Division of Financial Services
Travel
In addition to air travel, ground transportation, hotels, and meals, the following expenses are generally reimbursable. See Required Documentation for information on receipts required for expense reporting.
Airport parking is payable/reimbursable when it is the most practical and economical option available considering the length of the trip.
Other reasonable parking fees will be reimbursed.
Alcohol is a federally unallowable expense but may be reimbursed under certain conditions, but only with non-sponsored funds. The purchase and use of alcohol may represent a legal exposure to an individual or institution. Some colleges or units may disallow reimbursement of alcohol purchases. Extra caution regarding alcohol should be taken when traveling with students. For more information, see University Policy 4.8, Alcohol and Other Drugs.
Business entertainment expenses include social events, performances, or sporting events when a business discussion takes place during, immediately before, or immediately after the event. You may be reimbursed for business entertainment expenses only when all of the following are true:
Detailed receipts are required for sufficient supporting documentation.
Entertainment expenses are not allowed on a federal grant or contract account and must be recorded as federally unallowable.
To promote knowledge sharing and reduce costs, if multiple people from the same unit are traveling to attend the same conference, before traveling, you should consider the budget implications and discuss it with your budget manager or administrative office, as applicable. If the conference has an option to attend virtually, you should consider using that option instead of attending the conference in person, when appropriate.
You can pay for conference fees and registrations using your Travel & Meal Card. If you don’t have a travel card, you can ask your unit or service center representative to pay your fee on a unit card.
Faculty members can apply for taxable compensation to cover the dependent care costs from the Faculty Dependent Care Travel Fund. All other dependent care costs are unallowable as business travel expense except in very limited circumstances provided for in sponsored awards.
Incidentals are fees and tips to porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff, etc. Incidentals are included as part of the per diem rate. Incidental supply needs that may arise during travel, such as replacing a traveler’s lost laptop power cord, purchasing presentation supplies or lab supplies required in fieldwork, are also permitted. You may be reimbursed for incidentals when, over the course of a trip, the provided or group/business/hosted meal results in unrecovered incidentals because the incidental expense portion of the per diem has been reduced.
For domestic travel only, Cornell will pay/reimburse reasonable expenses for laundry services when it’s necessary that you be away from home for more than five consecutive workdays on business travel, or when unusual circumstances require these services. Receipts are required for laundry expenses greater than $75.
Note: Federal international per diem rates include laundry services and therefore laundry costs are not separately reimbursable.
Incremental cost of business calls and data are reimbursable, but not for basic coverage for personal cell or land phones. You must document the business purpose for long-distance calls.
You are expected to use the most economical or efficient means of accessing the Internet and using the telephone when travelling.
Reasonable tolls will be reimbursed. These charges are normally below the $75 receipt threshold. If the amount is not known, in many cases you can identify the charges using www.platepass.com or on your NY E-ZPass account statement and then included in the initial reimbursement. Also see Required Documentation.
You may be reimbursed for reasonable, allowable costs, resulting from travel disruption outside your control such as inclement weather, but if you carriers or other vendors offer refunds, meals, lodging, or transportation, you must use these before claiming such expenses. You must not claim reimbursement for expenses covered by the carrier or travel vendor. These costs may not be allowable on sponsored awards. Contact Sponsored Financial Services for assistance.
