To make the grade in expense management for universities, your solution needs to be able to handle the wide range of unique needs associated with higher education and research facilities; namely, staff working under various grants and cost centers, managing budget checking and encumbrances, travel to conferences, study abroad programs, non-employee travel and expenses, as well as sports team travel. It also must allow maximum flexibility for integrating travel data and corporate card program data. Most importantly, it must do all these things and be simple to use on any computer or mobile device, no matter the operating system.
Welcome to The River.
Chrome River's expense report software does all of the above, with functionalities that include special handling of:
Funding sources:
- Ability to split expenses among multiple cost centers and/or grants
- Automated expense allocation that pre-populate the correct account choices– without the need to memorize account or fund codes
- Extensive per diem functionality, with the ability handle myriad custom configurations
- Conditional compliance and approval routing rules depending on the funding source
Budget Control:
- Trip pre-approval allows visibility into expenses before they happen
- Budgets can be encumbered based on pre-authorized amounts and then liquidated once the actual expenses are incurred
- Business rules can automatically check remaining budgets during both the pre-authorization and expense reporting processes
Travel and expense management for Athletics and group travel:
- Unique “guest traveler” functionality for expenses associated with individuals not employed by the university
- The ability to create special compliance rules for group travel and NCAA regulations
Open platform for integrating travel data and card program data
- Flexibility to choose the Travel Management Company and travel technology platform that provides the right options for your institution and have that data flow seamlessly into Chrome River
- Flexibility to integrate all of your card programs in one place – whether it’s a travel card, a p-card, a one card, you now have a single solution for attaching the back up and routing for approval.
Other university-oriented expense management functionalities:
- Delegate functionality that allows staff members to create and submit expense reports on behalf of another
Mobility and Ease of Use for all Departments
Each department want the same outcome: they want expense management software that’s easy to use. And with Chrome River, each department has the ability to customize its own expense rules and routing. Chrome River also lets authorized users access the platform anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
Not only does Chrome River support any device, but the web application and straightforward interface requires little to no training for personnel. The user-friendly interface is intuitive, appears identical on all devices, and guides users through the system to access the features and functions they need.
And as a bonus: the ease-of-use, mobility, snap-and-send receipt capture, and approval routing eliminates the need for paper. Say good-bye to the interoffice envelopes and hello to efficiency!
Smart Partnership with Ellucian
You may already be familiar with Ellucian as the largest enterprise resource planning (ERP) provider to universities and colleges. But did you know that Chrome River powers Ellucian’s travel and expense functionality? And because our solution is delivered as Software as a Service, you can be assured that Chrome River won’t place an undue burden on your institution’s IT department.
Working together, Ellucian and Chrome River allow you to:
- Automate the entire travel expense pre-approval, submission, approval, reimbursement process
- Submit expenses and receipts from any mobile device for faster reimbursement
- See spending trends with analytics and reporting dashboards
- Reduce paper with automatic routing, approvals, and reimbursements
Ethos Connected: Ellucian Ethos is the higher education framework connecting people, processes and applications across the institution to power coordinated programs designed for student success. Ethos is built upon an open data model that unifies data, APIs and integrations that connect a community of applications and analytics and workflow which enable universities to make informed and coordinated decisions. Together, Chrome River and Ellucian enable institutions to gain insights from data for improved decision making.
International Travel is a Breeze
Whether your history department chair is traveling to Europe for a conference or your entire art department is heading to Asia for research, Chrome River makes managing international travel a breeze. Expense management for universities is now straightforward as Chrome River comes equipped with global capabilities that include:
- Support for full per diem functionality
- Support for VAT and international tax policies
- Currency conversions, allowing you to input expenses in multiple currencies, which are then automatically converted back to the base currency
- Foreign exchange rates that are refreshed daily
Chrome River Grows with You
As policies within your institution evolve and change, Chrome River is poised to evolve and change right along with you. Our flexible expense management platform for Higher Education has the ability to integrate with any and all financial systems, online booking tools, corporate card programs and travel management companies. And while these components of your environment may change, Chrome River will maintain its streamlined, convenient and easy-to-use functionality that makes it the perfect pick for your institution.
Chrome River is wonderful! The employees are great to work with from the initial sales person through implementation and help desk!
