Proxy Refresher Training

Gavin ByrneTravel Supervisor

09/26/11 – 09/28/11

Agenda

Identify goals Routing and status of reports Pre-authorization Receipts requirements Travel Expense Reports (common problem areas) Airfare cancellations EPM&S Local Travel Other related benefits

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Slide 2

Process Goals

Our goal in processing expense reports through eXpense is to reimburse employees as soon as possible while remaining compliant with the appropriate policies and regulations

We do not want employees to be out of pocket any longer than necessary

We leave ourselves open to disallowance, fee withholding and penalties

Adequate documentation – DCAA still auditing 2005

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Looking up Approval Routing and status.Pre-Authorizations and all Expense Reports required 2 levels of approval. The 1st level of approval is:

1. Program Manager for the charge number being used on report.2. Employee’s Expense Approver.3. Any approver to which the report is forwarded for additional review and approval.

2nd level of approval is:1. Travel AP Auditor2. Any approver to which the report is forwarded for additional review and approval.

When an expense report has been forwarded for additional information, the Forwarding Info button to the right of the Approver Info button can be clicked used in the same manner as the Approver info button.

Employees can check the routing for each Pre-Authorization or Expense report at any time. To do this the employee would click on the “Approver Info” button. The back screen will open automatically in Level 1 showing:

1. Employee name.2. Request or Transmittal number.3. Status of the report:

a. Openb. Submittedc. Partially approvedd. Rejectede. Approvedf. First Report Created (pertains to Pre-Authorizations only.

4. Approval Level & Navigational arrow to move the 2nd level.

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Look up Approval Routing and status….cntdThe next section of the screen gives the actual routing assigned in eXpense (shown in Diagram D).

1. Approver Column– This shows the assigned Expense Approver and Program Manger. If they are same person, only one approval is required.

2. Results Column– This shows the status of the report:a. Blank – means that the report has not be opened by the Approvers shown.b. Partially Approved – means that the report has been opened but does not mean

that the approver has approved the report, just opened it for review.c. Rejected – means that the report has been rejected by the approver and needs to

be corrected & resubmit.d. Approved – means that the Approver has approved the report. This will be shown

next to the Approvers name. Each name shown will show a status.3. Reason Column – is also used for an explanation filed.4. Explanation Column – shows the explanation given for rejecting a report or for

Forwarding a report for additional review.

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Pre-AuthorizationPre-Authorization form is required:Overnight StayCompany paid airfare has been booked.Why the Travel Agent MUST be used.Commercial formUsage of formPerdiem

75% ruleUnallowable doesn’t apply – everything is billableDirect/Indirect formUsage of form

Direct Bill Charge numbers Overhead Charge numbers G& A Charge numbers

Using Alion Science Travel AgentsWhat expenses MUST be booked via the Alion Science Travel Agent.All airfare MUST be Company Paid – reduces employee’s out of pocket expenses and travel agents provide FAR documentationEmployee paid airfare only allowed in extreme circumstances.All car rental MUST be Employee paid. Exception would be Interviewee.

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Receipts Requirements

Receipt Requirements Original detailed receipts are required for reimbursement of all expenses $75 and

greater claimed on the Travel form Proof of payment – cancelled check, credit card extract or in the case of phone

bills the subsequent months bill indicating payment is acceptable The following receipts are required regardless of the dollar amount;

Lodging Receipt Airfare itinerary for both Company paid and Employee paid airfare. Receipts for all unallowable expenses regardless of the amount must be

attached/uploaded to the expense report.

Filing Requirements Travel expense reports should be completed within a reasonable period of time

after travel has been concluded and no later than 30 days after the end date of the trip. If travel expenses are not filed within 30 days after the return from the trip, the employee will be subject to a payroll deduction if money is owed to Alion, as a result of a previously issued travel advance. Reimbursement of travel expenses submitted outside of these guidelines is subject to the discretion of the Corporate Controller.

Slide 7

Travel Expense ReportsAllowable Excess LodgingDefinition of Allowable Excess Lodging

Allowable by the customer Directly Billable to a Gov’t contract.

