How-To
How To: Department Codes
Department codes allow you to track and report on travel purchases in a way that suits your business. If you prefer travel reports by department, enter a list of department codes. If you prefer travel reports to be broken down by business unit, enter a list of business units instead.
This option appears as an entry field on user profile pages. You may choose to prohibit users from overriding their department code during travel purchase.
Is a Department Code The Same As A Traveler Group?
No, department codes work independently of traveler groups. Department codes are assigned per individual. For example, a traveler who is an executive in Sales would have a sales team department code, but be in the executive traveler group (or the West Coast traveler group, etc...).
Department codes are used to organize reporting; traveler groups are used to associate travelers with specific travel policies, enforcement policies and forms of payment. A common example: a company sets up multiple departments for reporting purposes, representing every business unit in a company, but needs only two traveler groups Ñ executives (who have less restrictive policy enforcement requirements) and all others (who have more restrictive policy enforcement requirements).
When Would a User Override a Department Code?
By default, when a traveler makes a purchase, it is associated with the department code assigned in the user's profile, and is included as such in the reports. Overriding allows the traveler to assign the purchase to a different department code, which can be useful for cross-department cost reporting.
How To Set Up Department Codes
From the homepage, go to Power Tools → Department Codes.
Under Override, you can determine whether or not users may use any department code besides the one they have been assigned.
Under Define your department codes, you may enter a code name (usually an acronym or abbreviation that will appear in your reports) and then a longer description or "friendly name."