Yes, they can. The system makes provisions for this with its “proxy function.” To authorize others to process business trip paperwork, the business traveler must first enable this feature.

Please see the question above. You can use the proxy function to authorize others to help you process your business trip electronically. However, please note that the proxy function can only be used to prepare requests for approval, advance payment, or invoicing. Business travelers are responsible for the accuracy of the information and for submitting the request.

Business travelers who are Freie Universität employees can set up the proxy function to enable administrative support staff to manage their business trip electronically (see previous questions). No electronic solution has yet been implemented for external, third-party business travelers, who are asked to continue to use the traditional paper-based process for managing their business trip.

Business trips can be electronically processed by authorized users to a certain extent, e.g., they are able to initiate the process, enter information, and upload documents.

Authorized users can support business travelers at all stages of the electronic business trip management process (application, invoicing, reimbursement).

Requests to have third-party external business travel costs confirmed and reimbursed will continue to be processed exclusively in paper form for the time being. An electronic solution is currently under development.

For the purposes of electronic business trip management, grant recipients are considered third parties. As such, you are still required to use the traditional paper-based process for the time being.

You can attach digital copies of your receipts to your requests in the form of PDF, PNG, or JPEG files. However, you must store the original copies (paper receipts, invoices, etc.) for at least six months following the settlement of your business trip costs. All the receipts you submit will also be saved in your business trip file and kept on record.

The business traveler is responsible for storing the original copies of any receipts. All documents will also be saved in their business trip file.

Yes, any documents which form the basis of a payment that you wish to have reimbursed must be attached to your requests in the form of PDF, PNG, or JPEG files.

If the service provider only provides you with digital invoices or receipts, then these are considered to be original copies.

The “cut-off deadline” (Ausschlussfrist) for submitting business travel reimbursement requests is regulated by law; it is not determined by Freie Universität Berlin. Your claim to have your business travel costs reimbursed expires if you fail to submit your digital or written application within a six-month period after completing the business trip. In digital terms, the application submission date is considered the date upon which the request for reimbursement (Erstattungsantrag) is submitted.

The system does not currently notify business travelers if the cut-off deadline is approaching. We are in the process of evaluating whether to introduce such a function.

No.

The electronic business trip management system requires users to specify the estimated costs (liabilities) of their business trip. A funds commitment option does not yet exist within this system but it is planned as part of its further development.

Account assignment will be a mandatory field for all business travel cost reimbursement requests in the future, as the workflow for approving the request requires this information. When developing the portal, we integrated a search function in order to ensure maximum ease of use. This means that business travelers can use keywords to search for the correct account assignment. If in doubt, please inquire in advance as to which cost center is going to finance the business trip.

Additional relevant information can be added to your request using the “Comments”  field.

When selecting the individual areas to support us in our trial runs, we made sure to involve Clusters of Excellence and collaborative projects. During the rollout of the project, however, we will be in touch with each area individually to discuss specific workflows.

As we do not yet have the necessary approval from the Staff Council: Entire Freie Universität to introduce this system, we are unable to offer any training sessions at this time. When we roll out the project in individual areas, however, we will ensure that we combine this with training measures on how to use the portal. We will provide more information on this in due time.

Ideally, we would receive an answer sooner rather than later so that business travelers can begin benefiting from the new system. However, we cannot currently say for certain how much time the Staff Council: Entire Freie Universität will need to approve the introduction of the system.