University of Nebraska faculty and staff will soon be able to submit travel requests and expense reports directly through Firefly instead of having to use the third-party Concur platform.
In December, the NU System will move non-travel expense reporting from Concur into Firefly. Travel requests, approvals and travel expense reporting are expected to move from Concur to Firefly in early 2023.
The goal of the multi-phase transition is to create a more streamlined and user-friendly process for faculty and staff. The move to Firefly – an interface most employees are already familiar with – will make the process of submitting travel requests and expense reports similar to submitting a leave request.
Travel booking (for airline tickets, hotels and cars) will remain on the Concur platform, the tool used by the university system’s travel agency, Fox World Travel.
Additional communication will be provided as the various reporting processes move into Firefly. For now, faculty and staff should continue to use Concur for all travel requests, travel booking and expense reporting.
Members of the university community are invited to sign up for the NU Travel listserv (instructions here) to receive travel-related updates. Faculty and staff may contact traveloffice@nebraska.edu with questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the university moving travel requests and expense reporting to Firefly?
Most employees are familiar with the Firefly interface and we want to make the process of submitting travel requests and expense reports as simple and user-friendly as possible. With Firefly, these processes will be more streamlined – similar to submitting a leave request – versus having to use the third-party Concur platform.
If Firefly is more user-friendly, why is the university sticking with Concur for travel booking?
Our designated travel agency, Fox World Travel, with whom we have an active contract, requires the use of the Concur platform. Thus, travel booking will remain with Concur.
I’m planning business travel for early next year. Should I wait until travel requests move to Firefly to submit my request?No, go ahead and submit your request through Concur now. Moving these processes to Firefly is a significant undertaking, involving technical work and time to make sure the new interfaces are working properly; so it’s hard to know exactly when the process will be complete. The university will communicate updates as they occur. For now, keep using Concur for all travel and expense reporting until you hear further updates from the university.
Original source can be found here.
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