When processing expense reports via Chrome River, it is very important to enter accurate service dates into the applicable fields of the expense report. See below for a few points to keep in mind related to these expense report service dates:
- Service dates on an expense report should reflect when the applicable goods or services were received. This will ensure the expense is properly classified for accrual and deferral cutoff reporting, which is a crucial part of the University of Illinois System’s financial reporting process and a heavy point of emphasis during the U of I System’s external financial audit.
- If the services were provided on the same day (such as a repair service), simply enter in the same date for both the Beginning Service Date and the Ending Service Date.
- However, if the services were provided over a range of days (such as an annual membership or subscription renewal which crosses fiscal years), then enter the date that the services began in the Beginning Service Date field, while putting the date that the services will be ending in the Ending Service Date field.
- If the purchase is for goods as opposed to services, then you can either: (1) enter the same date for both the Beginning Service Date and the Ending Service Date fields (using the date that you took ownership of the goods), or (2) leave these service date periods blank.
- Finally, keep in mind that University Payables has controls in place for certain types of expense reports which will require you to enter a beginning and ending service date before the expense report can be submitted. However, those controls are dependent on the type of purchase that is being made, which means that they may not catch every expense report which needs a service date range. That’s why it’s important for the processor to think about this concept for every expense report that they complete.
Contact
For further details, reach out to the applicable subject matter experts within the Accrual & Deferral Tracking section of UAFR’s Who to Ask list. You can also reach out to University Payables at (217) 333-6583 or obfsupay@uillinois.edu.
