This past July, a number of enhancements to the FTS system went into effect, including an upgrade to improve security within the online Travel module.  Access to view attachments associated with both Travel Authorizations and Travel Reimbursements is now restricted to the Requestor, Traveler, and Approvers/Reviewers in the Traveler’s home department or department responsible for the expense.

The new security has also limited who has access to modify the Travel Reimbursements that are automatically created for an approved Travel Authorization.  Prior to the upgrade, open status Travel Reimbursements could be modified by both the Traveler and/or a Requestor (on behalf of the Traveler).  Now, these Travel Reimbursements can only be modified by the Traveler who created the Travel Authorization, or, by both the Traveler and a Requestor, if the Requestor created the Travel Authorization.  This access limitation does not apply to Travel Reimbursements not associated with an authorization.

To best maintain the TR reference#  “link”  between a Travel Authorization and its Travel Reimbursement, Requestors must initiate the authorization if they will be responsible for preparing the reimbursement.  Please inform Travelers who initiate their own Travel Authorizations that only they have access to prepare the reimbursement.

If you, as a Requestor, are currently unable to access and modify an existing Travel Reimbursement on behalf of a Traveler, your options are:  1)  the Traveler prepares/modifies the reimbursement;  or  2)  you may choose to clone it and/or just create a new Travel Reimbursement, making sure to include the original Travel Authorization reference number in the Additional Trip Details field.  The original auto-created Travel Reimbursement should be canceled (again, by the Traveler).