Cash Advances

Cash advances for faculty, staff and graduate student staff are available to reduce incurred, out-of-pocket expenses associated with business travel. Faculty, staff and graduate student staff may request cash advances subject to the limitations defined below. All employees are eligible for a Purdue Visa Travel Card. Therefore, the need for cash advances should be minimal.

If the travel is part of a research project, the cash advance should be obtained through a Project Advance. Detail instructions for a Project Advance can be located in the Requesting a Project Advance-Funding QRG.

Procedures

Allowable travel cash advances:

• Out-of-pocket travel expenses for graduate students whose departments have restricted the issuance of the Visa Travel Card
• Out-of-pocket expenses for any employee traveling to a country with a cash-based economy
  • For travelers who have been issued a Visa Travel Card, cash advances will not be issued for less than $500. Advances less than $500 should be acquired through an ATM with a Visa Travel Card 2-3 days before the trip.
  • Maximum cash advance will be determined by the need of the above. An itemized estimate is required to be attached to the trip request in Concur.
• When funding is limited to a specific amount per travel event
  • These cash advances must be reconciled in Concur Travel and Expense.

Note: Travelers who have un-reconciled cash advances for prior trips will not be issued more cash until the open advances are reconciled and submitted on an expense report. 

Non-allowable travel cash advances:

• To reimburse an employee who has pre-paid travel expenses on a personal credit card
• For any expenses that can be paid with a Travel Card (i.e. airfare, registration, fixed meals,
  hotel), unless traveling to a country with a cash-based economy
• To pay for research project costs; instead, these should be requested using a Research Project Advance

Travel cash advances must be requested and issued through Concur.

Note: If requesting a cash advance and/or reimbursement through Concur, we advise you to verify that your accurate address and bank information is listed. Assistance with this can be found on the Employee Self-Service website.

• Cash advances are requested using the Trip Request function in Concur
• Trip Requests and cash advances require fiscal approval and will be facilitated through the Concur workflow
• Cash advances are issued 2-3 days before the start date of the trip, regardless of when the request is made
• The funds are electronically deposited in the traveler’s bank account that is used for payroll