Frequently Asked Questions

What has changed?

The NSW RFS has updated its Travel and Corporate Credit Card policies. These revised policies are effective from 1 July 2019. To support the revised policies, a travel and expense management system (SAP Concur) was implemented to streamline travel and expense management.

If you have any questions about the revised policies or the travel and expense management system, please email credit.card@rfs.nsw.gov.au. We also encourage you to regularly visit the FAQs on the portal for answers to common questions.

Policy and Process FAQ

What is the approval process for official travel?

Travel approval is required for overnight travel or same day travel where a meal allowance will be claimed. If you are travelling for the day, and not incurring a meal or private motor vehicle allowance, a travel approval is not required.

You will need approval before booking accommodation, whether you’re booking it yourself or through a Travel Coordinator.

Overseas travel still requires a Ministerial brief and advance approval from the Minister. You will be able to apply for approval to travel, for most trips, using SAP Concur.

What if my travel approver (Manager) is away?

You should seek approval for travel before booking accommodation, whether you’re booking it yourself or through a Travel Coordinator.

• Where a Manager is absent from the office, but working remotely, approval can be provided through the mobile application or by logging in on any computer.
• Where a Manager is on leave, if there is an acting Manager, the workflow should be updated automatically based on the acting arrangements entered into SAP. If this is not the case, an employee will be able to recall the request and re-direct it to the acting Manager once this is activated in SAP.

SAP Concur will allow a retrospective travel application, however by policy, approval should be sought in advance. Retrospective approval will be at the discretion of the Manager, and should be based on a verbal or other type of approval received at the time. Retrospective requests that include air travel or hire cars SHOULD NOT be made, as the Travel Coordinator cannot book airfares or car hire in the past.

Overseas travel still requires a Ministerial brief and advance approval from the Minister. You will be able to apply for approval to travel for most trips on SAP Concur.

If I’m travelling overnight, what do I need to do?

If you have a corporate credit card, and approval for travel, you can book accommodation directly or through a Travel Coordinator. When you are on authorised official travel, you must use your corporate credit card to pay for meal and accommodation.

There is no entitlement to withdraw additional cash, above what you have incurred. As a general rule, access to cash withdrawals will be removed.

Do I need a Travel Coordinator for every travel request?

No. A Travel Coordinator will only receive your travel request for action where you have asked for airline travel or a hire car; or where you select to ask a Travel Coordinator to arrange your accommodation. You can continue to arrange your own accommodation and charge it to your corporate credit card.

If you continue to book your own accommodation it is unlikely that you will need a Travel Coordinator to be involved in your travel arrangements in most circumstances.

What if my Travel Coordinator is away?

When you first request to travel in SAP Concur, you will be asked to select the relevant Travel Coordinator for your area. This will involve selecting a person from the drop down list of Travel Coordinators. Once selected, SAP Concur will remember your Travel Coordinator for next time.

If your Travel Coordinator changes, or is absent, simply select a replacement from the drop down list.

The full list of Travel Coordinators will be published on the SAP Concur Landing Page, Intranet and Travel and Expense Portal so that you can identify the most appropriate person.

What if I don’t have a corporate credit card?

All staff who travel, even infrequently, will be provided with a corporate credit card for use during authorised official travel to pay for meal and accommodation costs. If you don’t hold a corporate credit card, but you need to travel, you must book accommodation through a Travel Coordinator.

You may claim meal allowances on your return through SAP Concur. Approved allowances will be paid into your bank account in the next available payment run.

How do I apply for a corporate credit card?

Download and complete the Application for Corporate Credit Card form from the intranet or SAP Concur. You will require your manager’s approval.

You will need to pass a 100 Point Identification Check, accept the terms and conditions, and sign a Cardholder Statement of Responsibility.

What do I do with receipts?

Original receipts will no longer need to be retained. Scans or photographs are accepted. You will be able to scan or photograph receipts and upload them into the SAP Concur smartphone app at the time, or when you return.

You will still need to obtain an itemised tax invoice for meals, and accommodation expenses while on authorised official travel.

Are there cost limits to the accommodation I can book?

Yes. Accommodation should be in the mid-range of options available e.g. three star.

Are there cost limits for meals charged to my corporate credit card?

Yes. The cost of a meal should not exceed the relevant meal allowance shown in the Treasury Circular. Amounts above this limit will be subject to tax.

How do I book airline travel?

Airline travel must be booked by a Travel Coordinator through the NSW Government Travel Management Service. You will require approval to travel before a booking is made.

Approved travel requests processed in SAP Concur will automatically workflow to your nominated Travel Coordinator for booking of flights.

I’m on a single day journey, what do I do?

You can claim meal expenses for single day journeys as an allowance through SAP Concur. Allowances are available based on the rules outlined in the Travel Policy.

Do not use your corporate credit card in this case.

How do I claim an incidental allowance?

All staff, whether or not you have a corporate credit card, are entitled to claim an incidentals allowance for each completed 24 hours of travel.

You can claim this through SAP Concur when you return.

I’m travelling with volunteers, other staff or contractors. What do I do?

If you are travelling with a volunteer, you may meet the reasonable travel expenses of the volunteer using your corporate credit card. You will need to note the volunteer’s details when completing your reconciliation in SAP Concur.

If you are travelling with other staff or contractors, you may incur that cost on your corporate credit card – if they would otherwise be entitled to incur actual expenses, seek reimbursement or have their travel costs met.

