Clearing of Aging Transactions

Clearing transactions in a timely manner, ensuring expenses are appropriately allocated, and conducting reconciliations and reviews as needed are critical activities at the department level. These best practices help mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse while supporting the university’s commitment to financial stewardship. To reinforce these efforts, Stanford Financial Management Services (FMS) conducts a quarterly clearing process based on the university’s fiscal quarters. This process serves as an additional control, ensuring aged transactions are cleared and identified for management review.

Stanford’s policy for Travel Cards and Purchasing Cards requires transactions to be verified and approved within 60 days of the completion of travel (for TCards) or the SU Credit Card Posted Date (for PCards). Advances must be cleared or returned within 60 days of their expected clearing date.

Departments should also review TCard charges for any personal expenses and ensure they are cleared within 60 days of travel completion. Refer to How To Return Personal Expenses Charged to a Travel Card.  

When transactions are force cleared

Based on the fiscal year deadlines shown below, every quarter FMS force clears transactions aged beyond 60 days to the card’s guarantee PTA (for PCards and TCards) or to the org’s AP Default Account (for Advances). Budget units will be charged $35 for each transaction that is force cleared.

When an expense is force cleared, it is still critical to create and store supporting documentation for audit per Admin Guide 3.1.5 Retention of Financial Records as well as move charges to an appropriate PTA and expenditure type if the force clear PTAE was not appropriate.

Repeated force clearings 

Individual PCards or Travel Cards with transactions that are force cleared in two different quarters within a 12-month period may be suspended for 60 days. Learn more on the Purchasing Card and Travel Card pages.

For more information on viewing, monitoring, and clearing aging transactions, and responding to force cleared transactions, visit Topic Overview: Managing Aging and Outstanding Expense Transactions.