Travel & Expense Management ‘Go-Live’ Delay: A Blessing in Disguise

Sometimes, a launch delay can be a good thing. For the Travel & Expense Management initiative, a Rutgers universitywide Cornerstone project, it means three features will be added earlier than planned.

In April 2022, the project team began building the initiative—designed to process travel and expense reports more effectively, as well as reduce risk and better manage spending—and launched an online travel portal (Concur Travel) and an expense Business Process Review (BPR).

The initiative was scheduled to “go-live” with expanded functionality late January 2024 or early February 2024. However, some issues arose, forcing the team to push the launch date to a summer target: July 2. 

When live, the initiative will include the foundation of three features created after considering feedback from users across the university.

As a result of this delay, the project team was able to add three additional features to the Phase 1 rollout that were planned for Phase 2.

The first feature allows individuals who do not have a university credit card to submit applications for one of two types of purchasing cards (p-cards): a travel card for individual travel and business expenses and/or a purchasing card that can be used for departmental purchases. This new feature also includes the ability to submit changes to the card, such as limit increases.

The second feature allows employees to request a cash advance for their business travel. The third feature is a built-in request for pre-trip approval. It includes drop-down lists with questions about the reason for the travel, type of lodging, length of stay, etc.

These new features will include user information (e.g. department, organization), and relevant expense account numbers, based on expense type chosen, so travelers and other system users won’t have to search for them.

The project team is currently working on training modules and 30-second demonstration videos to help answer common questions such as, “How do I log in?” and “How do I submit a simple expense report?”

Starting in July, users will experience an end-to-end travel booking and expense management system that may raise a few eyebrows, in a good way, by adding new useful features while alleviating much of the worry and stress from submitting expenses.