ESSIC Travel-CONCUR
The University of Maryland, College of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences (CMNS) has switched over to a new Travel System called SAP Concur to process all travel. ESSIC travel will still require an EBO Travel Request before you can submit a request into the Concur system.
Here are the steps to process your Travel now.
ESSIC-Related Travel Procedure
- At least 3-weeks before domestic travel and 6 weeks before international travel--(earlier is always better) --submit an EBO TAR; (please be sure to include a detailed justification for all travel.) https://ebo.essic.umd.edu/travel/tar.php
- Once the TAR is approved by the PI/Task lead / or Sponsor it will be assigned to your account manager. The Account Manager will confirm that travel funding is available under the account and confirm that the Account number is correct. (Please note: CISESS and NASA MG employees you will need the account number and task number for your request.)
- Your account manager or ESSIC Travel Processor will contact you to let you know when you can begin to submit your Travel request into the Concur system.
- When you submit your Concur travel please include the EBO TAR# and the Account number in the Trip Name/Purpose in Concur; sample format - AGU Conference(EBO12345)5261040. Also ensure the amounts in your EBO request match your Concur request if it does not it will be disapproved.
Please note Prior Approval for ALL travel is required; (No EBO TAR and No Approved Concur Request potentially equals no reimbursem*nt for expenses.) When making your travel plans note - Third party vendors (i.e. Expedia, Hotwire, Booking.com, Kayak, etc. ) are not allowed. You can only book through Concur or directly with the vendor (i.e. Southwest Airlines, Marriott, Spirit Airlines, etc.)
Note: Before proceeding, please bookmark the Concur login link: (https://ter.ps/concur)
Travel and Card Services have created several job aids to guide new uses with Concur. They can be found on the Travel and Card Services website.
Concur Travel Guide – UMD’s Sociology department has shared a comprehensive guide they created to provide guidance to first timeConcur users. The document includes guidance on creating a profile, requesting a Tcard, creating employee and guest travel requests, booking travel in Concur, and creating expense reports.
Creating a Concur travel request - Instructions on creating a new travel request
Booking travel in Concur - Instructions on how to book a flight, rail, lodging, and/or car rentals.
Creating a Concur expense report - Instructions on how to create an expense report for a trip that includes Tcard and out of pocket expenses. (FYI- Meals are expensed based on the Federal Per Diem Schedule.) Itemized receipts are required. Conference agenda/schedule is required to provide per diem reimbursem*nt for meals.
Mileage - USM has approved a mid-year mileage rate increase effective July 1, 2022,inaccordance with the IRS from 58.5 cents to 62.5 cents.The ELF forms will have a drop-down list for initiators to choose the correct rate for the date of the travel.For Concurusers, the rate will automatically generate based on the dates.
How to Add Per diem to your TES (Travel Expense Report): Youtube video instruction via the following (link).
Concur Travel system – ESSIC Q & A - Questions from our fellow ESSIC Researchersand answers.
For a full breakdown of UMD's Travel Procedures, see this page.
All travelers must submit an EBO travel approval request prior to submitting a Travel request in Concur for any and all Virtual, Domestic and International Travel.
ESSIC Travel-CONCUR
How to pay for your travel?
- Personal Card - You can add your personal card into Concur to pay for your travel and be reimbursed for your out-of-pocket expenses.
- Ghost Card - There will be Ghost card in Concur to pay for airfare & rail services only (more info can be found on the ESSIC travel webpage).
- Travel Card - You can apply for a UMD Travel Card. Please note: We will be limiting the approval of Travel cards to our frequent faculty travelers at this time. (Those who typically travel more than 4 days/year) All applications for tcards must be approved by the department. Anyone who violates the card policies, will have their card terminated. Information on how to apply for a tcard is listed in the How-to guides and job aid section.
Please note: A traveler must use a ghost card or a card they manually upload into their Concur profile whether it be a Tcard or personal credit card. In order to make a payment, the traveler has to choose which card will be charged.
Ghost Cards
The ghost card is a UMD central credit card card. It will be preloaded into all Concur profiles day one. It is only intended to be used for airfare and train fare booking, and only by users who do not have a Tcard because they only travel once a year or are waiting for their Tcard to arrive, but need to book now. Users will not see the ghost card in their profile until they're in the booking section and select the available payment options. If no other card was added to the profile, the UMD ghost card will appear. Once the ghost card is used for booking, the invoice and charge will populate in the user's account as an expense that needs to be reconciled.
TCard Application and Training Process
ESSIC Travel-CONCUR
- Current card holders, all approvers and all delegates are required to complete Roles and Responsibilities training in ELMS.
- The university reserves the right not to issue a Tcard to anyone who has a history of misuse.
- Tcard application, Concur job aids, training and support can be found on the Concur Help Center page.
Once you apply for, take the training and receive your tcard, we are asking that faculty and students limit their tcard usage to the following:
- Airfare
- Rail
- Hotel*
- Ground Transportation (uber, taxis, etc)
- Conference/Abstract fees
DO NOT USE YOUR TCARD FOR FOOD PURCHASES!!! Why? It's a disaster to reconcile at the expense stage in Concur. Just pay out-of-pocket for food expenses and get reimbursed based on the lower of your expenses or per diem.
Be sure to retain all itemized receipts. They will need to be uploaded in Concur. (This does not apply to food. Why? Because you do not need receipts to claim per diem. If you purchase food on your tcard, however, you will need an itemized receipt and will have to figure out how to manage that disaster in Concur.)
* airBNB, etc. cannot be purchased on a tcard. The University cannot accept the terms and conditions associated with these types of rentals, therefore they cannot be paid for on a University t-card. Please pay for these rentals with your personal credit card and submit them for reimbursem*nt when you have completed your travel.
Lastly, Delegates. Please do not assign delegates until we have a better understanding of the process. I suspect we will be fine-tuning this process for some time.
