July 1 Changes Coming to Business & Professional Development Travel Procedures

The Business Office is making several changes related to business travel and professional development that will go into effect on July 1, 2014. Changes include the following: 

• The Out-of-Area Travel & Professional Development Form is being renamed to the Overnight Travel & Professional Development Form. As a result of this change, staff traveling out of our agency’s area, to meetings not requiring overnight lodging and not related to professional development, can now claim the mileage on their monthly online expense claim.

• Staff will use the account code ‘OUTAREA’ when claiming the mileage on their online expenses. If the ‘OUTAREA’ code is not set up in your expense report, contact Mary Heaberlin, Accounting Technician, at mheaberlin@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14818. Travel involving overnight lodging and expenses related to professional development will still be reimbursed using the Overnight Travel & Professional Development form. 

• Hotel reimbursement will still be limited to $55 plus taxes for in-state lodging and $175 plus taxes for out-of-state lodging. However, an exception will be made for conferences that advertise a related hotel rate. The advertised hotel rate will become the new maximum amount of reimbursement even if it exceeds the $175 limit. If the conference hotel is full, the conference hotel rate will be the maximum reimbursed at other area hotels. Staff will be responsible for turning in documentation supporting the conference hotel rate. Staff members are encouraged to double up on occupancy when possible in order to maximize the use of the Agency’s professional development budget. 

• The Agency’s preferred method of payment for registration fees will continue to be via purchase orders. Pre-payment of registration fees may be allowed with Business Office approval. The exceptions for pre-payment include, but are not limited to, high cost fees, fees that must be pre-paid and vendors that do not accept purchase orders. Regardless of whether a registration fee is pre-paid, all registration fees require a purchase order. Staff members are still allowed to personally pay registration fees and be reimbursed after the conference is attended using the Overnight Travel & Professional Development form. 

Please refer to the memo attached to the Overnight Travel & Professional Development Form for detailed information and instructions, or if you have questions, contact Brian Whalen, Business Manager, at bwhalen@heartlandaea.org or at ext. 14005.