Chrome River Frequently Asked Questions
Chrome River is WSSU’s online Travel Pre-Approval system AND the reimbursement system. Chrome River is available to all employees. Travel Pre-Approvals and Reimbursement Requests are entered and processed in Chrome River, and the actual payment process occurs in Banner.
Chrome River is a web-based system and does not require the VPN. Use your WSSU credentials to log in to Chrome River. Chrome River works best using Google Chrome, and if you get a message that Chrome River is not available, please do the following: Clear the cache on your Google Chrome and then attempt to log in again. For more information on this, please consult this link: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/32050?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en.
Go to the Help Center and click on Access Online Help Center from the Question mark (?). There are different topics to choose from based on what you are trying to do. As always, feel free to contact the Travel department at wssutravel@wssu.edu and we’ll be glad to help!
If the payee is an employee, reimbursement cannot be made without direct deposit for reimbursements in BANNER, which is separate from Payroll. If an employee already receives REIMBURSEMENT payments as a direct deposit from WSSU, the employee does not need to take any action in Banner. See Direct Deposits to enroll in direct deposit in Banner OR TO UPDATE INFORMATION IN THE EVENT OF A BANK CHANGE for reimbursements for employees.
Avoid excessive printing on paper. In Chrome River, electronic documents serve as original receipts. Upload an electronic version of a receipt into Chrome River OR take a photo of your paper receipt using the CR Snap application on your mobile device. The receipt will then be available for selection within your Receipt Gallery in Chrome River.
Only employees (not student employees) can access Chrome River. Therefore, an employee will have to enter a Travel Pre-Approval or Expense reimbursement request for any student or guest. The employee entering for the student or guest will select the appropriate Traveler/Payee Type (“Student” or “Guest”) on the Report Header in Chrome River and will then enter Pre-Approval or Reimbursement information just as you would for an employee. IN THE REPORT NAME, MAKE SURE TO USE “GUEST” OR “STUDENT” AND THEN THE GUEST OR STUDENT NAME. For example, if you have a job candidate, enter “Guest John Smith Chem job candidate.”
On Pre-Approval reports, IF the student or guest name does NOT appear, type “Person Not Found” and select it to submit the report (so you can enter the Pre-Approval even when the student or guest is NOT in Chrome River). Example: During a faculty search, a candidate dropped out and another last-minute candidate is asked to interview. The pre-approval needs to be completed quickly in order to purchase airfare or shuttle. Select “Person Not Found” so the Pre-Approval can be submitted.
On Reimbursement Expense Reports, the Non-Employee field is required (so the student or guest must be in Chrome River IF the student or guest is being reimbursed). AND NOTE that IF “Multiple” was used as the Traveler/Payee Type, this field will need to be changed to “Student” or “Guest” (so the employee will not be reimbursed).
The student or guest needs to be in Chrome River ONLY IF the guest or student is going to be reimbursed by WSSU.
You should never charge anything on any T-card unless the appropriate pre-approvals are in place!
Pre-Approvals will have to be done, and if you do the Pre-Approval after purchases are made, the approval dates will indicate that you are not in compliance (because you did not do the approval prior to travel purchases).
ACTION: Enter the Pre-Approval and enter in the Comments section the reason for delay in submitting the Pre-Approval. If you have any written documentation that you had earlier approval, such as the Dean’s award letter, then you will upload that documentation on the “expense” side (the reimbursement side) after returning from the trip. You will “pull over” the Pre-Approval in the system that will “connect” to the expense/reimbursement. (The uploaded award letter from the Dean, for example, will help justify the comment made on the Pre-approval about why the Pre-Approval was not done in advance). If you have a WSSU T-Card with your name on it, such as a coach, and had a last-minute change of plans that would require a travel Pre-approval, go ahead and enter the Pre-approval as soon as you know your change of plans, and attach that Pre-approval and any other approval correspondence (such as an email or text correspondence for last-minute changes) to the charge card documentation.
Please send an email to wssutravel@wssu.edu, stating who you would like to have set up as a delegate and the travel team will then set up the delegate on our behalf.
You can always check the routing status using the Tracking feature in Chrome River. Once you click SUBMIT, the report will appear in your Submitted list. From there, you may track its progress through the approval routing process by selecting it, clicking the three dots above the preview, and then selecting TRACKING.
Pending = The request is in an approval queue process.
Approved = The request is fully approved.
Exported = The expense record has been exported from Chrome River and imported into Banner for payment.
Paid = The expense has been paid in Banner and that record information has been exported from Banner and imported to Chrome River.
Multiple = The record has line items that are in different stages (one line item might be paid and another line item on the same record is approved, waiting for payment selection).
Partially Applied (Pre-Approval) = The approval can be added to an additional expense report.
Used / Expires (Pre-Approval) = Approval can no longer be attached to an expense report.
