Travel & Reimbursements
The University of Pennsylvania has established purchasing policies and protocols to help University faculty and staff purchase effectively and compliantly.
Systems and processes have been put in place to help facilitate smart purchasing practices; we partner with members of the Penn law community as stewards in administering these processes to help ensure the University is properly: Mitigating risk, Purchasing compliantly, Containing costs and Maximizing overall value to the University.
University Purchasing Policy
You may find the applicable University Policy located - here.
Please contact the Business Affairs Office to confer re. operational approach before proceeding with transactions - at our preferred location - businesshelp@law.upenn.edu. Please secure and remit the appropriate documentation to Business Affairs in order to process travel and reimbursement requests.
Purchasing and the related payment transactions are initiated by (designated) BAs at the departmental level and then processed centrally by Penn. Below is the Penn Model for Purchasing.
**NOTE: For all Non Penn Affiliate Visitors (US/Non-US] seeking travel reimbursement - please refer to the appropriate checklist referenced in the “Travel and Reimbursement Resources” Section located at the bottom of this page.
Concur/World Travel Business Travel Account
Travelers may book air, lodging and rental cars through the Concur online booking application, or by phone through Penn’s preferred travel management company, World Travel. In doing so, travelers have the option to charge business-related airfare through the centrally billed (BTA). Hotel and rental car reservations require the Penn Travel Card or a personal credit card to hold the reservations. The resources listed below are useful for Penn Law Faculty, Staff and Students seeking reimbursement through Concur:
- Access Concur expense reporting and travel arrangement system.
- Be sure to sign up for direct deposit before beginning expense reimbursement process. Set up or verify your direct deposit information.
- Full instructions for students who will be seeking reimbursement for University approved expenditures.
- Please register to be set up in Concur for a reimbursement if you ware not already in the system (PennKey and password required). You only need to do this once!
- Please visit this site to review Penn’s travel policies (select policy 2350 for travel-related questions, and policy 2300 for procurement-related questions).
- Please see our Concur Support resources to assist with preparing and submitting Concur Expense Reports
- If you are traveling internationally, please register your travel in the Global Activities Registry.
Penn Travel Card for Penn Law Community
For hotel, rental car and all other reimbursable travel and entertainment expenses, Penn offers the Penn Travel Card, a Visa card issued by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The Penn Travel Card integrates with Concur, linking travel charges directly into the Concur expense system for ease in the travel expense management process.
More information about University Travel & Expense Management - please select - here.
Travel and Reimbursement Resources
For the procurement of goods and services at Penn, there are two approved methods of purchase: