Approving Travel Expense Report
These instructions will cover how to approve three types of Travel Expense Reports:
- Travel Expense Report
- Blanket Travel Expense Report
- P-Card Travel Expense Report
At the end of the instructions, there are reminders on what to check as an approver for each Expense Report.
- A Travel Expense Report will be required if the traveler goes on a University business trip. You must identify all travel expenses that were incurred throughout the trip.
- A Blanket Travel Expense Report will be required if the traveler goes on a business trip in California, within a fiscal year (July 1st – June 30th). Blanket Travel expenses will only apply to parking and mileage.
- A P-Card Travel Expense Report will be required if travel expenses are paid on your P-Card for other travelers.
Click on any of the links below to skip ahead to that section.
Table of Contents:
If you need assistance with logging into Concur, please go to Logging into Concur.
Accessing Required Approvals
Step 1: You will see your Concur dashboard, along with the number of approvals that are required to be approved by you as an Approver.
Click on Required Approvals.
Step 2: You will see three tabs: Trips, Requests, and Expense Reports. You will also see the number of approvals you need to approve for each tab.
Select Expense Reports.
Step 3: In the Expense Reports tab, you will see Expense Reports that have been submitted to you for approval.
Click on the appropriate item.
In this example, Jan 2018 Las Vegas, NV is selected.
Step 4: If you have a delegate set-up to preview expense reports, you will see a checkmark listed next to the report indicating that it is ready for you to review.
Step 5: After you click on the Expense Report, you can review Details and Receipts by clicking on any of the dropdowns. You can also download a PDF version of the Expense Report by clicking on Print/Email.
See Reviewing Expenses for a more detailed explanation on what to review in Details and Receipts.
Reviewing Expenses
While reviewing expenses, it is highly recommended to review all tabs, with particular attention to:
- Details
- Report Header
- Expenses
- Line Item
- View Receipts
Ensure these travel expenses/comments have been added (if applicable to the traveler’s trip)
and reviewed:
Travel Expense Report
- Airfare / Airfare Baggage Fees
- Lodging
- Nightly rates and taxes have been itemized (required)
- Car Rental / Car Rental Gas
- Personal Car Mileage
- Actual Per Day Meal Expense
- Actual Incidentals Per Day
- Registration Fee / Workshop
- Agenda or Program Flyer is attached for any conferences you attended
- Parking Fee
Blanket Travel Expense Report
- Personal Car Mileage (make sure the mileage is within the distance allowed)
- Parking Fee
P-Card Travel Expense Report
- States clearly the expense(s) you are paying for
- States clearly who the traveler is in the comment section
- States Traveler’s Travel Request ID
Report Header
Step 1: To review the Report Header, click on Details in your Expense Report.
Step 1a: Click on Report Header under the Report section.
Step 1b: A pop-up window will appear.
You will see the Report Header of the Expense Report.
While reviewing the Report Header, check the areas for the following:
- Correct naming convention
- Request ID is linked to the Expense Report
- Appropriate options were selected on all fields
Once you are done, click on the X.
Expenses: Line Item
Step 1: To review the expenses, determine an expense you want to review.
Then click on the expense.
Example: Click on Rental Car Gas.
Step 1a: An Expense tab will appear on the right side of the Expense Report.
Review the fields to ensure the correct information was entered.
Once you are done reviewing the expense, proceed to do the same process on other expenses.
If an expense needs to be allocated, send the request back to the traveler and have the traveler refer to the Allocating Expenses Travel Expense Instructions for more information.
Expenses: View Receipts
Step 1: To review the Receipts, click on Receipts in your Expense Report.
Step 1a: You can select either View Receipts in new window or View Receipts in current window, depending on your preference.
In this example, select View Receipts in new window.
Step 1b: A pop-up window will appear.
You will see all of the receipts attached to the Expense Report.
It is recommended to individually select any expense with a receipt to review.
Once you are done, click on the X.
Step 1c: To review the receipts individually, click on one of the expenses with a receipt icon.
Step 1d: Next, click on the Receipt Image tab.
This will show an image of your receipt of the expense.
Make sure the expense amount matches with the receipt.
Ensure there are attachments for expenses requiring it.
Approving Options
After reviewing all the tabs, you will see three options:
- Approve
- Approve & Forward
- Send Back to User
The Approve button will approve the Expense Report, and move it to the next approver or notify the employee that the report has been approved.
- If you do not need to add additional approvers, proceed to Approving.
The Approve & Forward button will approve the Expense Report on your end and will forward the approval request to the next Approver (that you will designate).
- This option is best for situations where another department is paying for your employee to travel.
- If you are the Approver for your employee, but another department is paying for your employee to travel, proceed to Approving & Forwarding.
The Send Back to User button will send the Expense Report back to the user.
- Select this option if the traveler needs to make corrections on the Expense Report.
- If you are sending the Expense Report back, proceed to Send Back to User.
Approving
Step 1: After you reviewed the employee’s Expense Report, select Approve.
Step 1a: A confirmation window will pop-up, asking you to accept or decline the Approver Electronic Agreement. Please read and respond.
Click on the Accept button to approve the Expense Report.
Approving and Forwarding
Step 1: After you reviewed the employee’s Expense Report, select Approve & Forward.
Step 1a: After you click on the Approve & Forward, a pop-up window will appear
(as shown on the right).
Step 1b: Click in the User-Added Approver field, and another field will appear below.
The field below is where you can determine what category you would like to search by.
Click on the drop-down arrow by that field.
Step 1c: In this step, First Name was selected.
Do not forget to add a short comment to notify the alternate approver.
Click Approve & Forward.
Send Back to User
Step 1: Select Send Back to User button when there are red exceptions, such as:
- Receipts/attachments are not attached to certain expenses
- Wrong naming convention
- Expenses not identified
- Expense amount is unreasonable (comments need to be added)
- Travel Request not linked to Expense Report
Step 1a: Type in the reason you are sending the Expense Report back to the user in the comment section.
Then click OK.
Checklists
If you would like to use any of the checklists, click on the links to proceed:
Need more help?
Contact Concur Support at [email protected] or at 657-278-3600.