence is not within the city limits it is treated the same as an unincorporated location (i.e. your mailing address is Olympia, but your residence is not within the city limits).

The city, town, or other location where the state official or employee's office is located, or the city, town, or location where the state official or employee's work is performed on a permanent basis. For the purposes of these travel regulations, Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey are considered to be the same official station. A state official or employee's official station is to be designated by the agency. It is to be determined by the needs of the agency and not assigned because it is the home or preferred living area of a state official or employee. [As defined in the SAAM Glossary by the Office of Financial Management]

The official worksite is the city, town, or unincorporated area where the majority of the employee’s time is spent. The determination is not based on the preference of the state official or employee. The agency maintains the authority to exercise flexibility in determining the employee’s official worksite, considering the agency’s requirements and nature of the position. [As defined in the SAAM Glossary by the Office of Financial Management]

The official workstation for travel reimbursement may be the city, town, or unincorporated area of the state official or employee’s official duty station or official worksite as determined by the agency for purposes of travel reimbursement. [As defined in the SAAM Glossary by the Office of Financial Management]

Travel anywhere outside the boundaries of the state of Washington is to be considered out-of-state and should be coded as out-of-state travel. However, with respect to the requirement for prior authorization of out-of-state travel in [SAAM] Subsection 10.10.50.a) travel to counties and/or cities in the states of Idaho and Oregon that are contiguous to the border between Washington-Idaho or Washington-Oregon, or b) out-of-state employees traveling within the same state as their official station shall not be considered out-of-state. [As defined in the SAAM Glossary by the Office of Financial Management]

PLAIN LANGUAGE TRANSLATION: For approval purposes, 

In the context of business travel, per diem refers to the daily allowance provided to employees to cover their travel-related expenses, including meals, lodging or incidental costs. The rates for Per Diem are predefined for each location. These are the amounts that a traveler is eligible for reimbursement so long as the particular meal is not provided by the hotel or conference/meeting they are attending. There are rules for meal reimbursement eligibility when in travel status. Please consult with your supervisor or Travel Coordination for more details on what is allowed at your institution.

In ctcLink, Project Expenses refers to the Budget (chartstring value) associated with any aspect of the traveler's expenses. These costs are being charged to a specific Project ID or Grant, to ultimately record and track costs providing a comprehensive view of project or grant related expenses.

In the Travel & Expenses module, the "Transportation ID" refers to a field where you can associate an employee's transportation information with their expense report. This information is used to track and reimburse employees for business-related travel, particularly when they use their own vehicles or public transportation. The Transportation ID field allows for detailed tracking of mileage, cost, and reimbursement details.

A Travel Administrator manages and oversees the travel program, including setting up and managing traveler profiles, assigning employees to travel groups, and ensuring compliance with travel policies. They also handle tasks like requesting updates via the Service Desk Ticketing system to modify travel approval workflows for Travel Authorizations, Cash Advances and Expense Reports.

In the Travel & Expenses module, a Travel Authorization is a pre-approval process for travel expenses, ensuring they align with company policies and budgets before an employee embarks on a trip. It's used to formally document official travel status, secure worker's compensation, and ensure liability insurance coverage. 

Travel Authorizations help manage budgets by tracking travel expenses in advance and ensuring they stay within allocated funds. They also help manage commitments by enabling the ctcLink system to track and encumber funds for approved travel, ensuring that the organization doesn't exceed its budget.

Approved Travel Authorizations can be imported into the Expense Report creation process to pre-populate data necessary to begin the expense reimbursement request.

In ctcLink, the "Traveler Profile" or as PeopleSoft documentation refers to it "Employee Profile" provides centralized access to employee information, such as their cost center codes, credit card numbers, check printing addresses, direct deposit bank accounts, and transportation data. The employee profile also stores default values and settings that PeopleSoft Expenses uses to streamline the time and expense report entry. Expenses allows employees to set up their own user defaults to reduce data entry time for travel authorizations, cash advances, expense reports, and time reports, and they can easily change these defaults during data entry. Employees can also set up project defaults and accounting distributions.

In Washington State, "travel status" is defined as the period when an employee is away from both their official station and their official residence, on state-related business, and excluding the normal commute between these two locations. This status generally begins when an employee leaves their official station or residence for a work-related trip and ends when they return.