Using Apptricity for Travel & Business Expenses

TSS is available to prepare travel reports for you!  Here's what to do:

• Complete a Travel & Business Expense Intake Form.  The form will permit you to include pdfs or jpegs of all receipts.
• Once TSS creates the report, the traveler will receive an email and must view/approve the report.
• Once approved by the traveler, it will route to the supervisor.
• Accounts Payable will send the traveler an email when the reimbursement is made via direct deposit.

Receipts are not needed under $50 if a) the Tufts Travel Card was used and b) you are charging a deptid.  Out of pocket expenses need receipts at any amount, as do all grant expenses.  Travelers opting for per diem meals and incidentals will not submit receipts for those types of expenses.

Yes.  At Tufts we use a Central Travel Account (CTA) - aka "ghost card" - so expenses such as airfare or local hotel can be directly billed to a deptid or grant for students or guests.  Use of the ghost card system requires that airfare purchases be done with one of our two preferred vendors, The Travel Collaborative or Egencia.  To initiate this process, please complete our Travel Authorization form.

At Tufts, a traveler can select reimbursement by receipt for all expenses or Per Diem Meals & Incidentals.  If choosing the Per Diem option, receipts are still needed for transportation and lodging only ~ no meal receipts.  NOTE:  The travel must choose by receipt or Per Diem for the entire trip. For example, one cannot be reimbursed Per Diem on Monday and Tuesday, and by all receipts the rest of the week.  Per the U.S. General Services Administration, per diem rates are reduced to 75% of the listed amounts on the departure and return dates. 

Want to see in advance what the rates are for your destination?  Click below!

• Domestic Per Diem Calculator. 

• Foreign Per Diem Calculator.

Tufts will only reimburse for gasoline expenses if used with a rental car.  Gas is not reimbursed for personal vehicles.  You must instead complete a travel report and use the mileage reimbursement feature.  The IRS mileage reimbursement rate accounts for gas used as well as wear & tear on the vehicle.

For minor travel card expenses such as meals or taxis, you can complete a Missing Receipt Affidavit and attach it with your travel report in lieu of a receipt.  For lodging or rental car, you must contact the vendor and have them print a new receipt.  The Missing Receipt Affidavit is not permitted for out of pocket expenses.

If you erroneously made a personal charge on your Corporate Card, mark that transaction as “personal” when filling out your expense report in Apptricity (charge to a deptID and not a grant). The amount will be deducted from your out of pocket reimbursement. 

If the personal charge was included on a travel report and reimbursement has already been made, the traveler owes Tufts.  To pay Tufts back, you have two options:

1. If you expect to receive another reimbursement (sufficient to cover the amount) within 60 days you can leave the credit as is and the amount owed will be deducted from the next reimbursement.
2. If you will not be getting a reimbursement or wish to pay Tufts back now, send a check to Tufts Support Services/Attn: Travel/80 George St, Medford, MA 02155. TSS will deposit the money into the DeptID and remove the credit from the system. Please make checks payable to “Trustees of Tufts College” and reference the report number.

Receipts can be uploaded at the line item level or a summary file with all receipts can be uploaded at the header level.  Generally, a pdf format is best at the header level.

With each charge made internationally with your Tufts Travel Card, there will be a corresponding service fee.  Simply classify that fee with the primary expense category, such as breakfast or lodging, etc.