Overall Process of Travel Management

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Chapter -18
Travel Management
SAP Travel Management supports all processes involved in handling business trips. Its comprehensive functionality is
integrated with settlement, taxation, and payment processes. Travel Management enables us to request, plan, and book
trips, create travel expense reports, and transfer expense data to other functional areas.
Overall Process of Travel Management
Purpose
The goal of this process is the complete, integrated management of all processes involved in a business trip and the travel
expenses incurred. The process includes the entire procedure of requesting and planning a trip, accounting the travel
expenses and the correct taxation in Payroll Accounting (HR), correct posting of the travel expenses in Financial Accounting
(FI), and clearing in Controlling (CO) or Funds Management (FI-FM) according to the allocation-by-cause principle.
Process Flow
The overall process can last a relatively long time, with the actual trip representing the focal point in this process. The
following gives an example of the process flow in decentralized organization in which the traveler represents the central
figure. Other forms of organization are, of course, also conceivable.
Travel Request
1. The traveler uses the SAP system to submit a travel request to his or her manager. The travel request supplies the
superior with information such as the date, destination, and purpose of the trip, the transportation and accommodations
required, the requested advance and the estimated costs for the trip.
2. The manager can approve the request, send it back for corrections, or reject it.
3. If an advance is requested and approved, there are the following options for payment:
Cash payment by cash office
Check
Bank transfer to the employee's bank account (via DME)
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Forwarding of the amounts for payment to financial accounting
The paid amounts in the first three cases are, however, also forwarded for posting to financial accounting.
Travel Planning
4. After a travel request has been approved, the traveler determines the available travel services (flight, hotel, car
rental; in Germany also: train) in a travel plan and books them online in the SAP system. The reservation is made in an
external reservation system that must be connected to the SAP system. When the services are selected and booked, the
system checks to make sure they comply with the company's travel policies as defined in Customizing for Travel
Management. It also applies any existing company-specific rates and rebate agreements.
5. When the traveler has recorded the travel plan, the booking code (PNR) is entered in the processing queue of the
travel agency. The travel agency checks the correctness and consistency of the booking.
6. If changes are made to the booking outside the SAP system, they are transferred to the SAP system in a
synchronization process.
7. The travel plan is also transferred to the appropriate manager for approval. As soon as the manager has approved
the travel plan, the travel agency can issue the ticket and the trip documents and send them to the traveler.
Travel Expense Report
8. After the trip has been taken, the traveler completes his or her travel expense report, including all necessary
data and documents. The system applies all statutory and company-specific specifications stored in Customizing and
checks the consistency of the entries against these specifications.
9. The expenses department checks the travel expense report and the original documents and receipts. Now the
travel expense report is sent to the manager for approval, who can then release it for settlement.
10. As soon as the trip is approved, it is settled in the SAP system: On the basis of the trip provisions set for the
relevant traveler, the system determines the travel expense results, especially the amount for reimbursement. To
determine the reimbursement amount, you can choose between per diem/flat rate reimbursement and reimbursement
according to individual receipts for meals, accommodations and travel costs; for all other categories, reimbursement on
the basis of individual receipts must be used.
11. The travel expense results are prepared to suit the method of payment chosen and made available to the
corresponding components (Financial Accounting, Payroll Accounting, Controlling Funds Management) with the
appropriate additional information.
12. The payment of reimbursement amounts can now take place as follows:
By check
Through payroll accounting
Through financial accounting
By bank transfer to the employee's bank account (via DME)
The travel expense results are always transferred for posting to Financial Accounting. The amounts are transferred from
Financial Accounting to Controlling.
13. The traveler receives a travel expense statement with the relevant trip data and the accounting results.
Result
A single, complete record of the data of a business trip exists in the SAP system. The travel planning data was recorded in
the system for approval or reservation purposes. The documents were issued on the basis of the reserved travel services.
The SAP system has settled the travel expenses incurred by the trip and forwarded them for further processing in Financial
Accounting, Controlling, Funds Management and (if necessary) Payroll Accounting.
