Procedure # 3025.2; Rev.: 1 (Effective October 10, 2018)
Related Policy: UW-3025 Cash Advance Policy
Functional Owner: Accounting Services, Business Services
Contact: Expense Reimbursement Program Manager – Allie Demet, expensereimbursement@bussvc.wisc.edu, (608) 263-3525
Contents
- Procedure statement
- Who is affected by this procedure
- Procedure
- Contact roles and responsibilities
- Definitions
- Related references
- Revisions
I. Procedure statement
Cash Advance requests are submitted through the Shared Financial System (SFS). Employees must first be approved by their Dean’s/Divisional Business Office to receive Cash Advances. Employees’ profiles must be activated for Cash Advances by Business Services before they can create and submit Cash Advances. Employees must fully reconcile Cash Advances within 30 days of the end of the trip.
II. Who is affected by this procedure
e-Reimbursement approvers and auditors who review, approve, and reconcile Cash Advances.
III. Procedure
- Pre-Approval: Prior to advancement, a Cash Advance Activation Request Form must be submitted to Business Services. This form must be approved by the Department and Division. Once the form has been submitted and the traveler’s profile has been activated, the traveler can request a cash advance. Once activated, the traveler’s profile is permanently activated unless the Department or Division specifically requests a traveler to be deactivated.
- Cash Advance Approval: Cash advances are approved by an approver and auditor. They appear in approver/auditor queues with expense reports. The level of detail required in a cash advance is determined by the department and division.
- Reconciliation: Cash advances must be fully reconciled within 30 days of the end of the trip.
- Traveler submits expense report: Travelers must submit an expense report to account for the use of advanced funds. Expenses post to the general ledger after the expense report is approved; expenses do not post when the cash advance is approved.
- Refund of excess advanced funds: Travelers must promptly refund any unused advanced funds to the University. Deposits must be made to the funding used in the cash advance.
- Identify the funding string used on the cash advance:
- Sign into WISDM.
- Navigate to Main Menu > Other > Transaction Search.
- Complete the search criteria as follows:
- Select the Fiscal Year and Accounting Period in which the Cash Advance was paid.
- Change the Dept drop-down menu to starts with and enter the traveler’s Division code (e.g. 48 for L&S).
- Change the Account drop-down menu to is exactly and enter account code 6166.
- Change the Description drop-down menu to is exactly and enter the traveler’s Employee ID.
- Check the Show Balance Account
- Click Submit.
- Find the original cash advance payment by locating the Cash Advance ID in the Jrnl Line Ref column and the total sum of the cash advance in the Monetary Amt column. Use this funding string to deposit the refund payment.
- Note: Jrnl Line Ref is not a default column in WISER for the Transaction Search and must be manually added. To do this, click the “More Options” when icon next to “Pin to Dashboard.” From the menu that pops up, select “Customize…” Under “Available Columns” menu, select “Jrnl Line Ref” and click the right arrow button to move the field to your “Custom View.” If desired, rearrange “Custom View” by selecting the field you’d like to move, and clicking the up or down arrows. Once complete, click “Save.” The custom layout including Jrnl Ln Ref should now be visible.
- Submit a Check Deposit Form utilizing the funding string identified in the step above.
- Identify the funding string used on the cash advance:
- Auditor Reconciliation: The Auditor of the Cash Advance request must reconcile the deposit in e-Reimbursement to fully close the Cash Advance. The refund check must have been deposited prior to the auditor’s reconciliation.
- Sign into the Shared Financial System (SFS)/e-Reimbursement, click the Expenses WorkCenter tile.
- Select Reconcile Cash Advance from the cash advance submenu. Select the proper cash advance from the list.
- Enter the check number and the amount of refunds received. Click Reconcile.
IV. Contact roles and responsibilities
- Travelers – Travelers are responsible for reconciling cash advances within 30 days of the end of the trip. Travelers must not seek excessive cash advances and must refund any excess advancements promptly. Advanced funds must be used prudently and in accordance with UW travel and purchasing policies. Travelers are responsible for submitting cash advance requests in a timely enough fashion to allow for approvals and payment.
- Approver – Upon submission, cash advance requests are first reviewed by an approver. Approvers are responsible for reviewing supporting documentation, for reviewing cash advances for policy compliance, and for reviewing the funding being charged.
- Auditor – All cash advances are reviewed by an auditor after the approver. Auditors are responsible for reviewing cash advances for policy compliance. Auditors are responsible for reconciling refunded payments related to cash advances.
V. Definitions
- Cash Advance – a request for monetary advancement prior to a trip.
- Expense reports – An expense report contains a categorized and itemized list of expenses that were made on behalf of University of Wisconsin–Madison. This report helps the employer or finance team determine what money was spent, what was purchased, and how much of the expenditure is approved for reimbursement.
VI. Related references
- UW-3015 Travel Policy
- UW-3024 Expense Reimbursement Policy
- 3024.1 – Creating and Submitting an Expense Report
- Getting Reimbursed
- Check Deposit Form
- Cash Advance Activation Request Form
VII. Revisions
Procedure Number | 3025.2 |
Date Approved | October 1, 2018 |
Revision Dates | July 23, 2019 – Updated instructions for depositing refund checks Jan. 19, 2021 – Updated Procedure Number to 3025.2 from 321.2 |