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

The Employee Self Service page is displayed with the Approvals tile highlighted

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

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

3. Step 3

The Pending Approvals page is displayed with an Expense Report row highlighted

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

4. Step 4

The selected Expense Report summary page is displayed.

5. Step 5

To review the associated Travel Authorization, click the arrow.

6. Step 6

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the Travel Authorization inked to the expense report highlighted

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

The Approval Line Detail page t is displayed with the View Accounting button highlighted

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

8. Step 8

The Accounting Chartstring for the selected TA line is displayed and highlighted

The Chartstring for the selected TA line is displayed.

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

9. Step 9

The Accounting Chartstring for the selected TA line is displayed with the Close button highlighted

Click the Close button.

10. Step 10

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the Back button highlighted

To close the window, click the Back button.

11. Step 11

The Expense Report summary page is displayed

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

12. Step 12

The Expense Report summary page is displayed with the Select and Data/Expense Type fields highlighted

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

The Expense Report summary page is displayed with the arrow leading to the Expense Line Details highlighted

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

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

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the View Attachment link highlighted

To review attached receipts, click the View Attachments link.

16. Step 16

The View Attachments window is displayed.

Click the attachment link to view the attachment.

17. Step 17

A new tab displays the selected attachment

A new tab is displayed showing the selected attachment.

Review the details of the attachment.

18. Step 18

A new tab displays the selected attachment with the Close Tab button highlighted

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

19. Step 19

The View Attachments window is displayed with the Close button highlighted

Click the Close button.

20. Step 20

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the View Accounting link highlighted

Click the View Accounting link to review the accounting details.

21. Step 21

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

The Accounting window is displayed with the Close button highlighted

Click the Close button.

23. Step 23

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the Billing Type field highlighted

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

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the Back to Header button highlighted

Click the Back to Header button.

25. Step 25

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

26. Step 26

The Expense Report page is displayed with the Approval Chain link highlighted

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

27. Step 27

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

The Approval Chain window is displayed with the Close button highlighted

Click the Close button.

29. Step 29

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

30. Step 30

You can approve line by line if you desire.

31. Step 31

The Expense Report page is displayed with the Select All checkbox highlighted

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

32. Step 32

The Expense Report page is displayed with the More button highlighted

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

The More button pop-up is displayed with the Hold button highlighted

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.