Clearing a Travel Advance

Once a business unit issues a travel advance, it will need to be cleared. The steps below include instructions for three different scenarios that may occur: 1. The employee spends the exact amount of the advance; 2. The employee spends less than the advance and needs to return the money to Duke; 3. The employee spends more than the advance and is owed money.

Kristin Coombs
31 steps
2 minutes

These instructions are for an employee clearing their own advance. This guide will indicate where instructions are different for an expense delegate.

Clearing a Travel Advance - Accessing the Advance and Creating the Expense Report

From the Concur home page, Select **Requests** to open the Request main page.

If you are an Expense Delegate, from your profile, act on behalf of that individual before you begin. Please see the *Accessing an Employee - Expense Delegate Quick Reference Guide* for instructions.

From the **Active Requests** list, find the approved advance you want to clear and select the advance to open it.

From the **Request** page, review the audit message and select **Create Expense Report**.

From the Manage Expenses page, review the audit messages. Select View to make any required changes to the report header. Once changes have been made, select **Add Expense** to add expense to the expense report.

If corporate card charges were also incurred during a trip that includes an advance, that can be cleared in the same expense report used to clear the advance.

Proceed to the instructions best describing your scenario: 1. The employee spends the exact amount of the advance 2. The employee spends less than the advance and needs to return money to Duke; 3. The employee spends more than the advance and is owed money.

Alternate Option - Adding an Advance to an Existing Expense Report

From the Homepage, select the Expense tab to open the **Manage Expenses** view. Select the expense report.

From the **Manage Expenses** page, a pop-up window appears informing you there are cash advances available to add to the expense report. Select **View**.

From the Manage Linked Cash Advances screen, select **Add Cash Advance**.

The Available Cash Advances window appears displaying any active advances. Only one advance can be assigned to an expense report. Select the approved advance from the list. Select **Add**.

In the Manage Linked Cash Advances window, you will see the added cash advance. If you accidentally added the wrong advance you can remove it by selecting **Remove**. Select **Close**.

In the expense report, the advance has been assigned and you can view it by selecting the advance. Notice the remaining amount is less than the requested amount. Select **Add Expense**.

Please note: If corporate card charges were also incurred during a trip that includes an advance, they can be cleared in the same expense report used to clear the advance. Proceed to the instructions that best describe your scenario: - The employee spends the exact amount of the advance; - The employee spends less than the advance and needs to return the money to Duke; - The employee spends more than the advance and is owed money.

Scenario 1 - Employee Spent Exact Amount of Advance

After locating your advance, creating the expense report and entering all out-of-pocket expenses, view the report totals before submitting the expense report, select **Report Details - Report Totals**.

In the Report Totals window, if the employee spent exactly the amount of the advance the Amount Total and **Requested Amount** should match and the **Total Owed by Employee** should display as **$0.00**. Select **Close**.

Review the expense report and audit message. Ensure all documentation is attached. Select **Submit Report**.

Please note: Expense Delegates will select **Ready for Review**.

In the **Report Totals** pop-up window, review the report totals. Ensure the **Cash Advance Utilized** is correct and the **Amount Owed Company** is **$0.00**. Select **Submit Report**.

In the **Report Status** confirmation window, select **Close**.

Scenario 2 - Employee Spends Less than Advance

After creating the expense report and entering all out-of-pocket expenses, if the employee spent less than the advance amount, the amount due to Duke displays as the **Remaining Advance Amount.** The **Total Amount** and the **Total Requested** should match. In this example, the advance was for $600.00 and the expense report includes expenses totaling $587.50. The employee needs to return **$12.50**.

Review the audit message. If this is an international trip and you’re claiming Meal Per Diems, you must complete the Travel Itinerary – Meal Travel Allowance. For detailed instructions, please view the *International Travel – Meal Per Diems Quick Reference Guide – Steps 2-8.*

When employees do not spend all of an advance, they are responsible for returning the funds. Funds must be deposited with the University Cashier before clearing the advance **as a copy of the deposit receipt is necessary** to complete the expense report. Funds should be deposited to **Travel Advance Receivable account – 141202,** using **fund** **1001000.**

Once excess funds are deposited at the Cashier’s office, select **Add Expense.** From the drop-down, select **Manually Create Expense**.

From the **Add Expense** **to Report** screen, select **Travel Advance Repayment – 141202** or use the search feature.

Remember, if an employee does not use the full amount of a cash advance, the unused funds must be returned. These funds should be deposited with the University Cashier, and a receipt from the cashier should be obtained to submit with the expense report.

In the **New Expense** screen, enter all the required fields. The **Cashier/Bursar Receipt #** is required.** Enter the amount returned to Duke, and attach the receipt from the cashier’s office to the entry. Select **Save Expense**.

Review expense report/advance amounts. **Remaining Cash Advance** is now $0.00. **Requested Amount** is the amount of the expense report and includes the funds repaid to Duke.

Select **Report Details-Report Totals** to confirm accuracy of entry. In the Report Totals window, **Requested Amount** and **Total Paid by Company** should match. The **Total Owed by Employee** should be **$0.00**. Select **Close.**

If the **Total Owed by Employee** is not $0.00, stop and review the second tip in green under **Step 17** regarding *when employees do not spend all of an advance,* and the additional reminder in red under **Step 19.**

Review the expense report and audit messages and ensure all documentation is attached. Select **Submit Report**.

Expense Delegates will select **Ready for Review**.

In the **Report Totals** pop-up window, review the report totals. Select **Submit Report.**

In the **Report Status** confirmation window, select **Close**.

Scenario 3 - Employee Spends More Than the Advance

After creating the expense report and entering all expenses, out-of-pocket and corporate card, if the employee spent more than the amount of the advance, in addition to clearing the advance, the report will issue the employee’s payment. The **Remaining Advance Amount** will be $0.00 as advance funds have cleared. The **Total Requested Amount** will reflect the amount of the advance and any other expenses included in the report. In this example, the employee had a $1,040.00 advance that was entirely used, a $51.22 out-of-pocket charge for a dinner in excess of the advance, and a $564.39 corporate card charge for lodging.

Select **Report Details-Report Totals** to confirm accuracy of entry.

In this example, the **Amount Due Employee** is $51.22. The **Amount Due Corporate Card** is the $564.39 The **Cash Advance Amount Utilized** is $1,040 which is the **Total Paid By Company** less **Amount Due User** less **Amount Due Corporate Card.** Select **Close.**

Expense Delegates should review the detail before sending the expense report for review to the employee as this is the only place they can see this detail. Employees can view this detail as well, but will also display once the employee submits the expense report.

Review the expense report and audit messages and ensure all documentation is attached. Select **Submit Report**.

Expense delegates will select **Ready for Review**.

In the **Report Totals** pop-up window, review the report totals, ensuring the information is correct. Select **Submit Report**.

In the **Report Status** confirmation window, select **Close**.

Helpful Hints

Keep the following in mind when clearing Travel Advances: If you are clearing an advance and need to stop working before you are finished, since the advance has transition from a **Request** to an **Expense Report**, you will find the unfinished report under **Open Reports** on the **Expense** page. Refer to [GAP 200.023](https://finance.duke.edu/travel/advances/) for specific guidance on working with Travel Advances.