Financial Services Travel Training July 28, 2015

Introduction This training is designed to provide instructions about how to prepare for out-of-town/overnight travel and local travel around the county and the State required for your position with Cobb County School District. We will walk through the forms needed and how to complete the forms with the proper documentation and approvals.

Forms Required to Travel Out-of-Town / Overnight Go to the Financial Services website from the CCSD Support Page to print your travel forms: Click on General Information>Form Bank>Travel FS-125Authorization for Out-of-Town/Overnight Travel FS-118Request for Check/Reimbursement of County Funds * Registration or Non-employees only FS-119Payroll Request for Check for Travel Expense Prepayment – Vendor Paid FS-119-APayroll Request for Check for Travel Expense Prepayment – Employee Paid FS-137Certificate of Exemption for the State of Georgia Local Hotel/Motel Excise Tax ST-5State of Georgia Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption FS-118-BTravel Advance for a Specific Trip from County Funds FS-100Employee Expense Statement for Out-of-Town/Overnight Travel FS-412Travel Expense Checklist for FS-100  All forms should be typed and signed in ink other than black. All forms should be typed and signed in ink other than black.

First Step for Out-of-Town / Overnight Travel Complete the FS-125 Authorization for Out-of- Town /Overnight Travel

Steps and Tips to Plan your Trip Complete the FS-125 to request approval to take the trip from your supervisor/principal. The original FS-125 must be forwarded to the Payroll Dept. after all approvals have been obtained. A copy of the conference/meeting agenda portion with meeting times and meal times must be attached along with the registration information. A copy of the FS-125 must be attached to all other requests sent to Payroll or Accounts Payable while preparing for the trip and while filing for the travel reimbursement for the trip after returning to your headquarters. Obtain a price for the registration from the conference/workshop brochure. Contact the hotel to obtain a room rate unless arranged by the conference personnel. Go on line or contact the airline company to obtain an estimated cost for the flight. You may use the Nippon Travel Co. for your airline ticket. You will need to consider the price increasing, if you don’t book with them on the first call you make to them. If you use Nippon, the bill is paid through Payroll directly. Check on Per Diem rates for meals and regulations related to meals.

Steps and Tips to Plan your Trip FS-118 is an Accounts Payable form. Use it to request payment for Registration for a conference, workshop, seminar or to pay contract employees. FS-119 is used to Pre-pay a vendor any expenses we allow prepayment. These include hotel or airline expenses only. You may use the FS-119 to prepay hotel costs directly to the hotel. CCSD will cut a check to the hotel directly for this expense. You may prepay airline tickets and hotel costs with your personal money and be reimbursed for these expenses prior to the trip. To be reimbursed prior to the trip, you must submit an FS-119A, Payroll Request for Check for Travel Expense Prepayment and a paid receipt in the employee’s name. Otherwise, you will be reimbursed when your FS-100 Employee Expense Statement is finalized after your trip. State and local government employees traveling within the state on official business are exempt from paying the county or municipal excise tax on lodging using the FS-137 Certificate of Exemption. In addition, as a government entity, may not be subject to Georgia sales tax by using the ST-5 Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption. If a group of employees are traveling together and plan to share rooms, you must attach a list of which employees will be sharing the expense of each room. This allows Payroll to identify and post the cost to each employee. The reason for this request is because CCSD is required to submit accurate travel expenditures per employee to the State Department of Education on an annual basis.  Do not save forms as they are updated with new mileage amounts etc.

FS-118 Request for Check / Reimbursement of County Funds Complete the FS-118 to pay or be reimbursed for Registration Fees or to request payment to non- employees

FS-119 Payroll Request for Check for Travel Expense Prepayment – Vendor Paid Complete the FS-119 to Request Check for Travel Expense Prepayment to Vendor

FS-119-A Payroll Request for Check for Travel Expense Prepayment – Employee Paid Complete the FS-119 A to Request Check for Travel Expense Prepayment to Reimburse Employee

FS-137 Certificate of Exemption Use this form to exempt local hotel/motel excise tax

ST-5 Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption

Steps and Tips to Plan your Trip FS-118B Travel Advance for a Specific Trip Employees may request these in $250 or $500 increments only. Employees are allowed to hold one outstanding travel advance per trip at a time. This is an advance from CCSD to the employee and is expected to be repaid within 30 days after the trip has been completed. Travel advances are limited and available only to an employee whose current annual salary is $50, or less. Remember you have to either use the full amount of the travel advance for the travel expenses or repay the balance due to CCSD within 30 days after the trip is complete. Do not change the charge code preprinted on the form.

FS-118B Travel Advance for a Specific Trip From County Funds Complete the FS-118-B to Request Check for Travel Advance for a Specific Trip using County Funds

Steps and Tips to Plan your Trip FS-100 Employee Expense Statement for Out-of-Town/Overnight Travel must be completed within 30 days of returning from your trip, and be properly approved and documented per the Travel Regulations and Procedures. If you are traveling with a group of employees, it’s important that the paperwork is submitted as a combined package for all the employees who were on the trip. Always plan appropriately and submit this form to the proper departments for authorized signatures. If form is to be submitted to multiple departments, each department will know to which department the form should be routed to next. FS-412 Travel Expense Checklist should be used to help complete the FS- 100 in confirming you have all necessary documents and approvals. This will help reduce the possibility of delaying your reimbursement.

FS-100 Employee Expense Statement for Out-of-Town / Overnight Travel

FS-412 Travel Expense Checklist for FS-100 Use the FS-412 Checklist to help in processing your travel documents properly and timely

Local Travel: Mileage, Parking & Tolls FS-156 Employee Expense Statement for Local Travel Reimbursement Use this form on a daily basis in conjunction with the District Mileage Wizard on the Financial Services web site. The Mileage Wizard will calculate reimbursement for mileage traveled between District schools/facilities. The FS-156 is also used for mileage incurred within the 50 mile radius map that are not CCSD schools/facilities. County policy requires that travelers submit expenses substantiating the amount, date, use and business purpose of expenses, within 30 calendar days after completion of the trip or event. Expenses submitted more than 60 calendar days after completion of the trip or event, will be included in the traveler’s IRS Form W-2 as taxable income per IRS regulations.

FS-156 Employee Expense Statement Local Travel Reimbursement Use the FS-156 form to request reimbursement for local mileage, parking and toll expenses

Additional information concerning the FS- 156 Employee Expense Statement for Local Mileage: Form FS-156 is used to claim mileage reimbursement for official local travel. This form must be completed and signed by the employee at the end of a specific trip or at the end of the month. The FS-156 must be submitted to the employee's department head for review and approval. If the form is correct and in good order, it is then submitted to the appropriate Assistant Superintendent/Chief Officer (or their designee) for review and approval before it is submitted to Payroll for reimbursement. Assistant Superintendents/Chief Officers (or their designee) approve all FS-156 forms when reimbursement is made from central office/county funds. Principals approve all FS-156's when reimbursement is made from student activity funds and local school allotment funds. It is then submitted to the local school bookkeeper for reimbursement. Principal’s FS-156 forms will be reviewed by the Internal Audit Department. Forms not properly completed and/or approved will be returned to the approving supervisor, thereby, delaying reimbursement to the employee.

Staff Contacts for Travel Procedures & Forms We want you to always contact us for any questions about the Travel Procedures. Main Contact: Diana Condon, Payroll / Travel Representative Kim Coonfield, Payroll Accountant Paige Smith, Assistant Director of Disbursements Lisa Carter Leach, Director of Disbursements