Submitting Pre-Trip and Travel / Cash Advance Requests

The Concur Request module is used to facilitate advance approval of travel and expenses related to the following situations: 

  • A Pre-Trip Request is required for all Students in order to be reimbursed for travel expenses. Some schools and departments may also require approved pre-trip requests for all travel. If you are required to obtain pre-trip approval, you will not be able to submit an Expense Report without the pre-trip approval attached.
  • You may request a Travel Cash Advance to cover out-of-pocket, incidental expenses that cannot reasonably be charged to a credit card. An advance should be requested within a reasonable period of time (10 to 20 days) before the trip and must be reconciled in an Expense Report after travel.
  • A Non-Travel Expense Cash Advance may be requested to support start-up or operational costs on an intermittent or ongoing basis.
  • If you are required to submit a Pre-Trip Request in order to be reimbursed for travel expenses, you may submit a Pre-Trip Request with Advance, if a Travel/Cash Advance is needed. 

Refer to the Travel Expense Policy and the Cash Advance for International Operations Policy for more details.

Last Revision: June 2026

Details

A Pre-Trip Request is required for all Students in order to be reimbursed for travel expenses. Some schools and departments may also require approved pre-trip requests for all travel. If you are required to obtain pre-trip approval, you will not be able to submit an Expense Report without the pre-trip approval attached. 

  1. Navigate to Requests, select Manage Requests and click Create New Request. . 

The Create New Request Details screen appears.

  1. Select CU Pre-Trip Request from the Type of Request dropdown. The Create New Request form appears. Complete the required Request Header fields indicated by a red asterisk 
  1. The School, Division, Sub-Division and Admin Department default from your Concur Profile. You can edit them for this Request, if necessary. Note: The completed fields displayed in the graphic above are for example purposes only.
  2. Type a Request Name, select the Trip Purpose from the dropdown, and type a Detailed Business Purpose / Funding Source.
  3. Enter the planned Business Travel Start Date and Business Travel End Date.
  4. Enter a Departure City and a Final Destination City. The dropdown next to the field entry can be used to narrow your search by country. This is the primary location where business will be conducted. If there are other locations, they can be entered on the Expense Report. 
  1. Select the Travel Type (Individual, Group, or Team) and Trip Type (Domestic or International).
  2. Select to answer Did this trip include personal travel? If Yes, enter the Personal Travel Dates.
  3. The ChartFields default from your Concur Profile. You can edit them for this Request, if necessary. Note: The ChartFields displayed above are for example purposes only. Please ensure that your ChartFields are relevant and correct for your Expense Report. Requests cannot be allocated to multiple ChartStrings when originally submitted for approval, but you can allocate your reconciliation Expense Report to multiple ChartStrings. Refer to the Allocating to Multiple ChartStrings Concur Tip for instructions.
  4. Select the services to estimate to include in the request.. 
  1. Click Generate Estimate. The Expected Expenses list appears. Note the message regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  1. Click OK. The Request Assistant windows appears with estimates made by AI.
  1. Click Create Request. The Expected Expenses screen appears.

Adding or Editing Expected Expenses

The Expected Expenses screen lists the estimates determined by AI. If you agree with the estimates, click Submit Request. If you do not agree with any of the estimates, you can edit them. If there are additional expenses you expect to incur, you can add them.

Adding an Expected Expense
  1. Click the Add button to add expected expense items. The Add Expected Expense screen appears. 
  1. Click the Add button to add expected expense items. 

The Add Expected Expense screen appears. 

  1. Search and select the type of Expense Type. The New Expense screen appears. 
  1. Enter the anticipated Transaction Amount and any Comments, if needed. 

  2. Click Save. The Expected Expense appears in the list. 

     

Editing an Expected Expenses

  1. Click the row for the expense you want to edit. The Request Estimate screen appears.
  1. Enter the anticipated Transaction Amount.
  2. Click Save.

You may request a Travel Cash Advance to cover out-of-pocket, incidental expenses that cannot reasonably be charged to a credit card. An advance should be requested within a reasonable period of time (10 to 20 days) before the trip and must be reconciled in an Expense Report after travel. 

A Non-Travel Expense Cash Advance may be requested to support start-up or operational costs on an intermittent or ongoing basis. 

If you are required to submit a Pre-Trip Request in order to be reimbursed. 

  1. Navigate to Requests and Manage Requests then click Create New Request.

The Create New Request Details screen appears.

  1. Select CU Pre-Trip Request w/Advance or CU Travel Cash Advance from the Type of Request dropdown. If needed, you can request a CU Non-Travel Expense Advance. 

The Create New Request form appears. Complete the required Request Header fields indicated by a red asterisk * You can follow the steps described in the Pre-Trip Request section for CU Pre-Trip Request w/Advance and CU Travel Cash Advance. The CU Non-Travel Expense Advance form will not have a field for Final Destination. 

  1. Scroll down the form below the ChartFields and select the Purpose for Advance from the dropdown. 
  1. The Payment via Direct Deposit/ACH/Check dropdown will default to Yes. Make sure your preferred AP reimbursement method is updated in PAC. You will not be able to submit the request for processing if you select No. 
    If you require payment via Wire, the request cannot be processed through Concur. Use the CU Marketplace to submit a Non-PO Voucher.
  2. Select the services to estimate to include in the advance request.
  3. Click Generate Estimate. The Expected Expenses list appears.

Adding the Cash Advance

Refer to the section on Adding Expected Expenses to add your expected expenses to the Request. The Cash Advance amount cannot exceed the total Expected Expenses. 

  1. Click the Request Details dropdown and select Add Cash Advance. 

The Cash Advance window appears. 

  1. Enter the Cash Advance Amount, type a Comment, if needed, and click Save. The Cash Advance appears on the Request screen. 

If the Expense Types in your Request and Expense Report differ or if your Expense Report total is less than the Request total, the Request status will remain open. After your Expense Report is fully processed you can Close/Inactivate the Request to remove the Request from your Active list, if desired. In addition, if you have an active, approved Request where travel was canceled or did not take place, you can Close/Inactivate the Request. 

  1. Click the Requests tab. The list of Active Requests appears. 
  2. Click the link in the tile to open the Request. 
  3. Click the Close/Inactivate Request button. 

PRINTABLE VERSION

View and download the Submitting Pre-Trip and Travel / Cash Advance Requests job aid.