National University of Singapore

TRAC

NUS

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

Travel Request And Claims Management System

Simplified Guidelines To Use TRAC

Last updated on 11th Mar 2009, 9am

TRACTRAC

INTRODUCTION TO TRAC

Web based self-service solution for STAFF

Who can use TRAC?

NUS Staff holding a SAP ESS ID (employee self service), i.e. a staff who is able to check pay-slip online.

Note: TRAC applies to Academic, Administrative & Professional and Non-Academic Staff

Staff who are eligible for leave benefits will be able to submit travel request

TRAC is not applicable for other members of the University, for example visiting staff, students etc. They will continue to use the current manual processing.

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What is TRAC used for?

TRACTRAC

WHAT IS THE VALUE PROPOSITION?

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What is the minimum PC / Laptop software requirement to use TRAC?

TRAC is fully supported under Microsoft Windows (both XP and Vista) with Internet Explorer Version 7.0

For Macintosh, it is partially supported with Firefox 2.0. Other versions currently not supported

Adobe Reader Version 8.0 and above

Turn off any pop-up blockers in the internet browser settings

TRAC

TRAC HELPDESK – TRAVEL REQUEST PROCESS

TRAC

TRAC HELPDESK – TRAVEL AGENT PROCESS

TRAC

TRAC HELPDESK – CLAIMS PROCESS

TRACTRAC

ESS TRAVEL AND EXPENSE HOMEPAGE

Where can I find TRAC services?

Staff > Admin, Prof & Non-Acad (or Faculty & Research) > Travel and Expenses

TRACTRAC

TRAC – COMMON TERMS

Term DescriptionTrip Unique transaction number identifying each

submission. It can be a travel request, a travel claim or a general reimbursement claim.

Funding Type of funding for travel

NUS Operating BudgetOther NUS Managed Fund / External FundNUS Operating Budget & Other NUS Managed Fund / External FundSelf-Funded (ie expenses fully borne by the staff)

Planned Activity Type of travel

Admin Duties/Official LeaveConference / Seminar / WorkshopResearch / Fieldwork / Short Course

Cost Assignment WBS Element of a department where the expenses has to be charged to and subject to budget availability check

Expense Type Nature of expense / type of spendingExample: Air fare, hotel, books, teaching materials

TRACTRAC

TRAVEL REQUEST - PROCESS

What do I do if I want to travel? ( Recommended steps)

Step 1

Call or email NUS Travel Agent to make a travel booking for the intended travel dates and destination (For more information click here: Air Travel Procedures)

Step 2

Submit a travel request using TRAC services (For a user guide click here: Submit Travel Request)

Step 3

After receiving the approval notification, authorize the travel agent to issue the tickets. You can do this using an email or using the TRAC service (For a user guide on TRAC service click here: Notify Travel Agent)

TRACTRAC


What information I should have to submit a travel request?

1.Travel dates – Start date and end date of the travel. It excludes any personal leave period used before or after the trip.

2.Funding for the trip. Available options are:NUS Operating BudgetOther NUS Managed Fund / External FundNUS Operating Budget & Other NUS Managed Fund / External FundSelf-Funded (ie expenses fully borne by the staff)

3.Country of travel and the destination. More than one country and destination is allowed.

4.Type of travel. Available options are:Admin Duties/Official LeaveConference / Seminar / WorkshopResearch / Fieldwork / Short Course

5.Purpose of the travel and estimated costing details if required

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What other information I need to know about travel request?

1.Make reference to the approved travel request to submit a travel claim, if any. Do this after the end date of the trip.

2.While submitting a travel claim, you are not allowed to make any changes to travel dates or country of travel.

3.For any changes to an approved travel request, delete the approved travel request and submit a new request with the revised information. It should be done before submitting any travel claims.

4.Only one travel claim submission is allowed for each approved travel request.

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What other information I need to know about travel request?

5.Grace period of 21 days (after the end date of the trip) is given to staff for submitting a back dated travel request. This is to facilitate last minute urgent trips and to allow resubmission for any amendments.

6.Staff can delete a travel request during this grace period of 21 working days if it is not processed for claims.

7.To amend or delete a travel request after this grace period, contact TRAC Helpdesk

8.Use the TRAC overview service “My Travel/External Training Requests and Expense Claims” to display, change, delete and to track travel requests (click here for the user guide: Overview)

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS – FLOW CHART

Submit Claims / Supporting Documents

Verify ClaimsApprove Claims

Process Payment

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS

What do I do if I want to submit a “Travel claim”? ( Recommended steps)

Step 1

Prepare the details for submitting a travel claim. Refer to the checklist for details: Travel Claim Checklist

Step 2

Make reference to the approved travel request and submit the travel claim using TRAC service (For a user guide click here: Submit Travel Expenses Claim)

Step 3

Print the travel claim form, attach all supporting documents and receipts and send it to the “Claims Verifier” indicated in the claim form. (Click here for a user guide: Display/Print Claim)

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS

What do I do if I want to submit a “General Reimbursement claim”? ( Recommended steps)

Step 1

Prepare the details for submitting a general reimbursement claim. Refer to the checklist for details: General Reimbursement Claim Checklist

Step 2

Submit the claim using TRAC service (For a user guide click here: Submit General Reimbursement Claim)

Step 3

Print the travel claim form, attach all supporting documents and receipts and send it to the “Claims Verifier” indicated in the claim form. (Click here for a user guide: Display/Print Claim)

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS – SUBMISSION STEPS

Claim submission is a 4 step guided process

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS

What other information I need to know about claims process?

1.Claim can be submitted in SGD or foreign currency listed in TRAC. Reimbursement to staff will always be in SGD.

2.Details on the list of expense types in TRAC and its mapping general ledger account (GL account) is available here: Expense Types

3.Staff holding appointments in multiple departments can submit claim through relevant department. However, it should be informed to OFS before making any such claim to authorize the staff.

4.All claims must be charged to a department WBS and the verifier / approver selected for the claim must match to the department of the WBS used.

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS


5.Claims charged to a research project account should use the expense types defined for research projects. Such expense types can be identified from the description with words “(Res Proj)”. The list is given below:

Airfare(Res Project) Course/Reg Fee-Ovrs(Res Proj) Course/Reg Fee-Loc(Res Proj) Hotel (Res Project) Other Misc Costs(Res Project) Other Transports(Res Project) Online Search Services Subs Allowance(Res Project)

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS


6.WBS used in the claims submission must have enough budget for the amount claimed during submission. Check with your department’s finance administrator for details.

7.Any general reimbursement claims not submitted for approval (claims saved as draft or rejected claims) must be deleted by the staff. (User guide: Delete Claim)

8.Any travel claim not submitted for approval (claims saved as draft or rejected claims) should be changed and saved with zero amount (User guide: Change Claim)

9.Use the overview service to display, change, delete, resubmit and to track the status of the claim. ( User guide: Overview)

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TRAC CLAIMS PROCESS


10.When entering a subsistence allowance expense type, use the “Allowance Calculator” function provided to compute the subsistence allowance. You are allowed to amend the amount computed after exiting from the allowance calculator but not before. (User guide: Allowance Calculator)

TRAC

OTHER USEFUL LINKS

TRAC Circulars OFS/2008/022 dt 08.08.2008 OFS/2008/026 dt 01.09.2008 OFS/2008/027 dt 04.09.2008

TRAC User Guides