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Creating a Travel Request
Procedure
From the SAP Easy Access menu you create a travel request as follows:
1. Choose Accounting Financial Accounting Travel Management Travel Manager Create aTravel Request.
2. Enter the general trip data as required.
The following areas are options (you can expand the data entry areas by choosing (Expand):
i. Add. Destinations: Enter the destinations of any additional trip segments that follow the first
destination.
ii. Trip Advance: If you require a trip advance, enter this here. The advance amount is converted
into the expense amount directly. The entry for the required advance is used as information
for approval of the travel request at a later date and forms the basis for the payment.
iii. Alternative Cost Assignment for Entire Trip, if Different to Master CA: Here you can assign
100% of the costs for the entire trip to one account assignment object that is different to the
one specified in the travel expense assignment guidelines.
The system adjusts the second (and if necessary also the third) field according to the account
assignment object type: Field length, F4 input help, and F1 help. In the second (and if
necessary the third) field, enter the account assignment object values.
iv. Comments: In this user-defined text field, you can enter any additional comments for the trip.
This can also provide important additional information for the approving manager.
3. Expand the Request Transportation/Accommodation area by choosing (Expand).
4. In the overview table, where the trip destinations you specified in the previous section have been entered
automatically, you can request the required travel services by clicking the pushbutton for the appropriate
service.
Alternatively, you can select the line of the location you want to edit and expand the data area of the
corresponding travel service underneath the overview table directly.
5. In the data area that appears, enter the required data and choose Copy, with Quick info Copy to Request.
6. To save your completed travel request, choose Save.
From here you can also use the Overview button with Quick info Overview of Trip (F5), to go to an overview of your
booking information, or you can have your trip approved by choosing Approve with Quick info Approve (F8).
Sending a Travel Request
Use
Once you have saved a travel request, you can send it to your superior for approval via the SAP Communications Interface.
If an approval of business trips is not required at your enterprise, you can use the travel request as a travel plan model and
send it to the person responsible for booking the requested flights, hotels or car rentals.
Procedure
1. In the Travel Management menu, choose Travel Manager.
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2. Select the travel request from the overview area and choose Change.
3. Choose Send.
An overview of your trip data appears.
4. Choose .
5. Enter the recipient and choose Send again.
Result
The travel request was sent.
The recipient can then approve the travel request or book the travel services.
Approving a Travel Request
Use
You can approve travel requests individually using the Travel Manager.
So that an automatic transfer of the requested trip advance can be made via FI, the appropriate travel request must have
been approved.
Prerequisites
In order to approve travel requests you require a special authorization. The setting for this authorization is made in the
authorization concept of the role assigned to you.
In the standard delivery the approving manager (SAP_FI_TV_MANAGER_GENERIC) role has this authorization.
You can edit the roles from the SAP Easy Access menu via Tools Administration User maintenance Roles.
Procedure
1. From the Travel Management menu, call up the Travel Manager.
2. Choose List of all Trips.
3. Select the travel request to be approved, and choose Change.
4. Choose Approve.
To approve travel requests using the approval program, proceed as follows:
1. In the menu, choose Travel Management Travel Expenses Periodical processing Approve trips.
2. On the tab page Status, enter in the Approval status field the value 1 (Request entered) as selection criteria.
3. To execute the program, choose .
4. Select all the trips to be approved.
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5. Choose .
For more information about all the functions of the approval program for trips, see the SAP Library under Travel
Management Travel expenses Approve trips Approval program.
Result
Once the object Travel request from the Travel Manager has been approved the status of the corresponding travel expense
report for a trip also changes to Request approved / to be settled. The person responsible for processing the request (can
also be the traveler) can see from the overview of the trips that the request has been approved and can then carry out the
appropriate travel planning or travel expense statement.
If advances have been requested for a trip, the transfer via Financial Accounting (FI) can now be made.
Mass approval
You can approve a large number of travel requests using the approval program for trips. This type of travel request
approval refers to the status Request approved/to be settled for the object travel expense report and not to the object
travel request in the Travel Manager
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