Expenses

If your notice that your expenses are not flowing into your ERP take the following steps to troubleshoot:

1. Determine the dates the expense claims in question were approved (i.e. moved into an approval status in Unimarket)
   • Go to the transaction run screen and identify the Transaction Run the expenses were included in based on the approved date and the date the next Transaction Run was scheduled.
2. Review the email inbox where your error notifications are set to go to see if any errors resulted for that particular Transaction Run. 
   
   • If there is an error in the file, the entire file is not processed and the email will contain the error report to assist you in troubleshooting the issue.
   • Your team should review the errors and fix them accordingly.
     • Banner customers can reload and process this expense file manually using FZUMEXI.
3. If you could not find the email notification outlining any errors, have a member of your IT team review this file to see if any errors are seen related to these files within your ERP system.

If the community has the 'Expenses' module enabled this can be configured from Administration > Modules > Expenses.

 

Expense Types

The Community can configure specific expense types and determine custom fields and requirements for each. This supports specific customer expense policies by allowing customers to capture specific data and make certain information mandatory. For example, a mileage expense type may have different fields and requirements than an accommodation expense type.

The administrator can set up expense types so that users choose from a pre-defined list of expense types when creating expense lines. To create an expense type click Add Expense Type and give it a name. Calculated Rates can be defined which will automatically calculate for the user (e.g. the mileage rate) and a default account code can be set.

Using Forms with Expense Types

When defining an expense type you can also specify a form to use when the expense type is selected by the user. Forms allow the community to specify custom fields to capture specific data they require as part of an expense type. For example, a community may want to capture more information about the reason for travel.

To enable this function the community must have Forms enabled (contact Unimarket if required). The administrator defines the form under Administration > Settings > Management > Forms tab. The forms can then be created and associated to the expense type.

Payment Types

Optional payment types can be setup if the community wishes to record how the expense item was paid for. Examples are Petty Cash, P Card, Personal Credit Card etc. If payment types are defined then the user will be required to select a payment type when creating an expense line. If only the default is defined then no selection will be required by the user (the field does not display). To create a payment type click 'Add Payment Type' and enter a name.

Reimbursement Types

Optional reimbursement types can be setup if the community wishes to determine how/where the expense item will be reimbursed. This option should only be used if you require the ability to reimburse funds to different account locations rather than simply reimbursing the user e.g. The Corporate P Card account. By default the Expense module is setup to reimburse the user so if no reimbursement types are defined then the user will not be required to make a selection (the field does not display).

Settings

You have the option to allow users to add the tax as an amount rather than needing to select a specific rate. You can do this from the Settings Tab by checking the box for Taxes on Expenses.

Within the Settings, you can also select to require Attachments on Expenses either at the header level, at the line level, or both. (The settings for Attachments Required only apply when Submitting the Expense, not when Saving it.)

Create Expenses

Users must be assigned the Expenses role in order to be able to submit expense claims.

• From the Module Switcher select Expenses, and click Create to open the expenses screen.

• If you have the On Behalf Of Expenses role, there will be a field at the top which defaults to the user creating the expense. This allows you to select another user from the same org unit if creating on behalf of someone.
• Specify a claim name and description and attach supporting documents if required.
  
  
• Click + Create Expense to begin adding expense lines to the claim.
• For each expense you will need to select an Expense Type and complete the required information.
  If the expense type has an associated form, then the additional details will display on the page.
• Once finished, click Add or to add more expense lines select Add More.
• You can save an expense claim in order to come back to it later, to do this simply select Save at the bottom of the page.
  • You can find the expense claim again by clicking 'Expenses' from the Module Switcher. Expense claims that have been saved and not submitted will have a state of Incomplete. You can click the Expense Claim and then click on the Actions menu and select Edit. (You also have the option here to Delete).
• Once you have added all the required lines click Submit to submit the claim for approval. The expense claim will be given a unique ID and routed to the approvers.

Note: If your community allows users to enter a Tax Amount, when creating an Expense Line, the user can either select a Tax Rate, or enter a Tax Amount with a new field.

Declined Expense

• If your expense has been Declined and you need to re-submit it, you can click on the Declined expense, click on the More Actions menu and you can Copy the expense.

Note: The copy function is only available on Declined expenses.

Approving Expenses

Expenses approval will route based on the Approval process set-up for Expenses. 

If you are a delegated approver for expenses, approvals will appear in your Tasks menu at the top right of the page (boxed check icon) , and you can select Approvals and View All.

• Select the Expenses tab on the Approvals page.
• You can review the expense lines and associated information, then select Approve/Decline if you wish to approve from this information
• To review the Expense in detail click on the Expense name.
  
  
• Click Approve/Decline if you wish to approve the expense

Editing Expenses

If you are sent an expense to approve but notice that information is wrong or an attachment is missing, rather than rejecting the entire expense, approvers can now edit and make changes to the expense before approving it. To make any required changes click More Actions and select Edit.

This will take you to the Edit Expense page. Here you can upload any required attachments or edit the Expense line by clicking Edit to the right.

Once you finished with editing click Save to apply the changes and can proceed with Approval. 

 

Note: The Expense submitter, or Buyer, can add attachments when an expense is Incomplete, Pending or even Approved.

 

 

The approved expense lines can be extracted from Unimarket and uploaded to the communities finance system for reimbursement using the Transaction Run functionality. As part of the expenses module configuration Unimarket can provide a customized file format for extracting the data if required (e.g. a Banner format or an Oracle format).

Community Administration - Community Setup

For information on Expenses Administration, see Expenses Administration Module.