Advances

Cash advances require responsible stewardship of Stanford’s resources.

The advance recipient (payee) must:

• Use advanced funds only for the specific business need(s) detailed within the advance request.
• Ensure that the amount requested does not exceed the estimated cash required for the activity.
• Keep detailed records to properly document all expenses, and retain all receipts.
• Safekeep the cash until all of the funds have been fully reconciled. 
• Clear the advance via an expense report within 60 days of the expected clearing date. 
• Promptly return any unused funds and/or funds that are no longer needed. If the full amount of an advance request is unused, an explanation of why the advance was not used may be required when the funds are returned to the university.

The advance preparer (in partnership with the payee) must:

• Provide a thorough explanation of the included expense(s), the amount requested for each expense, a demonstrated business need and supporting documentation in the advance request.
• Explain any additional factors impacting the advance within the advance’s business purpose, and attach relevant documentation (for example, describing and uploading a pre-approval email).

To ensure that funds are received prior to the travel or the activity, it is recommended that individuals submit an advance request at least 10 business days prior to the first day of travel or the activity. 

Travel Advances

For Domestic Travel:  The advance request may be submitted up to three months (90 days) in advance of the travel/activity start date, to align with a best practice to purchase domestic tickets no earlier than three months in advance. 

For Foreign Travel: The advance request may be submitted up to six months (180 days) in advance of the travel/activity start date. 

If a payee’s advance request only includes anticipated out-of-pocket expense(s) that will be incurred during travel (e.g., the advance request does not include any travel expenses that the payee has already purchased or paid for using their own personal funds), the travel advance may be issued no more than 30 days before the expenses will be incurred.

Human Subject Advances

The advanced funds must be fully spent and/or returned within four months (120 days) of the date on which the advance request was initially submitted.

A travel advance may be appropriate for a Stanford employee or student when alternative payment options are unavailable or impractical, there is an appropriate business need, and there is sufficient documentation. A payee may only have one outstanding travel advance covering a single business trip at a time, which must be fully cleared prior to requesting another travel advance.

Travel advances generally include expense(s) paid for by a traveler using personal funds before the travel begins (e.g., airfare purchased several months before a conference). Because individuals may not be reimbursed for most out-of-pocket travel expenses until after the business trip (excluding conference registration fees, which cannot be included as part of an advance request), an advance allows a traveler to receive cash funds prior to the start of the business trip instead of waiting to seek reimbursement via an expense report after travel ends. In rare circumstances, a traveler may not be able to pay for all of their travel expense(s) prior to the travel start date, or may need cash funds from an advance to pay for expenses anticipated during the trip.

If an extended trip requires a significantly large monetary amount (more than $7,000) for the advance request, a traveler may be required to split the total amount across multiple advances. Each advance must be fully cleared prior to requesting an additional travel advance.

Each expense listed in a travel advance request must include: 

• A clear description of the expense and demonstrated business need
• The amount requested for the expense and an explanation of how the amount was determined or calculated
• Adequate documentation of the expense (outlined below).

Timing for Clearing Travel Advances

Advance aging is based on an advance request’s Expected Clearing Date, which is selected by the preparer on the advance request’s General Information page.

For travel advances, the Expected Clearing Date must be the last day of the travel/activity.

Advances must be fully cleared via an expense report, funds must be fully used, and/or unused funds must be returned within 60 days of the advance request’s Expected Clearing Date. Both the payee and preparer will receive an alert if the advance is not cleared 30 days after the Expected Clearing Date. A final reminder will be sent 45 days after the Expected Clearing Date.

If an advance is not cleared within this timeframe, it may be subject to force clearing and any uncleared amount will be reported as taxable income to the payee. Learn more about managing aging advances on Fingate. If a previous advance was not properly cleared, the payee may also be ineligible to receive any future advances.

If the advance can not be cleared prior to the expected clearing date, please submit a support request or call the Financial Support Center. 

Supporting Documentation

Supporting documentation in a travel advance request must include expense documentation (e.g., receipts, quotes), travel schedule documentation (e.g., agendas, schedules), and additional backup documentation (when applicable).

Expense Documentation

Expense documentation must support the amount requested for each expense included within the advance request and show how the amount was determined or calculated.

Required attachments for expense(s) paid prior to travel with personal funds:

• Upload the corresponding receipt(s) as described in Business and Travel Expenses.

Required attachments for anticipated out-of-pocket expense(s) that will be incurred during travel:

• Provide documentation showing how the amount requested for each expense was determined or calculated, 
  • Option 1: quotes/estimates. Attach a quote/estimate for the anticipated expense.
  • Option 2: calculations with sources referenced. Demonstrate how the amount of the anticipated expense was calculated and mention the source utilized (such as GSA or State Department Per Diem rates or Travel Meal Maximums).
    • Enter this information within each Transaction Line’s Remarks or by uploading an itemized budget.

