Monday, July 29, 2019

Approver Adjust effective in CSE

Please see below for more information on Approver Adjust in Chrome River, which is now active in CSE.  DJP

Approver Adjust in Chrome River
July 26, 2019
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You have requested the Approver Adjust functionality in Chrome River for your college/administrative unit. The Approver Adjust functionality allows approvers to make some changes to an expense report at the line level rather than always returning it to the expense owner to make requested changes. This functionality will be turned on for your college/administrative unit by July 29, 2019.
This new functionality should reduce the number of times expense reports need to be returned to an expense owner. Carefully read the information below, especially the items in bold, for specific situations that may arise. If for any reason the expense report needs to be returned to the expense owner, it is best practice for approvers not to make any changes and instead return the expense report and ask the expense owner to make all changes. Chrome River does not offer any reports that track changes made by approvers. Adding comments when changes are made is required and should include a summary of the changes made.
Please share this information with any approvers in your college/administrative unit who will have access to this functionality.

Approver Adjust

Approvers can change the following items at the line level:
  • Allocation (all of the ChartField string except the Account code)
    • If the wrong Dept ID was used, the approver should return the expense report and ask the expense owner to make the change. Changing the Dept ID may result in an auto-approval of the expense report.
    • If the expense type is per diem (per diem, per diem wizard, extended day, etc.), and an approver changes the allocation, any deductions selected by the expense owner will appear to be removed. The approved amount will remain as submitted by the expense owner with the selected deductions, even though it will appear to the approver that the deductions were removed.
      • If the amount and the allocation both need to be changed, the approver should return the expense report and ask the expense owner to make the change.
  • Account codes available within the Expense Type selected by the expense owner (Chrome River doesn’t offer functionality for approvers to change Expense Types)
  • Dollar amount for out-of-pocket expenses
    • If the expense line is deemed unallowable, approvers should not reduce the line to $0 or select the Unallowable allocation.  The approver should return the expense report and ask the expense owner to make the change.
  • Add Comments
  • Add Attachments
    • While this functionality is allowed at the line level it is a best practice not to add attachments here, rather add them at the header of the expense report.  This will ensure the expense report continues to route properly.
If any other changes need to be made to the expense report, it will be the responsibility of the expense owner.
The Approver Adjust feature is only available to approvers who review activity from within Chrome River itself (not when using email to approve). All approval emails sent to approvers will reflect the details of the expense report as it was submitted by the expense owner.  Any changes made by approvers will not be reflected in future approval email alerts.
Expense owners will be notified via email when approvers make changes to their expense report. 

Job Aid: Approval Actions in Chrome River 

The Approval Actions in Chrome River job aid has been updated and provides a high-level overview and instructions for using Approver Adjust functionality.  

Questions/Feedback

Send any questions or feedback on Approver Adjust functionality to controller@umn.edu.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Chrome River Approver Adjust

CSE has opted-in to the Approver Adjust functionality in Chrome River.  I heard this morning from central that the functionality will be rolled out on Friday for everyone not in the pilot.  Emails will come from central in advance of it being turned on.  You will hear more from me as soon as the communications come.  DJP