In order to better increase transparency between the Payroll, Accounts Payable, and Travel Services departments and the greater BU community, each group now has posted descriptions on their respective websites of many of the core services that they provide.  For each service, there is a target service expectation, as well as an indication of the metrics the departments will be using to maintain their service standards.

Payroll
Accounts Payable
Travel Services 

Online W-2s will be made available later in January.  In order to view yours, go to BUWorks and select the Employee Self-Service tab.  Under the Pay heading, select W-2 Display.  This will take you to another page (you may need to enable pop-ups in your browser) that contains your 2018 W-2, as well as W-2s from previous years.  Instructions and help with printing your W-2 can be found here.

As a reminder for anyone who has not yet signed up for the online W-2, you can do so by following the instructions here. 

While a great many Concur expense reports are completed and submitted properly, the Travel Services department have identified a number of relatively common missteps that result in reports needing to be sent back to the submitter.  This leads to extra work for the submitter and all approvers, and results in delays in reimbursements.  Here are some notable examples:

Lack of itemized receipts: Receipts that are submitted, in particular meals and large events (eg receptions , alumni events) must be itemized.  A receipt or invoice with only a total charge on it will not be accepted.  In particular, if there is any alcohol on the charge, this must be indicated.

No attendee lists for meals and events: For any meals with more than one person, or hosted events, all attendees must be listed along with a description of their connection to Boston University (staff, faculty, student, guest, etc).
In a situation where a list of attendee names is impossible, such as an Open House, a comprehensive description should be given as a comment on the expense.  This should include a best estimate of the headcount, as well as an explanation for the nature of the event and the connection of the attendees to the University.

Alcohol not itemized: Alcohol must always be itemized.  Failure to do so will result in the report being returned.

Incorrect trip purposes: For example, incorrect usage of Relocation (or failure to use it when appropriate) will cause audit problems due to the tax implications, and the report will need to be returned.
Typically, most submitters only use one or two trip purposes when filling out the Trip Header.  If you are uncertain as to which trip purpose to use, please contact Travel Services at travelexpense@bu.edu.

Submitting prior to trip: Many travelers book their trips well in advance in order to minimize cost.  However, the expense reports cannot be submitted until after the trip is completed.  The trip’s end date of the Trip Header, when the report is being created and the charges are being assigned, should be based on the actual travel plans rather than the date of purchase/reservation for the travel.

Using employee accounts for guest (incl student) reimbursements: Only BU employees have their own Concur profiles, and only an individual employee can be reimbursed on their personal profile.  If a student or an outside party requires expense reimbursement, this can only be done through the use of a Guest Account.

Car insurance, travel protection/insurance, etc: These charges must be marked as personal, as they are not supposed to be made on the travel card.

The updated ST-2 tax exemption form for Boston University is now available.  It can be found on the Accounts Payable site here, and on the Comptroller’s site here.

Some staff members are asked to create and submit expense reports on behalf of other employees.  In these instances, the employees wishing to get staff assistance must assign the staff member as an Expense Delegate.  A guide to enabling this access can be found here.

Please note: It is considered best practice for the employee whose report it is to look over the report prior to its submission, even if they have a Delegate prepare it.