What do I do if the traveler does not exist in Chrome River?

Employees and students are loaded into Chrome River daily, based on data in the Banner Human Resources module. 

Reasons that someone is not visible in Chrome River include:

  • the employee's start date is in the future
  • the employee's termination date is in the past
  • the employee has a 'secondary' assignment but not a 'primary' one
  • the person is a retiree
  • the student is not registered for classes

Do I need to enter a Pre-Approval if no expenses will be reimbursed?

Yes, the Pre-Approval is required for liability purposes for all travel. If no expenses will be reimbursed, use the 'Non-Reimbursable' expense type.  This expense type must have an amount greater than $0.

How do we enter blanket Pre-Approvals in Chrome River?

When creating a blanket Pre-Approval in Chrome River, the dates on the header can be by month, semester, or fiscal year, but cannot be backdated or cross fiscal years. Enter “various” as the location under city/state. Since the PA is a declining balance document, once it is at zero dollars, a new PA will need to be created for any future expense reports within that time period. All possible expenses for the time period of the blanket need to be estimated on the PA.

How can I pay an invoice prior to a trip in Chrome River?

Invoices can be attached to a traveler's Pre-Approval in Chrome River. These items should be listed as a 'University Paid' expense type on the Pre-Approval.

What can I update on Chrome River reports that have been returned to me?

  • Pre-Approvals - report header and expense types can be edited, and new expense types can be added, prior to re-submission
  • Expense Reports - report header and expense types can be edited, but new expenses cannot be added, prior to re-submission

If you need to add an expense type on a submitted expense report, recall the report, make your edits, and re-submit.

Can I copy individual expenses on a Pre-Approval or Expense Report?

Individual expenses cannot be copied on a Pre-Approval at this time.

On an Expense Report, click the individual expense to copy on the left pane, and then click the ellipsis on the right pane, followed by 'Duplicate':

 

How do I enter travel to multiple destinations?

A 'Various' option exists for:

  • domestic travel - under 'City, State'
  • international travel - under 'Country'

 

What is the workflow routing for Chrome River?

Chrome River workflow is based on Banner HR and Banner Finance approvals and follows the routing below:

 

What e-mail notifications are sent for Chrome River reports?

Pre-Approvals:

  • traveler and delegate receive an e-mail when a report is fully approved or has been returned
  • approvers receive e-mails whenever a report is pending approval

Expense Reports:

  • traveler and delegate receive an e-mail when a report is fully approved or has been returned
  • approvers receive e-mails whenever a report is pending approval

Are approved Expense Reports visible in BDMS?

Yes. Approved Expense Reports export to Banner Finance for payment daily.  The next business day, the receipts that were attached in Chrome River are loaded into the B-F-DOCS application of BDMS. 

These images can be viewed either by:

querying B-F-DOCS directly, using one of these options:

  • enter the specific TX* or TD* number in the 'DOCUMENT ID' field (preferred), or
  • enter the traveler's name in the 'VENDOR NAME' (last name) and 'FIRST NAME' fields, or
  • enter the BSUID in the 'VENDOR ID' field

clicking 'Retrieve' from Banner when on the FAIINVE or FGIDOCR screens

If the supervisor for a traveler is incorrect in Chrome River, how can I correct that?

The supervisor information is fed into Chrome River from the Banner Human Resources module.  Contact your HR representative for supervisor information.

What are the different statuses of Pre-Approvals in Chrome River?

  • Approved - Pre-Approval is approved and has not had an Expense Reports applied against it
  • Partially Applied - Pre-Approval has had at least one Expense Report applied against it, reducing the available balance on that Pre-Approval
  • Used/Expired - Pre-Approval no longer has an available balance

What are the different statuses of Expense Reports in Chrome River?

  • Pending Approval - report has been submitted but not fully approved
  • Exported - report is fully approved but has not yet paid
  • Paid - report has been paid to the traveler or applied to an outstanding cash advance

If I open an approval e-mail in Outlook on my PC, and I am running Windows 10, when I click Approve or Return from an approval e-mail, the approval e-mail would appear to be sent through the 'Mail' application instead of Outlook.  What do I do?

This is because the 'Mail' application in Windows 10 is set as your default e-mail client. There are a few workarounds:

  • Change your default e-mail client on your PC to be Outlook instead of 'Mail':
    • In the Windows bar at the bottom, type 'Settings'
    • In the 'Find a Setting' search bar in the upper-left, type 'default app settings'
    • Under 'Email,' ensure that Outlook is the default email client instead of the 'Mail' app:

              

  • Approve from another device, like a phone or different computer