You will need to note these details when completing your reconciliation in SAP Concur. If you are travelling in a group, and each person has their own corporate credit card, it is preferred that each person incurs and reconciles their costs individually.

How do I claim private motor vehicle expenses?

Private motor vehicle expenses need to be pre-approved through a travel approval. A travel diary should be maintained to record the kilometres travelled, and should be attached to the claim.

At the conclusion of the trip, an expense claim can be prepared through the travel and expense management system based on a per kilometre rate. Only the casual rate will be available for claiming through the system.

How do I receive reimbursement for work related expenses incurred personally?

An expense claim should be created in SAP Concur, with appropriate supporting documentation attached. Your manager will review and, if appropriate, approve your claim.

Once approved, the payment will be processed into the staff member’s bank account in the next available payment run.

Non-travel corporate credit card expenditure – what is changing?

Relaxation of restrictions on the use of credit cards Corporate credit cards may now be used for the purchase of goods and services up to $1,500 (including GST) where:  

• The item (or equivalent item) is not in the SAP catalogue or restricted based on a government contract or pre-qualification scheme (e.g. airline travel, computers, mobile phones); and  
• The staff member either holds a financial delegation, or seeks and receives a pre-approval to make the purchase from a delegated officer; and  
• The procurement is not in relation to a section 44.

Use of credit cards in section 44 declared events:

• Staff members cannot utilise corporate credit cards in section 44 events unless authorised to do so via the Major Incident Logistics or emergency procurement process, with approval provided in advance by the State Operations Controller.

You can request a pre-approval from your manager through SAP Concur. You may also request approval through email and attach this to your credit card reconciliation.

How often should I reconcile my corporate credit card statement?

This needs to be done monthly, and should not be completed any more frequently. You have 10 working days after the end of the month to submit your reconciliation to your manager through SAP Concur.

I use my credit card for petty cash. What do I do?

If you are a petty cash holder, you will retain the ability to withdraw cash but only for that purpose.

If I travel overseas, what should I do?

Opening a corporate credit card to cash withdrawals may be approved in certain circumstances; however, this will be restricted again when you return

Concur FAQ

What is SAP Concur?

SAP Concur is the new online travel and expense management system, used by the NSW RFS.

It will allow you to:  

• Request – submit a travel request online from your desktop
• Review – your request to travel is processed and approved online      
• Receipt – immediately submit your receipts from the smartphone app or desktop      
• Reconciliation – reconcile your travel expenses, including corporate credit card charges

Where do I go for more information?

To learn more about SAP Concur visit the NEWS section, located in the top menu bar, for travel and expense news, information updates and learning material.

If you have any questions, you can contact the team at credit.card@rfs.nsw.gov.au

How do I access SAP Concur?

Once the NSW RFS has officially switched over to SAP Concur, login credentials will be the same as your network login.

How does SAP Concur manage tasks (workflow)?

SAP Concur has a workflow engine that directs tasks to appropriate people for approval or action. This workflow is based on the SAP organisational structure, and SAP Concur extracts an updated organisational structure each night to reflect acting arrangements or changes in positions.

Items that require approval will always proceed to your line manager. Where you have selected a different cost object (i.e. cost centre, internal order, project code, WBS or work order), a dual approval will be triggered with the task first proceeding to your line manager for approval, and then to the owner of the cost object for secondary approval.

The task will only be finally approved once the secondary approval is completed.For travel requests that involve a Travel Coordinator booking airline travel, accommodation or hire cars on behalf of the traveller; the travel request will proceed to the nominated Travel Coordinator automatically as soon as the Manager approves the request.

Where can I find answers to commonly asked questions about SAP Concur?

Answers to commonly asked questions can be found in the Knowledge Base on the SAP Concur Support Portal.

The Knowledge Base can be accessed by logging into your SAP Concur account, clicking Help > Contact Support, and by navigating to the Resources tab.

From here you can search for articles and documents relevant to your concern.

SAP Concur isn't working properly. Where do I confirm known outages or performance issues?

The Concur Service Status, Concur Open, provides the most up-to-the-minute information on service availability.

Go to open.concur.com to find service status. Make sure you look at the North America Data Centre tab for our server.

How do I reconcile non-travel charges on my personal credit card?

These can be reconciled in SAP Concur. You will need to include an itemised tax invoice, and provide the cost centre, project code or internal order for the charges. Online training will be provided for this process.

How do I reconcile my corporate credit card statement?

You can reconcile your corporate credit card using SAP Concur. This function is part of finalising the Expense Claim.

How do I know who my Travel Coordinator is in SAP Concur?

A list of Travel Coordinators across the RFS will be available on the SAP Concur landing page as well as the Travel and Expense section on the NSW RFS Intranet. The SAP Concur administrator will review this list regularly to ensure it is up to date.

What mobile functions are available in SAP Concur?

You can use the mobile function to capture your receipts, which also analyses and populate relevant data from your receipt automatically. As a Manager, you can also use the mobile function to review and approve all requests and expense claims.

Where do I find training material for SAP Concur?

Y ou can access the generic SAP Concur training material via the https://www.concursolutions.com/expense/client/view_training.asp

We have created training material that are specific to the NSW RFS, which will be available incrementally from late May 2019 until July 2019. This will be published on our travel and expense  portal at https://travelandexpense.info