TRAVEL SETTINGS

Use this screen to determine many of the overall settings for Costpoint Travel. You can also set the type of approval control you will exercise over advances and expense reports.

Initialize this screen when you first set up Costpoint Travel.

Options

Company-Wide Trip Numbering

Select this check box to assign trip numbers on a company-wide basis. If you leave the check box clear, the system will number trips by each vendor.

Last Trip Number

If you selected the Company-Wide Trip Numbering check box, this field displays the last trip number assigned to any vendor. This alphanumeric field is 10 characters long and is available only if the Company-Wide Trip Numbering check box is selected. See Special Notes at the end of this section for suggestions on formatting this field.

Last Advance Number

Enter the last company-wide advance number used. Advances are always numbered on a company-wide basis. When assigning advance numbers, the system increments the number specified here by one. This required alphanumeric field is 10 characters long. See Special Notes at the end of this section for suggestions on formatting this field.

Last Expense Report Number

Enter the last company-wide expense report number used. Expense report numbers are always numbered on a company-wide basis. When assigning expense report numbers, the system increments the number specified here by one. This required alphanumeric field is 10 characters long. See Special Notes at the end of this section for suggestions on formatting this field.

Advance Ceiling

This is the company-wide advance ceiling. It can be overridden at the vendor level. If you do not want to assign a company-wide advance ceiling, set this field to 0.00. This will also disable the Enable Over Ceiling Advances group box entries. The ceiling cannot be less than 0.00.

Partial Per Diem

Select this check box to calculate per diems on a quarter-day basis. If the checkbox is clear, per diems will be calculated on whole days only.

Enable Batch Control

If you select this check box, you can enter both advances and expense reports in batches. To approve either advances or expense reports by batch, you must select this check box.

Batch processing is not available at this time.

Commitments

Trip Scheduling/Commitment Tracking

Select this check box to activate the Trip Scheduling function for Costpoint Travel applications. Travel commitments are used to create an accrual that is reversed after the trip is completed and expenses have been reconciled and posted.

When tracking commitments, running the Update Project Status Report Table screen in Costpoint Inquiry and Reporting will insert the commitment amounts into the PSR_FINAL_DATA table. These amounts will also be reflected on the Project Status Report.

Create Advances from Trip Schedules

Select this check box to create travel advances from scheduled trips entered in the Schedule Trips screen.

Recommended Advance Rate

Enter the percentage of the estimated trip cost that will be the default for travelers.

Enable Over Ceiling Advances

Enable Over Ceiling Advances is not available at this time.

Before creating A/P Vouchers, the system evaluates outstanding travel advances against the Advance Ceiling. If you select No here, the system will not create the travel advance that would put the vendor over the Advance Ceiling amount. If you choose Yes here, the system will create travel advances regardless of the Advance Ceiling amount. If you select the Warning option, the travel advance will be created, but it will also appear on an exception report.

Advance Approvals

Approvals are not available at this time.

Required

Select this check box if advances need to be approved before you can generate A/P vouchers. If the check box is clear, advances will automatically be approved when they are entered, and the rest of the fields in this group box are not applicable.

Batch 

If the Enable Batch Control check box is selected, you can approve advances by those same batches. Select this option if you would like to approve advances in batches.

Individual 

Select this option if you would like to approve individual advances above the individual advance limit.

Limit

Enter the advance approval limit. This is highest advance amount that does not require individual approval. If you have decided to approve individual advances, this limit is compared to the absolute value of the advance amount. If the absolute value of the advance amount is less than the limit, it will be automatically approved. Only positive numbers are allowed in this field. For example, a limit of $500 will automatically approve advances between $-499.99 and $499.99. A value of zero here will require individual approval for all advances.

Expense Approvals

Expense report approvals are not available at this time.

Required

Select this check box if expense reports need to be approved before you can generate A/P vouchers. If the checkbox is clear, expense reports will automatically be approved when they are entered, and the rest of the fields in this group box are not applicable.

Batch

If the Enable Batch Control check box is selected, you can approve expense reports by those same batches. Select this option if you would like to approve expense reports in batches.

Individual 

Select this option if you would like to approve individual expense reports above the individual expense report limit.

Limit

Enter the expense report approval limit. This is highest expense report amount that does not require individual approval. If you have decided to approve individual expense reports, this limit is compared to the absolute value of the expense report amount. If the absolute value of the expense report amount is less than the limit, it will be automatically approved. Only positive numbers are allowed in this field. For example, a limit of $500 will automatically approve expense reports between $-499.99 and $499.99. A value of zero in this field will require all expense reports to be approved individually.

Ranges for Advance Aging

Use this group box to enter the default information needed for printing the Aging of Advances Report. You can customize the ranges for your aged advances. On the Aging of Advances screen, you age your report based upon the date the check was issued for an advance or the advance request date.

Heading

Enter up to 10 characters to be used for the headings for the columns on the Aging of Advances Report. The headings should be specified as ranges of days, such as 1-30 and 31-60. These headings should tie in with the Days From and Days To ranges. Note that the Days From and Days To ranges refer to days since issued, because aging is done from the day the advance check is issued.

Days From and To

Use the Days To field to specify the upper limit of the day ranges for aging travel advances. The system automatically calculates each Days From value is as the previous row's Days To value plus one. Note that the system performs aging of advances from the date the check was issued.

For example, if the range of days in the Heading field is 31-60 (meaning 31-60 days outstanding), the entry in the Days To field should be 60 (this also assumes that the previous Days To entry is 30). All columns on the Aging of Advances report will be aged according to the days ranges specified in these columns, and labeled according to the label specified in the Heading column. Make sure that your day ranges and your column labels correspond.

Auto Apply Advances Based On

Select Manual, Trip No, or Advance Date to determine how advance requests will be applied when using the Enter Expense Reports screen. If you choose Manual, you must manually apply advances. If you choose Trip No, you can automatically apply advances by trip. If you choose Advance Date, you can automatically apply advances by advance date. The default is Manual. If you choose Trip No or Advance Date, the auto apply function can be disabled on an expense report-by-report basis. Please refer to the documentation regarding the Auto Apply Advance check box in the Enter Expense Reports screen.

Special Notes

The Last Trip Number, Last Advance Number, and Last Expense Report Number are all alphanumeric and 10 characters long. Because they are alphanumeric, they may have a code built in to them. However, for the system to automatically assign the next number, there must also be a numeric portion. The system will not accept a number without a numeric component. Costpoint will increment the right-most numeric portion of the number when assigning the next value. If the right-most numeric component is less than three digits long, you will receive an error. Please make sure that the numeric part of each number is wide enough so that you do not run out of numbers. Here are some examples of numbering schemes with large numeric parts:

Number

Numeric Portion

Remaining Range

00000001

00000001

00000002 through 99999999 

AD-0000001

0000001

0000002 through 9999999 

TR-97-000000

000000

000001 through 999999

These numbers, although valid, probably do not allow for enough growth:

Number

Numeric Portion

Remaining Range

TR-001

001

002 through 999

00001-EXP-1

1

2 through 9

Trip numbers, advance numbers, and expense report numbers can never be reused within Costpoint.