Denying an Expense Report as an Expense Manager

   Overview   

The responsibility of an Expense Approver in reviewing an expense report is to verify policy compliance and the transaction funding source. Expense Managers are able to modify ChartFields and distributions as needed. Denying an expense report "kills" it and it is no longer available to edit and submit.

When reviewing an expense report, an Expense Approver should ensure:

  • Completeness - required fields are filled out, supporting documentation is attached where appropriate and is legible
  • Prior approvals were applied correctly
  • Travel and expense policy compliance
  • Submitted expenses are allowable
  • Deadlines are observed (letter of justification is included if not)
  • Chartstrings and the ChartField combination are correct for each transaction
  • Expenses adhere to budget constraints

Expense Approvers should Push Back or Deny transactions that do not meet standards or require correction or additional information. They should also monitor status or pending transactions and coordinate efforts to jump-start workflow as needed.

Additional reviewer guidance can be found at the resources below.

 

Tutorial Resources

Quick Start for Approvers

Travel and Expense Approval Basic Workflow: Roles and Responsibilities

Approval Action Matrix

Financial Review and Analysis Guide

Transaction Signs Quick Reference Guide

Deny vs Send Back

Temporary Approvers Quick Start

In this article, you will learn the steps to deny an expense report as an Expense Manager in the UGA Financial Management System.

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 with the Expense Report section highlighted.

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

Note: Use the Expense Reports filter to limit results if needed.

3. Step 3

The Pending Approvals page is displayed with the Burt Lewallen expense report entry highlighted.

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

Example shown here: Expense Report  labeled "Event Planner".

4. Step 4

The Expense Report summary page is displayed and highlighted.

The selected Expense Report summary page is displayed. Review the summary information.

Note: Your approval is not just a rubber stamp. As an approver, you are confirming to the best of your knowledge, that the transaction is appropriate, accurately classified with correct chartfields, and complete with respect to substantiating documentation.  For additional guidance, please see the Financial Review and Analysis Guide in the Training Library.

5. Step 5

The Expense Report page is displayed with the Attachments and Notes section highlighted.

To review notes made by the initiator or prior approvers, click the View Notes link.

6. Step 6

The O-Other Misc Expenses expense line is highlighted.

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

Example shown here: the O-Other Misc Expenses expense line.

7. Step 7

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the Line Detail and Additional Information sections highlighted.

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

8. Step 8

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

To review attached receipts, click the View Attachments link.

9. Step 9

The View Attachments pop-up window is displayed and highlighted.

The View Attachments pop-up window is displayed.

To view the attachment in a new tab, click the Attached File link.

Note: Be sure the receipt agrees with the information in the expense report. Make sure the employee is not seeking reimbursement for unauthorized purchases such as personal gifts or alcohol . If receipts or documentation is missing or insufficient, use the Send Back feature to have the initiator add or correct the attachments.

10. Step 10

he View Attachments pop-up window is displayed with the close button highlighted.
Click the Close [X] button.

11. Step 11

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

Click the View Accounting link to review the accounting details.

12. Step 12

The Accounting pop-up window is displayed with the Accounting Details section highlighted.

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

Review the information to be sure that the amounts are reasonable and the ChartFields used are correct.

13. Step 13

The Accounting pop-up window is displayed with the close button highlighted.

Click the Close button.

14. Step 14

The Approval Line Detail page is displayed with the Description field highlighted.

For this example, notice that this employee (a student worker or faculty member) is seeking reimbursement for a non-job related expense.

This is not accomplished with an expense report and should be denied.

15. Step 15

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

16. Step 16

The Expense Report page is displayed with the Lines section highlighted.

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

17. Step 17

The Expense Report page is displayed with the O-Other Misc Expenses checkbox highlighted.

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

Example shown here: O-Other Misc Expenses checkbox.

18. Step 18

The Select All checkbox is highlighted.

You can also click the Select All checkbox to quickly mark all the expense lines.

19. Step 19

The Deny button is highlighted.

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

Click the Deny button.

20. Step 20

The Deny pop-up window is displayed with the Approver Comments field highlighted.

The Deny dialog box is displayed. You are required to enter appropriate reasoning for the denial into the Approver Comments field.

In this example, because they are submitting a non-job related expense, you would instruct them to register as a supplier and submit a payment request to be reimbursed for the food purchase.

21. Step 21

The Deny pop-up window is displayed with the Submit button highlighted.

With an appropriate comment entered, click the Submit button.

22. Step 22

The Pending Approvals page is displayed with the denial confirmation message highlighted.

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

The initiator is notified via email of the denial.