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Travel Manager Tips

Accounting Labels
Remember: all accounting in Travel Manager is applied at the Center level, not the organization level. Never enter in the label free form – you must always select a label from the list.

Follow these steps to locate your correct accounting label:

Accounting Screen --> Click Change -->Enter 21 in Organization Name --> Click Search --> Click 21 in the list of Organization Names. Do not select your org!

**Mac users: use the scroll bar on the right-hand side of the screen to see the 21.

To further locate your correct label, enter search criteria in the Accounting Code field (before the Search and Retrieve buttons):

Enter capital D or R (direct or reimbursable) --> Enter the first 5 numbers of the WBS (not the 21, no dashes) and click Search. Remember to add the Internal Order and Object Class! Go to http://cfo.arc.nasa.gov/tmtrmat.html under Preparer Course Materials\Appendices.

Actuals
If an authorization requires actuals, two steps are required:

First, go to the Lodging and M&IE page. Click the pencil icon next to the date requiring actuals. Click in the Lodging and/or Meals check box. For lodging actuals, enter actual amount in the Lodging field. For M&IE actuals, enter specific values for meals and incidentals.

Second, enter the following justification in the Comments section:

A brief reason for actuals (e.g., conference hotel, no hotels at gov't rate available)
Name/Phone of Hotel
POC or a web address

Airfare
Remember, to select Central Billed Charge Card as the payment method when charging airfare to the GTA (Government Travel Account) or CBA (Centrally Billed Account).

Amending Vouchers
When amending vouchers, do not delete any existing expenses. Leave all original expenses on the voucher. Only add new expenses. With amendments, Travel Manager compares the amendment to the original and pays the difference. Therefore, if the existing expenses are removed (i.e. hotel or airfare), Travel Manager will invoice the traveler for expenses previously paid.

ARC Document Naming Convention
Travel documents at ARC should be named using the following standard:

Center ID Hyphen Traveler Org Code Month Day Year 1st Initial Last Name
12 - CFS 07 04 03 A TRA
2 - S 12 13 03 J DOE

Ex 1: 21-CFS070403ATRA
Andy Traveler in organization CFS is leaving on a trip July 4, 2003.

Ex 2: 21-S121303JDOE
John Doe in organization S is leaving on a trip December 13, 2003.

Canceling Documents/Trips
The Travel Office will process all cancelled trips. A request to cancel authorizations should be sent to the Travel Office at Melinda.Cavaness@nasa.gov. The format of the request is as follows:

Name of Traveler: Jane V. Gage
Document Travel Number: 21-SA0400212
Document Travel Name: 21-SA041804JGAG
Travel Dates: 4/18-4/21/04
Comments (optional): Traveler had conflict and needs to travel to MDFC for workshop.

Once the request has been processed, an email notification will be sent stating, "The obligation document has been canceled but you need to cancel your reservation through the TMC." Travelers should notify CI Travel when travel plans change or are canceled to prevent no-show fees. If an e-ticket has been issued and the traveler fails to notify CI Travel that their travel is canceled, an attempt will be made to contact the traveler up to 2 hours prior to the scheduled airline departure time to determine if the traveler intends to proceed with travel plans. If CI Travel is unable to contact the traveler or designated travel planner, no action will be taken to cancel the reservations. The responsibility falls to the traveler to cancel any reservations to avoid a no-show fee. Travelers who call hotels directly should always obtain a cancellation number from the hotel/lodging facility.

Contract Hotel
Effective October 1, 2004 NASA will no longer use Contract Hotels.

Document Routing
There are three different conditions that require the Preparer to change the routing of a Travel Authorization:

  1. Executive Routing (EXE) - if a traveler is a Director requiring executive approval

  2. Foreign (F) - if a traveler is traveling outside of the US

  3. Travel funded by an organization other than the traveler’s - if the trip is funded by an or other than the traveler's.
Preparer's can only change the routing PRIOR to signing the document.

Change the routing list through the traveler’s profile:
Open Travel Authorization --> Click Traveler Profile link --> Go to Duty Station section
Select the new organization for routing --> Click Set Org
Routing List drop-down --> select the proper routing (i.e. 21-C-F for foreign, 21-C-EXE for executive, 21-C for domestic).
Click Save profile changes in the upper right.

Document Status, History and Routing
The document status is visible in two areas: in the search results screen and within the document in the Document Status screen. If searching for a traveler, look to the list of documents that appear to the right of the selected traveler to view the document status.

To see the history (where it has been) and routing of the document (where it is going), open the document as View Only (do not enter your signature PIN).

Foreign Travel
On foreign travel authorizations be sure to choose the foreign routing list and the Other Authorization - Foreign Travel. Also, please indicate the Paying Organization into the Comments section.

Invitational Travel
To add an Invitational Traveler call the Help Desk at 4-2000 and inform them that an invitational traveler needs to be added to Travel Manager. The Travel Office will call and request the traveler’s name, address, SSN, employer, bank name, account number and routing information and what organization they are traveling for. Do not email the traveler’s information. Once the traveler has been added, verify in the Traveler’s Details that the Sponsor’s SSN is populated and correct. The sponsor is then able to act on behalf of the traveler and sign the voucher. Note: It is recommended the sponsor obtain a signed copy of the voucher from the traveler.

Lodging and M&IE
Lodging is not carried over from the authorization. Lodging must always be added to the voucher.

No Cost Authorizations
When creating the itinerary for a No Cost authorization, select No Cost from the trip type drop down list. Do not enter any accounting information on the authorization. In order to ensure that the traveler does not intend to claim any expenses on their trip, a voucher is required on a No Cost Authorization.

Receipts
To receive reimbursement for expenses over $75.00 while on Domestic Travel, NASA employees must provide receipts along with their travel voucher. Receipts can be faxed to the NSSC, using the NSSC Fax Cover sheet, at (866) 779-6772

Signing Travel Vouchers
According to travel regulations travelers must sign their travel vouchers.

Stamps/Status to Apply
For documents to route properly, it is important that the correct stamp is used. The following roles should stamp the documents accordingly:

Preparer - Signed
Reviewer - Reviewed
Approver – Mgmt Approved
Travel Office – Approved
CI Travel – A Travel Agent

Ticketed Transportation
There are 3 required fields when adding a ticket to an authorization: Type, Cost and Payment Method. All other fields are optional.When creating a travel voucher, be sure to verify, and correct if needed, the cost of the ticketed transportation.