This page describes how to add lodging to an expense report or edit an imported lodging expense line.
- An approved Trip Authorization is required to submit the reimbursement.
- Collect any receipts, including the hotel folio, and ensure they list the required receipt details. If they do not, the traveler must provide an acceptable receipt.
- Review the hotel folio for unallowable charges. Calculate the reimbursement due for valid business expenses, minus any unallowable charges.
- Identify the account number(s) funding the expenses. If you’re unsure, ask your Fiscal Officer or local business office.
- If you are processing a reimbursement on behalf of someone else:
- You must have Delegate or Super Delegate access to submit the report. Visit the Emburse Enterprise Roles and Access page to learn more.
- Switch to the traveler’s profile in Emburse. Watch the Switching Profiles in Emburse Enterprise video to learn how.
Receipts are always required to reimburse lodging. Per the Travel Policy FIN-TRV-01, Travelers must provide an itemized hotel folio receipt listing room rate, taxes, and other charges separately, line by line. The receipt must name the traveler being reimbursed. If the receipt is not itemized, request one from the hotel. Most incidentals (e.g., restaurant room charges) are not reimbursable and must be manually subtracted.
This receipt is properly itemized because it has the room rate listed separately from additional charges. On this receipt, the traveler would not be reimbursed for the restaurant room charge ($54.03). The person submitting the expense must manually subtract this amount from the reimbursement.
Step 1: On the traveler's Emburse Enterprise dashboard, initiate an expense report by clicking the +Create button on the Expenses ribbon.
Step 2: Determine whether you’re importing a Trip Authorization (TA) or manually filling out the report header.
- Import TA if the information on the TA’s header is accurate and the expenses only need minor updates.
- Manually complete the header and expenses if your TA lists the wrong Travel Type or Report Type. This allows you to enter the correct information on the report.
Review Travel SOP-TVL-12 TA Importing Options to learn about the different ways to attach a TA and when each technique might be useful.
Step 1: Click the Import Trip Authorization button.
Step 2: Click the Select a TA report drop-down menu.
Step 3: Select the Trip Authorization report relevant to this trip.
Step 4: A summary of expenses is displayed. Review the information and click Import in the bottom right corner.
Information you entered at the header level, such as report name, trip type, and dates are automatically imported and populated on the summary page of the report.
Step 5: Define the Business Purpose of the trip. Do not use acronyms in this field. The Business Purpose should clearly explain to an auditor or independent approver why the trip was a legitimate use of IU funds. In this example, we entered “Reimbursements for Association for Talent Development conference” in the Business Purpose field.
Step 6: Click Save.
Step 7: Imported TA lines appear in the left-hand window. Open the Lodging expense by clicking on it. The expense opens to capture details on the right.
Step 8: Click Edit and the fields become editable. Proceed to Step 3 of the Reimburse Lodging guide.
Step 1: Fill out the Report name: this should include the traveler’s name or username, destination, and dates. This helps to identify the trip at a glance. E.g., “Juliet Roberts New Orleans Oct 13-16.”
Step 2: Select the Report Type from the dropdown. Report type describes what kind of traveler is on the trip. The table below defines each report type option. Juliet Roberts, the traveler in this example, is an IU employee so we selected the “Employee Travel” Report Type.
| Report type | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee Travel | Travel by an IU employee. |
| Nonemployee/Nonstudent Travel | Travel by a non-IU guest (e.g., guest speaker, job candidate). |
| Recruiting Travel | Travel by an IU employee for the purpose of recruiting. |
| Student Travel | Travel by an individual IU student. |
| Student Group Travel | Travel by a group of at least three IU students and a group leader with whom all travel expenses will be associated. |
Step 3: Select the Travel type from the dropdown. Travel type describes the destination. Choose In State if the destination is in Indiana. If not, choose Domestic, or International as appropriate. The destination of this example trip was New Orleans, Louisiana so we selected “Domestic.”
Step 4: Enter the Trip Start Date and Trip End Date. Expenses must have been purchased between these dates. In this example, we’ve entered October 13 through 16.
Step 5: Define the Business Purpose of the trip. Do not use acronyms in this field. The Business Purpose should clearly explain to an auditor or independent approver why the trip was a legitimate use of IU funds. The Business Purpose for this example is “Reimbursements for Assoc. for Talent Development training.”
Step 6: Enter the City State Zip in the field. E.g., “New Orleans, LA 70121.”
Step 7: Click Save.
Once you’ve created a report, you’ll need to add the expense manually.
Step 8: Click on the encircled white plus sign and a mosaic of expense tiles appears to the right.
Step 9: In the expense mosaic, click on the Accommodations tile.
Step 10: Select Lodging Room Rate Plus Taxes/Fees.
A new, blank lodging expense will appear. Proceed to Step 3 of the Reimburse Lodging guide.
Step 3: Click the Save button to highlight the required fields. The words “Panel is required” will appear in red under each required field. Fill in the required fields.
Step 4: In the Date field, enter the expense date listed on the receipt, e.g., “10/14/2025.”
Step 5: In the Spent field, enter the amount to be reimbursed, minus any unallowable charges, e.g., “700.00.” The amount in the Spent field should reflect the reimbursement amount the traveler should receive.
Step 6: Enter the Check In Date and Check Out Date, e.g., “10/13/2025” and “10/16/2025” respectively. The number of nights will calculate automatically.
Step 7: In the Hotel dropdown, find the name of the hotel by typing its first letter to jump down to that option, e.g., “Drury Inn and Suites.” If you don’t see the hotel in the list, choose Other.
Step 8: In the City/State field, enter the location of the hotel stay, e.g., “New Orleans LA.”
Step 9: Enter the KFS account number in the Allocation – Select department account field to search for it. Sub-accounts are displayed first. Select the account from the list.
In our example, we entered our department account in the Allocation field, then selected a sub-account from the list of options.
Step 10: Your department may also require the Project Code or Organization Reference ID fields. Ask your Fiscal Officer or local business office if you’re unsure what information to enter.
Step 11: If any additional explanation is needed to complete the audit trail, add these notes in the comments. For example, valet parking is not reimbursable unless it is the only parking option at the hotel, and this should be explained in the comments. Add details that would help an approver or auditor understand the validity and business connection of the expense.
Step 12: Select the Add Attachments button to add a receipt. There are two ways to add a receipt to the expense:
- Select From Receipt Gallery if you used the Emburse app on your mobile device to take a picture of the receipt that was added to your Emburse Receipt Gallery.
- Use the Upload Attachments option to search for the receipt on your computer or other device.
Step 13: When all required fields are filled, click Save.
Once the receipt is attached and all required fields are filled out, continue completing expenses or submit the report.
Step 14: Look for green checkmarks next to all the expenses on your report. Continue updating the expense details or deleting un-used expenses until every line ends with a checkmark.
Step 15: Click Submit.
Step 16: If you did not start by importing a TA, the system will prompt you to attach one now. Click the Trip Authorization button. The report cannot be submitted without an approved TA.
Step 17: Certify all your expenses are legitimate and click Submit a second time.
Lodging expenses are reviewed by the Travel Approver(s) for the allocation(s) you listed on your expenses, as well as Travel Management Services.
Learn how to track your report to identify approvers or verify whether a payment was sent.