Conference reimbursement process

CHOP and Penn each have different platforms for reimbursing work expenses, like conferences and workshops. While most people will just use the CHOP system, Penn students may want/need to interact with both systems.

CHOP

Preparation: The expense report process will be much easier if you collect all your receipts and credit card statements before you get started. I believe that for conferences, they won’t reimburse you until after the date of the conference. You have to upload the receipt, proof you were there (like a program booklet or name badge or something), and then proof you paid it. You can take a screenshot of your bank statement, blur out any account info except last 4 digits, and show the amount and date match what’s on the receipt.) Note, you can start populating the report before the conference with any and all receipts, then submit it after the conference

  1. Sign in to your OneDrive application on your local computer and sync all of your documentation to an easy to find location. (I put mine in “Admin/Reimbursements/(YYYY-MM conference)”).
    • Note: If you’re using a non-CHOP device, you can do all this by going to Firefox and opening a virtual desktop. If you’re going this route, it’s also often easiest just to email all your receipts to yourself.
  2. Go to connect.chop.edu and open a Desktop.
  3. In the Desktop, make sure your documentation is synced and available, then open Microsoft Edge and navigate to at.chop.edu. In the menu on the left side of the page, click the “Workday” link.
  4. In Workday under the Quick Tasks menu on the right, select “View All Apps” and then select “Expenses” (icon of a hand holding dollar bills)
  5. In the expenses page, under the “Actions” menu select “Create Expense Report”
  6. Set up the primary info for the report. This includes entering a “Memo”, specifying the “Business Purpose”, and making any changes to the default filled values. Click the yellow “OK” button at the bottom left of the screen to create the new expense report in the system.
  7. The “OK” button should take you to a page with basic expense report info and totals at the top of the page followed by a header with three tabs: “Header”, “Attachments”, and “Expense Lines”.
  8. Adding an expense line: Click “Add”. Enter in the cost per unit, the merchant, and the expense item type (dropdown list). Because the internal file sharing structure is confusing, I highly recommend opening the OneDrive directory in a File Explorer window and dragging your documentation files into the webpage. When you have completed the expense line, click the “Save for Later” button.
  9. To add more expense lines, click the “Edit Expense Report” button at the bottom left of the page, then click the gold “Add” button under the header tabs.
  10. When all expense lines and documentation has been added, add a per diem. Follow the instructions on the per diem page
  11. Finally, you need to submit confirmation that you attended the conference. This confirmation can be as simple as a photo of your name badge. Click “Edit Expense Report” and navigate to the “Attachments” tab. Upload your confirmation and save the report.
  12. Address any errors and submit your report!

Penn

This section is written by (and mostly for) NGG students, but will hopefully be helpful for any other Penn students/employees in the lab.

BGS Funding

As a BGS student, you can get $1k per fiscal year (July-June) for conferences you’re presenting at. This must be approved ~1 month prior to the start of the conference! As of now, it’s unclear whether BGS will pay to cover travel expensed through CHOP or if the trip must be expensed through Penn. Stay tuned for updates as we try to figure all this out. More info - including the form you’ll need to fill out - is available on the BGS website under Travel Funds. The page also lists some other funding sources you may be able to utilize.

Other Student Funding

Also keep an eye out for emails soliciting applications for the Jameson Hurvich Award, which are usually sent out by the NGG admin every 6 months. This award is pretty low-burden to apply to and provides $750 in travel funding for students “presenting work related to behavioral neuroscience”. If you get the award, there are slightly different instructions for reimbursing expenses (there’s a Business Connection form instead of the Expenditure Justification form)

Concur

Concur is the website that Penn uses to process reimbursements. These notes draw heavily from the info on the PennLINC website (including a VERY helpful video walk-through by Lia!). The basic workflow is:

  1. Create an expense for the conference in Concur, adding each itemized expense (flights, hotels, etc).
    • Per Diem: Concur has a set amount of per diem (calculated based on the location of the conference) that you’ll be paid to cover meals. They pay a slightly reduced per diem for 2 travel days (to and from the conference) as well. This is handy, because you don’t need to keep receipts! Just note any meals that you didn’t pay for (e.g. lunch from the conference, lab dinner) and they’ll deduct a percentage from your reimbursement.
  2. Use the calculations from Concur to prep an Expenditure Justification form. This form is what it sounds like - a way to justify the expenses you’re submitting. A blank version can be found here, though it’s recommended to work off of previously-approved versions (ask in the PennLINC slack #concur channel). Once you’ve filled out everything except the PI signature, email this form to John (hyon1@pennmedicine.upenn.edu)/the finance team (10Admin-Fin@PennMedicine.upenn.edu) for them to look it over.
  3. Once your Expenditure Justification is approved, have Aaron sign it and add it as a pdf receipt in Concur (select the expense, go to Manage Receipts > Manage Attachments > Add).
  4. Submit!

Booking with Concur

It’s possible to book your flights directly through Concur, so you don’t have to carry any debt on your credit card. Please see the PennLINC site for instructions.