Travel Schedule Documentation

All travel transactions require supporting documentation to substantiate the dates of a traveler’s business trip. Examples include conference/meeting agendas, a traveler’s schedule of meetings during their business trip, a letter of invitation, email correspondence involving field work details with the travel dates, or promotional event materials such as flyers.

Additional Supporting Documentation (when applicable)

When applicable, any additional factors impacting the advance should be fully explained within the advance’s business purpose and attached as backup documentation. Some examples include: noting the dates of personal travel that was added to a business trip and attaching a flight comparison, or mentioning pre-approvals or explanations for exceeding policy and uploading the corresponding supporting email(s).

Sample scenario of sufficient expense documentation

The following scenario shows how to document a travel advance in the Expense Requests System (ERS).

A Stanford student is conducting field research in the Himalayas and will be trekking up to Mount Everest’s South Base Camp. Their travel route in Nepal will include brief overnight stays in Kathmandu and Lukla. Because the traveler does not have access to a department Travel Card, they purchased roundtrip airfare with their personal credit card. Since some vendors in these remote areas do not accept credit cards, they will need to pay in cash upon arrival for their transportation and lodging expenses. 

For their anticipated ground transportation expense from Kathmandu to Lukla, the traveler obtained a quote for a 4WD SUV rental which is needed due to the mountainous terrain and severe weather conditions. For their anticipated lodging expenses in Kathmandu and Lukla, the traveler is requesting lodging using Foreign Per Diem Rates by Location.

• For expenses paid for prior to travel with personal funds (receipt attached):
  • Transaction Line 1 for $1,268: Roundtrip economy airfare booked via Stanford Travel from San Francisco, CA (SFO) to Kathmandu, Nepal (KTM) (receipt attached)
• For anticipated out-of-pocket expense(s) that will be incurred during travel (quote/estimate attached):
  • Transaction Line 2 for $450: 4WD SUV rental required for transportation from Kathmandu to Lukla (typically 22-24 hour drive/367km) due to the mountainous terrain and severe weather (quote attached)
• For anticipated out-of-pocket expense(s) that will be incurred during travel (calculations with sources referenced):
  • Transaction Line Remarks or Itemized Budget:
    • Transaction Line 3 for $816: Four days of lodging per diem in Kathmandu, Nepal from MM/DD/YY-MM/DD/YY based on the Foreign Per Diem lodging rate for Kathmandu at $204 per day ($204 x 4 = $816.00)
    • Transaction Line 4 for $765: 5 days of lodging per diem in Lukla, Nepal from MM/DD/YY-MM/DD/YY based on the Foreign Per Diem lodging rate for Other, Nepal (Lukla is not specifically listed as a location) at $153 per day ($153 x 5 = $765)

A human subject advance may be requested by a Stanford employee or student for the purchase of tangible items, gift cards and/or cash as incentives to human subjects participating in a study.

The advance request can be up to a maximum of $7,000 (unless expressly pre-approved in writing by their Vice President’s/Provost’s Office, Dean’s Office or their designee, in which the approval must be noted in the advance’s business purpose and the written approval is uploaded as supporting documentation).

The administrator must clear earlier advances so that the total balance of uncleared advances does not exceed $7,000. Human Subject incentives greater than $200 per subject cannot be paid with an advance and must be processed as a direct payment to the payee using Non-Purchase Order (Non-PO) Payment in the Expense Requests System.

The advance request must include:

• A completed Request Cash Advance for Human Subject Incentives Form attached as supporting documentation.
• Any relevant documents regarding pre-approvals, explanations for exceeding policy, etc. 

Prior to distributing the funds to the human subjects, cash must be appropriately secured, tracked, and periodically audited by an employee other than the primary administrator of the cash (payee).

Study administrators must complete and retain a copy of the Human Subject Incentive Certification Form, as well as attach a copy to the expense report when clearing the advance once the items have been purchased or cash distributed. They should keep a record in the department of:    

• Human subject’s name and address
• Dollar value of the incentive
• Human subject’s signature demonstrating receipt of the incentive

Timing for Clearing Human Subject Advances

Advance aging is based on an advance request’s Expected Clearing Date, which is selected by the preparer on the advance request’s General Information page.

For human subject advances, the Expected Clearing Date must be no more than four months (120 days) from the date the advance request is submitted. The full amount requested must be spent or returned to the university within four months (120 days) from the date the advance request is submitted.

Advances must be fully cleared via an expense report, funds must be fully used, and/or unused funds must be returned within 60 days of the advance request’s expected clearing date. Both the payee and preparer will receive an alert if the advance is not cleared 30 days after the Expected Clearing Date. A final reminder will be sent 45 days after the Expected Clearing Date.

If an advance is not cleared within this timeframe, it may be subject to force clearing and any uncleared amount will be reported as taxable income to the payee. Learn more about managing aging advances on Fingate. If a previous advance was not properly cleared, the payee may also be ineligible to receive any future advances.

If the advance can not be cleared prior to the expected clearing date, please submit a support request or call the Financial Support Center.