Faculty/Staff - check will be sent to campus address

Students - please check BEN Financials to see if there is a current address in the system for each student. If not, please provide correct address.

Others - address must be provided

Type of Advance being requested

Anticipated out-of-pocket expenses prior to trip or event. The University will provide advances for faculty, staff and students traveling or entertaining on behalf of the University in order to cover reasonable expenses.

Employees with American Express corporate cards. The American Express corporate card is made available to monthly paid Penn employees and it is the preferred method of payment when traveling or entertaining on behalf of the university. Penn employees who are eligible for the American Express corporate card should not require advances prior to a trip or event. However, if they find it necessary to request an advance, that advance will be limited to no more than $50 per day for domestic trips and $75 for foreign trips.

Students and employees without American Express corporate cards may be granted additional amounts to cover meals, lodging and local transportation provided an explanation for the amount being requested is attached. Athletic coaches can take out advances for anticipated team travel.

Anticipated out-of-pocket expenses should not include:

• Airline tickets - can be charged to the Central bill account at American Express.
• Amtrak tickets - can be charged to credit cards or ProCard.
• Conference registration fees - can be charged to a ProCard or paid directly to the conference on a Request for Payment form and processed by A/P.

Prepaid expenses prior to a Trip or Event. The University encourages travelers to take advantage of sales or early discounts when purchasing airline tickets, registrations or hotel deposits. In those cases the University will reimburse individuals with an Advance for purchases of such items prior to a trip or event.

Such request should only be made when such an early payment causes a financial hardship or the individual has received a credit card bill and needs to pay that bill in a timely manner so as not to incur any interest or penalty charges.

One of the following documents needs to be submitted with the Advance form:

• copy of the itinerary / invoice showing the invoice has been paid,
• copy of the airline ticket, or
• copy of the credit card statement showing the item has been charged.

The Travel Office reserves the right to reject such an Advance request if it determines that:

• The event or travel dates have already occurred by the time the paperwork reaches the Travel Office, or
• The individual has just incurred the expense and has time to travel, return and request reimbursement without risking any interest or penalty fees.

International Project / Program Advances. Requests for Advances to cover special travel needs and extended operations should be processed through the Travel Office and must include a breakdown of how the funds are to be spent.

Operating expenses may include supplies and equipment as well as food, lodging and local travel expenses. If operations are in a foreign country and will continue for more than three months, a project checking account (imprest account) at the location may be opened in the name of The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania through the Office of the Treasurer. Additional advances can be wired to the account in monthly intervals. Advances on ongoing projects must be reconciled before additional advances are approved. Such advances are required to be reconciled under the same guidelines listed below. Failure to reconcile in a timely manner will prohibit additional advance requests from being approved.

Student activities / College house programs. Advances are provided to students for student activities and college house activities through the academic year. A student taking out such an advance for "floor programs" can take out that advance for a month. Advances for specific activities should contain the specific date of the activity or event.

Students must follow the same reconciliation guidelines as employees. Those guidelines are listed below.

Other. Other types of advances such as Student Award / Fellowship advances, per diems for visiting foreign nationals, etc. should use this designation. An explanation should be provided and any supporting documentation should be attached. (Any per diem payments to Foreign Nationals should follow the guidelines provided by the Tax Office).

Tracking #. When an advance is entered in the Cash Advance Tracking System (CATS) by the Travel Office, a tracking number is generated which is written on the form.

Amount. The amount of the advance must be listed.

Account codes. The 26 digit account code must be listed on the form.

Business administrator. The Business Administrator should print their name, sign and emboss the form.

Examples of additional approvals:

Business class approved by Dean, Vice-provost, Director or their designated representative.
Principal Investigator authorizing a payment on a grant
Signature of Chairman of the Department

Research Services. Any advance request that contains international travel on a grant or contract (5 ledger) or entertainment related expenses, must be approved by Research Services prior to being processed by the Travel Office.

* Advances for Non-employees. The University will not normally provide non-employees with travel advances. Exceptions will be granted for special circumstances that need to be documented to the Travel Office. A department representative is required to state the special circumstances and should sign the Request for Payment form on behalf of the non-employee, where indicated, acknowledging that the monies advanced are required to be accounted for and that they will be responsible for reconciling the advance for this non-employee in a timely manner with the appropriate receipts attached. If an advance for a non-employee is not reconciled in a timely manner, a 1099 form will be generated.