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Resolving Aging Expense Requests

This resource assists with resolving aging expense requests transactions that have not been posted by providing suggested steps by the transaction status shown in the OBI Expense Request Aging report. 

The expense request process flow within Oracle Expense Requests and the roles and responsibilities of those involved is detailed in Topic Overview: Reimbursements and Expense Reports.

Expense requests without rejections are typically completed in a matter of days once submitted for approval. However, an expense request can encounter situations that cause it to pause within its workflow. Examples include:  

  • Approver or preparer are no longer in their role at Stanford but the expense request is in their work queue 
  • Supplier setup for the expense request was never completed
  • Banking information for the supplier was incorrect, resulting in a returned payment
  • Personal expense reimbursement check from traveler has not been processed
  • Requests for additional information by central business expense auditors or local approvers
  • System glitches

The Expense Requests-Aging report, within the OBI Expense Requests and SU Card Activity Dashboard, displays active expense requests that have been submitted for approval but have not yet been posted and paid. This report shows the age of individual expense requests and groups them into buckets by aging.

Using the Expense Requests - Aging report, incomplete expense requests will be indicated by their

  • Status (Expense Request Transaction Status Description)
  • Age (Age Day Quantity) and type of aging bucket they are displayed in
  • Last approved date (Expense Request Last Approved Date)

Additional information about the history of the expense request can be found by reviewing the expense request processing details in the Expense Request System.  For instructions, refer to How to Search for Expense Request Transactions.

Finance analysts/managers can look up Expense Request Transaction Status Descriptions in the table below to see suggested steps to resolve problems with processing the  transactions.  For older transactions, the first step should be to verify if other forms of payment were made to the traveler/supplier, such as a different expense request or a credit card or purchase order.

Note: Travel & Reimbursement (T&R) audit refers to the Business Expense team audit function.  

Expense Request Transaction Status Description How to Resolve
Paid Submit a support request for status.  
Pending Approval
 

Steps to resolution:

  1. Follow up with the current approver listed in the report.
  2. If the approver is not the appropriate approver, preparer should withdraw and resubmit to correct approver.
  3. If the transaction has paused with the end route approver, or for any other issues, submit a support request.
Pending Audit Review Wait for audit by Business Expense team according to the published current audit date. If the department approval date is prior to the current audit date, submit a support request for questions.
Pending Payment Submit a support request if the current date is three to five business days after the current audit date.
Pending Resolution from Preparer (This status applies only to Non-PO Payments [PR])

Potential scenarios:

  • Complete and respond to the resolution request made by the Business Expense team.  
  • If the expense request is no longer needed, then the original preparer can delete it.
  • If the original preparer is no longer in their role at Stanford, or there are any other issues, submit a support request.
Pending Supplier Setup

Steps to resolution:

  1. Verify if the supplier has been paid by another method; if so delete the expense request.
  2. Use the Supplier Query and Request Tool to verify if supplier has been set up or is still pending.
  3. If still pending, contact payee to verify if they have completed the supplier set-up request.
  4. Contact Financial Support Center for next steps.
Pending Travel & Reimbursement Audit Submit a support request if the department approval date is three to five business days before the current audit date.
Pending Your Resolution (This status applies only to Expense Reports [ER] and Visitor Reimbursements [VR])

Potential scenarios:

  • Complete and respond to the resolution request made by the Business Expense team.  
  • If the expense request is no longer needed, then the original preparer can delete it.
  • If the original preparer is no longer in their role at Stanford, or there are any other issues, submit a support request.
Ready for Payment If the department approval date is before the current audit date by the Business Expense audit team, allow one to two additional business days after final audit approval before submitting a support request. 
Rejected

Potential scenarios (see Note below):

  • Correct and resubmit for approval.  
  • If the expense request is no longer valid, then delete it.
  • If the original preparer is no longer in their role at Stanford, or there are any other issues, submit a support request.
Returned by T&R Auditor

Potential scenarios (see Note below):

Note: Rejected/returned expense requests go back to the ERS queue of the preparer (who was the verifier at time of submission), who may not be the current verifier. Use the OBI Credit Card Transactions - Aging report to compare Preparer Full Name with Current Verifier Full Name to find transactions that the current verifier cannot see in their ERS queue. To cancel rejected/returned expense request(s) and move their TCard transactions to the queue of the current verifier, submit a support request to Card Services and select “Transaction” as the type of inquiry.
Last Updated: Jan 17, 2023
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