Sample Project Summary September 30, 2007
Web-Based eTravel
V'Ella Warren, Vice President for Financial Management
Strategic Context
Travel reimbursement has university-wide impact: two-thirds of travel transactions and $16 million of
annual travel reimbursements support research activities. In 2004, implementation of web-based travel
reimbursement was rated by campus administrators as the highest valued, most desired procurement-
payment improvement opportunity. Web-based travel reimbursement would yield near-term, concrete
improvement to the university at a reasonable implementation cost, as existing Ariba travel software with
a completed prototype has been developed for Phase I functionality as described below.
The current employee travel reimbursement process is paper-based, labor-intensive and is inadequate to
support university travel required for UW research and educational programs. Two-part paper expense
vouchers are prepared and routed for signature approval in campus departments, submitted to the Travel
Office for final review and manually keyed into PAS for check processing. Travelers are reimbursed with
checks which they must deposit to their personal banking accounts.
This proposal would meet campus requests by replacing the current system with a fully automated and
integrated application for travel reimbursement. The project would consist of three phases which would
implement Ariba functionality and provide online approvals using ASTRA authorizations, integrate with
legacy PAS/FAS systems, and finally offer direct deposit of traveler reimbursements. Increased
functionality and timeliness will result in greater service and efficiencies for campus departments and
travelers in processing and reporting, as well as increased ability to monitor and implement complex
compliance requirements.
Project Objectives
To deliver to campus a fully integrated, web-based travel reimbursement system that accomplishes the
following:
• Integrates per diem rates, fares and other costs from table driven modules
• Incorporates UW, WA St and Federal business rules and compliance regulations
• Eliminates duplicate entry of transactions
• Automates travel approvals and traveler reimbursement
Key Benefits
• Increased simplification, accuracy, compliance and timeliness of reimbursements, reducing full cycle
time from preparation in the department to payment from an average of 10-20 days to 3-4 days
• Processing savings of nearly 20,000 hours (annually) campus-wide in addition to elimination of
50,000 reimbursement forms as a result of migrating to a paperless process
Strategic Type
Cost Estimate Long-term Strategic
Implementation Annual Ongoing Project Phase
Support Development
Cost Estimate $99-204 K $5-5 K Regulatory Requirement
Range No
Central Funds $204 K $5 K Five-year Life-cycle Cost
Requested Estimate $126 K