As a best practice, expenses should be paid by the traveler with out-of-pocket funds and reimbursed. Cash advances should be limited and requested only when absolutely necessary for travel related expenses. Cash advances have cash important considerations, implications, and traveler responsibilities.
- The amount requested should not exceed a reasonable estimate of the out-of-pocket expenses needed for the trip.
- A travel cash advance can only be issued within 30 days of when an expense is to be paid or incurred to satisfy IRS regulations and to meet the University's cash management objectives.
- A traveler may only have one outstanding cash advance per trip and must clear any previous advances before another advance is issued.
- If an employee fails to substantiate expenses and return any unused cash advance amounts within 120 days of the end of a trip, the University is obligated under IRS regulations to consider such amounts as taxable income to the employee.
System Access
- Non-Employees cannot obtain a cash advance through MyExpense; please refer to Non-Employee Travel Cash Advance for detailed instructions.
- UCSF Employees may obtain a cash advance through MyExpense only if they don't have a Corporate Travel Card or they can't obtain a cash advance through their Corporate Travel Card.
- Delegates: When submitting a cash advance request as a delegate for another employee, remember to turn on the acting as a delegate feature in MyExpense before starting the cash advance; see instructions below. When finished, remember to stop acting as a delegate.
Acting as a Delegate in MyExpense
Before Your Trip
1. Accessing MyExpense
2. Set a Cash Advance Approver in your Profile
3. Submit a Cash Advance Request
4. Check the Status of a Cash Advance Request
After Your Trip
1. Accessing MyExpense
2. Submit an Expense Report (required after the trip)
3. Return the Cash Advance Balance to UCSF
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do with the cash advance if my trip was canceled?
Do I need to submit an expense report even if I spent all of the cash advance and no reimbursement is due to me?
Last Updated: October 2022