FAQs - Frequently Asked Quest
- Who is allowed to sign the business travel application and the expense form?
- Do the documents need to be presented in the original?
- What is the procedure for excursions with students?
- How are representation expenses (=guest gifts, restaurant bills, etc.) reimbursed?
- Can parking tickets be reimbursed?
- How should one proceed if the stay is extended privately during a business trip?
- What happens in the case of travelling for examinations?
- Can Emeritus Professors apply for a business travel application or travel expense subsidy?
- Where can I find the breakdown of the travel expense report?
In principle, the supervisor of your organisational unit approves the business travel request or an application for travel expense subsidy. If the trip takes place in the course of a project or is (co-)financed by another organisational unit, the application for travel expense subsidy must also be signed by the authorising officer of the relevant organisational unit or that of the relevant internal cost centre.
The expenses form must be signed by the authorising officer of the relevant organisational unit or that of the relevant internal cost centre.
Receipts, e.g. hotel invoices, train tickets, taxi receipts, and bus tickets, must always be provided in the original. For expense claims submitted by email to the Department of Human Resources Management, scanned receipts are also accepted as original.
Amounts that are not clearly identifiable from an invoice or do not match the invoice amount are to be presented in such a way that they are clearly understandable to the respective business travel coordinator in the Department of Human Resources Management.
In the case of receipts with foreign currencies (e.g. flight tickets, hotel invoices, taxi receipts), we ask you to submit a corresponding credit card or account statement. In the absence of such a statement, the currency will be converted using the OANDA currency converter.
If the issuance of a paper invoice is unusual (for example, with online bookings), a printout is sufficient.
Participation in excursions as a staff member of the mdw should be treated as business travel (see procedure for business travel).
The settlement of collective receipts (e.g. hotel invoices for multiple people, class trips, excursions) is handled by the Financial Accounting (see FIBU excursions).
Representation expenses are to be processed via the Centre for Finance and Accounting.
Representation expenses refer to gifts (books, flowers, etc.) as well as restaurant bills. Gifts for guests are limited to €50 (e.g. flowers). Hosting guests in restaurants, cafes, etc., always requires prior approval from the Vice-Rector for Business and Finance.
Invoices for gifts should state the names of the intended recipients. Restaurant bills should state the names of those present at the meal (see FIBU representational expenses).
For travel by private car, parking ticket costs are covered by the kilometre allowance.
To claim business travel expenses, you must specify the start and end date of the business trip, excluding any private stays. For the calculation of the daily fees, you must also specify the exact starting and finishing time at which an event (e.g., conference), as in this case, only working time can be taken into account.
Flight tickets, trains, buses, etc., will be reimbursed, even if these journeys take place in private time.
Attention: Where air travel is used for business travel that includes a planned extended private stay, an alternative cost estimate, which assumes direct arrival for official duties or a direct departure after official duties, must be submitted along with the business travel application. Should the cost of the flight be higher on account of the extended private stay, only the lower amount can be refunded. In the absence of the cost estimate, the costs incurred for flights scheduled during a private stay cannot be reimbursed.
Team retreats taking place outside of Vienna are to be treated as business trips (see procedure for business travel)
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Reimbursement
These invoices are to be treated as normal incoming invoices. That is, when ordering, the cost centre/internal order number must be specified, as well as the correct address: University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Center for Finance and Accounting (see ZFR Central Invoicing).
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Daily allowances
As a rule, no daily fees are paid out, as meals are usually provided on-site.
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Accompanying Passengers
Even if no travel costs are incurred for accompanying persons, a business travel application must still be filled out for insurance reasons.
No, but there is a claim for reimbursement of expenses. This will be handled through the Centre for Finance and Accounting/Bookkeeping. The form can be found on the ZfR homepage (see ZFR expense reimbursement form).
You can view your business travel expense claims via the Personal Self Service (PSS), found on your MDWonline business card. To do this, click on "my proof of payment" and, after entering your personal AZN pin code, change the type of proof to "proof of travel expenses".
Attention: Travel expenses are not found in the month of travel but in the respective billing month.