Simultaneous Manager and Auditor Expense Report Approvals

You can set up processing options to allow expense auditors to audit expense reports before or after manager approvals are complete.

If expense auditors can audit expense reports before manager approvals are complete, expense report reimbursement is expedited and certain auditor actions are impacted.

In the Setup and Maintenance work area, use the following to navigate to the Manage Expenses System Options page:

Offering: Financials
Functional Area: Expenses
Task: Manage Expenses System Options

If you allow audit approval:

In parallel with manager approval, both managers and the expense auditor can approve expense reports at the same time.
After manager approval, the expense auditor can audit expense reports only after manager approvals are complete.

Note: An expense report can only be processed and reimbursed after both the manager and the expense auditor approve it. If either the manager or the expense auditor reject an expense report, it's returned to the employee and isn't processed for reimbursement.

Approval rule setup, whether in parallel with manager approval or after manager approval, affects the following:

Auditor actions
Expense report status

Auditor Actions

When the manager and the expense auditor can approve expense reports at the same time, the following auditor actions are affected.

Short pay an expense report.
Reject an expense report.
Request more information.

The following table contains the expense auditor actions that are impacted when the expense auditor takes certain actions before or after manager approval.

Auditor Action	In Parallel with Manager Approval	After Manager Approval
Short pay an expense report.	New expense report containing disallowed expense items isn't created until manager approves expense report. Approved portion of expense report isn't eligible for expense reimbursement until manager approval is complete.	New expense report containing disallowed expense items is immediately created. Approved portion of expense report is eligible for expense reimbursement. The short paid portion requires action from the employee.
Reject an Expense Report	Manager is unable to continue with the approval process because the expense report isn't eligible for expense reimbursement.	Expense report isn't eligible for expense reimbursement.
Request More Information	Employee doesn't immediately receive a request for more information. After manager approves the expense report, the request is communicated to employee.	Employee receives a request for more information. The expense auditor continues with the audit.

Auditor Action

In Parallel with Manager Approval

After Manager Approval

Short pay an expense report.

New expense report containing disallowed expense items isn't created until manager approves expense report.

Approved portion of expense report isn't eligible for expense reimbursement until manager approval is complete.

New expense report containing disallowed expense items is immediately created.

Approved portion of expense report is eligible for expense reimbursement. The short paid portion requires action from the employee.

Reject an Expense Report

Manager is unable to continue with the approval process because the expense report isn't eligible for expense reimbursement.

Expense report isn't eligible for expense reimbursement.

Request More Information

Employee doesn't immediately receive a request for more information. After manager approves the expense report, the request is communicated to employee.

Employee receives a request for more information. The expense auditor continues with the audit.

Expense Report Status

After an employee submits an expense report, the report status that's visible to the employee varies according to the approval rule your company set up as described in the following table.

Approval Rule Set Up	Approval Scenario	Expense Report Status
In parallel with manager approval.	The expense auditor approves the expense report, but the manager hasn't yet approved it.	Pending manager approval.
After manager approval.	The expense auditor approves the expense report after the manager.	Pending expense auditor approval.