Types of back up documentation which is acceptable. Attending a conference and staying in a conference hotel/overflow

hotel Letter, memo, email from Customer Contracting Office authorizing

employee to stay at location over perdiem. Current events flyer showing why room rates were inflated. Quotes from surrounding hotels showing no rooms available at the

perdiem rate. Importance for having the documented back up uploaded with the

receipts. Length of time before report might be pulled in an audit. Penalties of 100% to 200% or more if costs are disallowed by

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Slide 8

Travel Expense Reports….cntd

Company paid airfare Airfare must be booked using the Air Travel Program offered by

United Airlines. This keeps the employee’s out of pocket expenses low and allows for better tracking of Alion’s airfare costs.

All fares should be booked at the lowest available airfare.

FAR exceptions to lowest available must be documented.

Employees insisting on flying with only one carrier, at a more expensive rate, does so at their own expense.

Luggage and overweight charges which are assessed at the time of check in should be entered on the employee’s expense report in the Misc section.

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Travel Expense Reports….cntd

Vehicle Rentals Alion employees traveling on company business are required to use an Alion

approved travel agent in order to book vehicle rental.   Economy or mid-size car rentals are Alion’s normal traveling standard.   Alion maintains a Corporate Rental Agreement with Enterprise , National and

Alamo for domestic trips. Loss Damage Waiver and auto liability insurance is included in the vehicle rate. The Alion contract number must be provided and listed in the Rental Agreement for the insurance coverage to apply. Employees cannot waive the insurance coverage in order to obtain a lower vehicle rate. The car contract number is listed on the Intra-web under “Car Rental Program”. Please contact the procurement department for further details on this program.

If Enterprise, National or Alamo are not available employees should purchase the maximum amount of collision damage waiver and personal injury insurance

Vehicle Rental should be employee paid and entered as such on the expense report

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Cancellations/Exchange Tickets Overview

Trip Postponement and CancellationAirfare charges for trips postponed by a few days can be combined on one expense report. Note the difference in dates on the report. Trips postponed by longer than 1 week are considered cancelled. Airfare should be expensed immediately. A new Pre-Authorization will be required for the future trip.Notify the travel agent.

Tickets cancelled more then 24 hours after booking may be exchanged for future travel be the employee up to one year from the date of cancellation.

All cancellations will incur penalty charges and additional service charges from both the Airline and the Travel Agency.

Travel Agent apply any remaining credit balance to a future flight for that individual employee upon the employee’s request.

Travel Agent will let the employee know that they have a credit which needs to be applied when making their reservations.

Airfare from the cancelled trip is still billable to and payable by Alion via the UATP account. Employee’s responsibility to keep track of the exchange ticket to ensure that the any remaining credit is applied to a future trip.

Trip Cancellation Process

Notify the Travel Agent that trip has been cancelled. This will ensure that all reservations made will be cancelled and no additional penalties will be assessed i.e. Hotel no show charges, etc.

Create an expense report against the Pre-Authorization for the cancelled trip.

In the Airfare Company paid category of the expense report, enter in the full amount of the original airfare and service charges for the cancelled trip which will be billed to Alion Science via the UATP account.

Assign the airfare cost to the job number the employee would be traveling on if the trip was not cancelled.

In the Longer Description field enter a note stating why the trip was cancelled.

Submit the expense report for approval and close the Pre-Authorization. The expense report will be a zero dollar reimbursement to the employee however it accounts for the cost of the airfare which Alion Science is still required to pay.

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Exchange/Refund Tickets Contact the Travel Agent to make the reservations and notify the agent that the

exchanged ticket on the employee’s profile is to be applied to this trip.

Create Pre-Authorization for the future trip. In the Longer Description field place a note that exchange ticket from Pre-Authorization number XXXXXX is being applied to this trip.

Submit the Pre-Authorization for approval.

Once the Pre-Authorization has been approved, email or fax a copy of the approved Pre-Authorization to the Travel Agent to confirm the reservations for the future trip.

Within 30 days of the return from Travel an expense report should be created for the future trip.

In the Airfare Company paid category of the expense report the following amounts need to be entered as it is shown on the Final Airfare Itinerary received from the Travel Agent: New Airfare amount for trip Service fee and Penalty fee for the exchanging the original ticket. Credit from the original airfare if any. This amount will be entered on the expense

report as a negative. Distribute cost to the charge number for the new airfare and service fee. The cost of

the penalty and credit from original trip should be distributed to the original charge number if traveling on the different charge number.

