Approving an Expense Report as a Reports-To Supervisor

   Overview   

The responsibility of a Reports To Supervisor in reviewing an expense report is to verify that the initiator is approved for travel and that the department allows the expenses submitted. Supervisors are not able to make any changes to the document; if changes are needed, the expense report must be sent back to the initiator for edits. Denying an expense report "kills" it and it is no longer available to edit and submit.

When reviewing an expense report, a Reports To Supervisor should ensure:

  • The request is reasonable, and the employee has permission to be on travel status
  • Completeness (required fields are filled out, supporting documentation is attached where appropriate and is legible)
  • Deadlines are observed (e.g. travel expense is submitted within 45 days of travel)

In addition, supervisors should review items for adherence to expense policies and that submitted expenses are allowable by type and amount.

Reports To Supervisors should Send Back transactions that do not meet standards or require correction or additional information.

Once an approval notification is received, the expense report should be approved or pushed back within 3 days.

Additional reviewer guidance can be found at the resources below.

 

Associated Standard Operating Procedures

SOP_PAY_016 Taxable Travel Expense Reimbursements

 

Tutorial Resources

Quick Start for Approvers

Travel and Expense Approval Basic Workflow: Roles and Responsibilities

Approval Action Matrix

Deny vs Send Back

Transaction Signs Quick Reference Guide

Temporary Approvers Quick Start

 

This article will walk you, as a Reports-To Supervisor/Manager (employees report to you), through the steps to review and take appropriate action on an Expense Report.

1. Step 1

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First, log into the UGA Financial Management System.

Click the Approvals tile.

Note: The number in the bottom right corner of the tile indicates the number of documents awaiting your approval.

2. Step 2

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The Pending Approvals page is displayed. From this page, you can review and take actions on submitted documents.

3. Step 3

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To review an expense report, click the appropriate Expense Report.

4. Step 4

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The selected Expense Report summary page is displayed.

5. Step 5

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To review the associated Travel Authorization, click the arrow.

6. Step 6

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The Travel Authorization that is linked to the expense report is displayed. This travel authorization is inaccurate and purely for training purposes.

You would check to see if the location corresponds to the location on the expense report.

Also check the estimates provided to see if they are similar to the expenses reported.

7. Step 7

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To review the estimates provided and check the accounting information, click the Accounting Detail button.

8. Step 8

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The Chartstring for the selected TA line is displayed.

Review the amount at the top, as well as the ChartField values.

9. Step 9

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Click the Close button.

10. Step 10

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To close the window, click the Back button.

11. Step 11

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As an approver, it is your responsibility to review the reported expense lines before taking appropriate action.

12. Step 12

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Check the location of travel.

If the destination is within the United States, all the lines displayed should start with " D- ".

If the destination is international, all the lines displayed should start with " I- ".

If that is not the case, pushback the expense report and provide further instructions.

13. Step 13

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To review the expense line details, click the appropriate expense line.

Example shown here: I-Group Trav By Emp for Non Em expense line.

14. Step 14

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The Approval Line Detail page is displayed. From this page, you can review the reported information, accounting details, and attached receipts (if applicable).

15. Step 15

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To review attached receipts, click the View Attachments link.

16. Step 16

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The View Attachments window is displayed.

Click the attachment link to view the attachment.

17. Step 17

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A new tab is displayed showing the selected attachment.

Review the details of the attachment.

18. Step 18

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To return to the Expense Line Details page, click the Close Tab button.

19. Step 19

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Click the Close button.

20. Step 20

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Click the View Accounting link to review the accounting details.

21. Step 21

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The Accounting window is displayed showing the ChartField combination for the selected expense report.

Review the information and make sure that all fields are accurate.

22. Step 22

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Click the Close button.

23. Step 23

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When reviewing the Billing Type field, it is important to take the Chartstring into consideration.

If project information is included in the Chartstring, the Billing Type field should display Default Value.

If errors exists, pushback the expense report and provide further instructions.

24. Step 24

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Click the Back to Header button.

25. Step 25

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You will repeat the review process for all expense lines in the report.

26. Step 26

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If you want to see the approval path of the document, click the Approval Chain link.

27. Step 27

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The Approval Chain window is displayed. From the list, you can see that the document is at the Supervisor level because it shows as Pending.

28. Step 28

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Click the Close button.

29. Step 29

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You can select individual expense lines to approve by clicking the checkbox in the appropriate expense line.

30. Step 30

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You can approve line by line if you desire.

31. Step 31

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Alternatively, click the Select All checkbox to quickly mark all the expense lines.

32. Step 32

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Reports-To Supervisors have four functions available to them: Approve, Deny, Hold, and Sendback. We will go through each function to show the differences. On this page you can see the Approve and Deny options.

Click the More button to see additional approver options.

33. Step 33

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If you need to follow up with the initiator regarding details and wish to halt the document's progress, you can put the request on hold by clicking the Hold button.

34. Step 34

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The Sendback and Hold options are displayed.

If you decide to return the document to the initiator for edits, you would click the Sendback button.

Note: Sendback allows the employee to edit and resubmit.

Click the Sendback button.

35. Step 35

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It is required to enter comments for any action other than APPROVE. Comments should tell the employee why the document is not being approved.

Note: A window similar to this, asking for comments, will appear no matter what action you decide to take.

Click the Cancel button.

36. Step 36

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When you deny an expense report or expense line(s), you send it back to the traveler. Deny "kills" the report and does not allow the initiator to resubmit.

37. Step 37

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Click the Approve button.

38. Step 38

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To leave comment regarding the approval of the document, enter appropriate information in the Approver Comments field.

Example shown here:  "Approved".

39. Step 39

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Click the Submit button.

40. Step 40

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The Pending Approvals page is displayed once again. A green bar appears across the top of the page, notifying you the report was successfully approved.

The initiator is notified via email of the approval. The document moves on to the next level of approvals.

41. Step 41

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You have completed the steps to review and take action on an Expense Report.