1. Before you start this process…please ask your adviser which PI will fund your reimbursement and/or make sure the expenditure is allowed. Many grants restrict how money may be spent. Note that “the University” never reimburses you; all reimbursements come from a specific “chartstring” or source of funds, usually controlled by your adviser.
2. Go to the ERSO website, http://www.erso.berkeley.edu/
3. Click on “Systems” from the menu bar and then click on “Intranet” from the drop-down
4. Under the area “Intranet Services” click on “Payment”
5. Select the PI (this is why you need to ask prior – this information cannot be revised after your submission)
6. Fill out the “New Payment Request” online form (Make sure to include as much information as possible for the description). Note: for this type of reimbursement there is no paper form to fill out.
7. For “Payee Name” and “EID or SID” enter your information (since you are to be reimbursed individually).
8. For “Item Description” enter a brief description of the item to be reimbursed (so we know what it is)
9. For “Amount” enter the amount of the item to be reimbursed
10. If you have multiple items for the same reimbursement click on “Add Line Item” and add the “Item Description” and “Amount”
11. After you have clicked the “submit request” button, upload the pdf or jpegs of your receipts (scan or digital pictures of receipts are acceptable).
12. Once you have uploaded, your reimbursement will be in the queue for approval (by your PI). Once approved, your request will automatically be forwarded to the appropriate unit for processing.
13. You’ll receive an email confirming the submission of the request
14. Retain your original receipts as a backup until the request is processed to ensure that the scanned documents are readable by Supply Reimbursement Services

If you need to be reimbursed for entertainment costs (i.e. food for a meeting, an off-site SLICE Lab meeting, etc.), follow these steps to be reimbursed for your expenses:

1. Before you start this process…please ask your adviser which PI will fund your reimbursement
2. Go to the ERSO website, http://www.erso.berkeley.edu/
3. Click on “Services” from the menu bar and click on “Entertainment” from the drop-down menu and then click on “Forms”
4. Under “Forms” click on “Entertainment Reimbursement Form”
5. Fill out the form and note a couple of things (which can be confusing)
   • click the “reimbursement request” box
   • Use “57004 Business Mtg Hospitality – Technical” as the event type
   • For “Business Purpose” be very specific about the research topics and/or papers discussed. Remember that recurring weekly meetings are not allowed, so each event purpose must be unique.
   • click “no” for both “Does this Ent. Request include alcohol,” and “Does the Fund you provided allow alcohol”. Sorry, but most funds do not, so you have to pay for that yourself.
   • put your name as payee
6. Print the form, then sign and date it and if you are not the host you will need for that person to sign and date it, too.
7. Create PDF or JPEGS (scan or digital pictures are fine) of the ERSO Entertainment Request Form, food receipts, and any other relevant documentation.
8. Go to the ERSO website, http://www.erso.berkeley.edu/
9. Click on “Systems” from the menu bar and then click on “Intranet” from the drop down
10. Under the area “Intranet Services” click on “Entertainment”
11. Fill out the “New Entertainment Request” electronic form
12. Follow the instructions listed to fill out the online form.
13. After you have clicked the “submit request” button, upload your PDFS or JPEGS of your receipts
14. Once you have uploaded, your reimbursement will be in the queue for approval (by your PI). Once approved, your request will automatically be forwarded to the appropriate unit for processing.
15. You’ll receive an email confirming the submission of the request
16. Retain your original receipts as a backup until the request is processed to ensure that the scanned documents are readable by Entertainment Services.

If you need to purchase a conference registration (after clearing it with your adviser), you will need to follow these steps for it to be purchased:

1. Ask your adviser, which PI and which chart string (grant) will pay for your conference registration.
2. Go to your conference registration website page, fill in the registration (disregard payment information) and print or save as PDF. Keep note of any user names/password used to register.
3. Go to http://erso.berkeley.edu, and click on Intranet (located at the top of the blue menu).
4. Under the area “Intranet Services” click on “Travel” (this is because “conference registration purchases” are part of “travel”)
5. Select the PI (this is why you need to ask prior – this information cannot be revised after your submission)
6. Fill out the “New Travel Request” online form (Make sure to include as much information as possible for the description). Note: for this type of purchase there is no paper form to fill out.
7. For “Payee Name” select the vendor who we need to pay for your conference registration.
8. In the “Business Purpose, Destination, Travel Dates, Conference URL” text box, list which project will pay for your conference, your name & contact information, conference name, conference website URL, username/passwords, and registration due date.
9. Put the total due for the conference registration in the Amount Requested Box. When finished, click on Submit Request.
10. Upload the PDF or JPEG files you saved when filling out your registration. (These files will serve as references when they purchase your conference registration).

What happens next?

• Once the approver (your PI) attaches the chart string,  it is sent automatically to purchasing.
• ERSO purchasing will purchase your conference registration per your instructions on the intranet request and registration forms.
• You will receive an email from the travel department with your conference registration confirmation.

As of November 1, 2021, UC Berkeley requires employees booking flights for business travel to book through the UC travel system ConnexUC ¹⁾. You can read more about this change here. You’ll need to have an Employee ID to book through ConnexUC. If you have an Employee ID and do not have access to ConnexUC, please email travel@berkeley.edu. This change requires that you use the Direct Bill system, meaning that you do not have to cover the cost of the flight. Before you begin booking your flight, follow the steps here to create a Direct Bill ID. You’ll need to create a new DBID for each trip you take. Notice that this process asks you to select your Preferred Approver. The Preferred Approver will be the Research Administrator of the fund you’re using to purchase the ticket. If you are unsure of who that is, please ask < slice-admin@eecs.berkeley.edu>.

1. As always, talk with your advisor first about what funds to use and a budget for the flight. You should specifically ask them who is the Research Administrator of their fund²⁾.
2. Go to the ConnexUC website and select UC Berkeley.
3. Click the “Book Online” button. You’ll be shown various travel agencies that the UC system works with, but BCD Travel is the agency we use. Click “Additional Booking Options” then “Book Online Now” under BCD Travel³⁾.
4. If this is your first time booking a flight, you may be prompted by BCD Travel to select your organization. Type or select “University of California, Berkeley”.
5. You should now be on the BCD Travel homepage, where you can search for flights, check on upcoming trips, and update your profile. Go ahead and use the trip search on the left side of the page to begin looking for a flight. At the top of travel search, make sure you are “Booking for myself” rather than “Book for a guest”. Remember to click “Show More” at the bottom to see advanced search features like filtering through departure and arrival times and searching by airline.
6. As you can imagine, the search feature on this website is slow, as it can take up to a minute to pull up all the results. Select the Departure and Arrival flights of your choice, then choose the Main Fare option. Refundable Main Fare is generally not needed, but may be considered if there is some uncertainty on the travel plans to justify the extra cost.
7. Enter your information and choose your seats. For payment, select “Bill Airfare to UCB Directly” instead of adding your credit card.
8. Review the information you’ve enter, then click “Reserve Flight and Continue”. At this point, your seat will be reserved for about 2 minutes, so be prepared for the last few steps.
9. Fill in the required fields. This is where you’ll put in the Direct Bill ID. Do not leave any notes for a travel agent, as it will incur extra fees for someone to read it and delay the process. Do put down the description/summary of the trip where asked. Review all the info you’ve put down and submit the purchase!