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Slide 14

Employee Purchase of Material & ServiceThe EPM&S form is used for reimbursing employees for business expenses they personally incur and pay for. It is intended that the form will generally be used to acquire small dollar value items incidental to conducting normal business operations. However, subject to restrictions and authorized approvals, the form may be used to receive reimbursement for purchases limited to $1,000 per line item. The Chief Financial Officer or the Corporate Controller must approve The Chief Financial Officer or the Corporate Controller must approve purchases over $1,000. Approval for such purchases must be obtained and purchases over $1,000. Approval for such purchases must be obtained and documentation provided before the purchase is made.documentation provided before the purchase is made. This documentation must be included in EPM&S submission or the payment request will be rejected. Authority levels to approve items purchased on an EPM&S form are set forth on Alion's Signature Authority Matrix

The EPM&S form cannot be used for any of the followingThe EPM&S form cannot be used for any of the following:Lease or rental payments,Lease or rental payments,Purchases of taggable property. Defined in the EPMS policyPurchases of taggable property. Defined in the EPMS policyPayments to consultants or subcontractors,Payments to consultants or subcontractors,Fixed assets, including computer equipment (software and hardware).Fixed assets, including computer equipment (software and hardware).Any items that need to be shipped to Alion other than via U.S. mail, UPS, or Federal Any items that need to be shipped to Alion other than via U.S. mail, UPS, or Federal Express, etc.Express, etc.Petty Cash reimbursementsPetty Cash reimbursementsOther direct costs billed to Alion Science and Technology,Other direct costs billed to Alion Science and Technology,Regular purchases of materials and services which would usually flow through the Regular purchases of materials and services which would usually flow through the procurement process.procurement process.The above items (except for petty cash) must be acquired by the Procurement The above items (except for petty cash) must be acquired by the Procurement Department through the issuance of a purchase order. Exceptions to the above must be Department through the issuance of a purchase order. Exceptions to the above must be approved by the Corporate Controller prior to the purchase.approved by the Corporate Controller prior to the purchase.

EPM&S….cntd

Business Meal Conferences which where hosted by the employee would be entered in the first 5 categories. Alion Science & Technology, Inc. defines a Business Meal Conference as:

“a business conference or meeting during which a meal or refreshments were served; the transaction must be such that the meal was incidental to the business conducted“

Associated expenses must be submitted on an Employee Purchased Materials and Services.

A detailed purpose, names and affiliations of the attendees must be shown on the expense report. If additional space is required this information can be uploaded with the receipts and attached to the expense report in eXpense. 

If Government employees or spouses are in attendance of the Business Meal Conference, the Government employee or spouse MUST pay for their portion of the meal. A notation of the amount paid, how it was paid must be shown on the expense report.

If spouses are in attendance at a business meal conference, the total cost of the meal is considered unallowable due to the meal not being incidental to the business conducted.

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Local Travel Prior approval by the appropriate Manager/supervisor must be obtained when an employee chooses to use a privately owned vehicle (POV) for personal convenience in lieu of air travel when air travel would be the norm. A comparison of the cost of the mileage to the cost of the lowest economical airfare will should be completed. This fly vs drive comparison will need to be uploaded with a copy of the airfare quote from the Alion Travel Agent and MapQuest or similar program to the expense report.

The employee will be reimbursed for the actual miles traveled at Alion’s mileage reimbursement rate in effect at the time of travel. However, under no circumstances will mileage reimbursement exceed the lowest commercial airfare that would have allowed the employee to perform the business travel.

While there is no certain distance, common sense should be followed.  If most people fly there from the employee's location, you should do a comparison.  If it only takes a few hours to drive there, and most people commonly drive there from the employee's location, you probably don't need a comparison however when in doubt, do a comparison. A sample comparison form is shown on the next slide.

Slide 17

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Other Related Benefits

The Other Related Benefits form is used only by Vice Presidents and above.

All other employees should use the EPMS form.

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General InformationMaintenance for Routing to function properlyPeoplelink Self Service must be updated by the Div. Mgr. when an employee:

Transfers from one division to another. Expense approver permanently changes from the previous approver.

In order for updates to become effective the system must update overnight and any expense reports which have been submitted with the incorrect information must be resubmitted after update has been completed.Jamis Job Master must be updated by the Project Controller when:

Program Manger for a charge number has changed due to transfer or termination.

Project Controller for a charge number has changed due to transfer or termination.

Location Code establishes the perdiem amounts for the employee’s trip. The code used should be the city the hotel is located in. If the city is not found then the county should be used. If neither the city or county are shown in the Location code tables then the Standard perdiem should be used. To access the Standard Perdiem, the employee should enter “All” in the State field.