Author: hhubbard

International Airfare Booking

  • June 2nd, 2023
  • in News

Please remember that due to the availability of local carriers in various countries and locations, international airfare bookings are exempt from the Concur booking requirement.  These bookings must still be paid for with a UA P-Card.   Travelers do not need to reach out to Accounts Payable for prior approval of international bookings outside of the Concur system.  All domestic air travel is required to be booked through Concur or Christopherson Business Travel using a UA P-Card.

UA Gift Cards

  • June 2nd, 2023
  • in News

UA has partnered with Cadence Bank and Dash Solutions to provide departments with a flexible solution for purchasing and providing virtual or plastic gift cards to recipients.  These gift cards can be loaded and unloaded with any value and provided to departments for various needs.

Gift cards may be allowed in situations where it is determined that the expenditures are in the best interest of the University and promote the purposes of the University.  For example, gift cards may be provided as an incentive to encourage participation in a UA research study. The determination of whether a gift card is an allowable gift is dependent upon the selection of the recipient, the reason for the gift cards and the recipient’s affiliation to UA.

All gift card requests will be submitted through the Concur Request Module. Prior to requesting the gift cards, please review the information pertaining to the allowability of gift cards and responsibilities of custodians.

Please refer to the Gift Card Webpage for additional information and instructions.

Relocation/Moving Allowance Reminder

  • May 2nd, 2023
  • in News

As a reminder, if a department wishes to pay an amount towards relocation costs for a new hire, this will be paid as a taxable moving allowance.

There are two options for the timing of moving allowance payments:

  1. Prior to Employment Start Date: If the moving allowance is paid in advance of the employment start date, no taxes are withheld at the time of issuance. However, applicable taxes will be withheld from one or more regular paychecks once the employee is active on Payroll. The Tax Office will notify the employee by email in advance of the taxation. The taxable moving benefit will appear as a line item on the employee’s pay stub in each period where taxation occurs. The number shown on the pay stub is the amount of benefit that is being taxed in that pay period, not the amount of taxes being deducted. The tax deduction amounts will vary depending on the employee’s individual tax bracket and filing status.
  2. After Employment Start Date: If the moving allowance is paid after the employment start date, the payment is processed through Payroll. For this option, applicable taxes are withheld at the time of payment with no impact on subsequent paychecks.

For further details, refer to the following website links:

Travel Policy Reminders

  • April 2nd, 2023
  • in News

When booking travel, please remember that only domestic airfare is required to be booked through Concur or Christopherson Business Travel (CBT).  All Concur bookings must be charged to a UA P-Card.  International airfare bookings may be booked externally if necessary.  When booked externally, the UA P-Card continues to be the required method of payment.  Lodging and rental car reservations must be booked through Concur when possible.  When booked externally, the UA P-Card continues to be the required method of payment.

Domestic airfare bookings have been mandated through Concur and CBT for various reasons including the below benefits.

  • Visibility and availability of unused flight credits.
  • Support of UA’s travel agent 24/7.
  • Duty of Care information captured.
  • When booking through Concur, the traveler knows the airfare selected is within UA policies.
  • Booking through Concur will lead to an easier reconciliation process as e-receipt, itinerary and card transaction (if using traveler p-card) information will be in the traveler’s profile.

Local Hotel Booking Reminder

  • December 3rd, 2022
  • in News

For users booking lodging for local hotels such as Hotel Capstone and Hampton Inn Tuscaloosa, please know that you can book these directly with the hotel.  These do not have to be booked through the Concur Booking Tool.  Many local hotels prefer that we continue booking directly with them so that they can obtain additional information needed for the reservation as these hotels are primarily used for UA guests.  Please contact these hotels directly to reserve and be direct billed.  The direct bill should then be paid using a UA P-Card.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Accounts Payable at acctspay@ua.edu.

Airfare Classes Available in Concur

  • August 26th, 2022
  • in News

We have communicated previously (https://accountspayable.ua.edu/travel-news/) that our travel agency did not recommend the offering of the lowest basic airfare options due to the lack of benefits and the increased restrictions associated with these fares.  As a result, when reviewing flights on both Concur and external booking sites, travelers would contact us stating that cheaper flights can be found outside of the system.  When researching these instances, we typically determined that the traveler was not comparing the same fare/class of ticket.  We have worked with our travel agent to add the lower-class fares to the online booking tool, so basic economy fares are now included in the search results.  Please remember that these fares are very restrictive (no changes, no seat assignments until check-in, no frequent flyer points earned, one carry-on, etc.).  Please always be aware of which fare option you are booking in the system and know that all available options in the system are allowable flights.  Accounts Payable can continue to review any variances you see between Concur and external sites.