Business services helps employees ‘GET’ reimbursed
The new Guided Expense Tool (GET) for expense reimbursement submission is now available to the entire university. GET will become the primary campus tool for submitting expense reports during the course of the year.
“I’m so pleased to introduce campus to this new tool. It’s a wonderful example of the ‘service’ in Business Services,” says Martha Kerner, assistant vice chancellor for business services.
For more information and to start using GET, visit Accounting Services’ Expense Reimbursement page.
GET can be used to submit the vast majority of expense reimbursement requests. Enhancements will be added over time. Once the planned enhancements are in place, only reimbursements associated with cash advances will need to be submitted via e-Reimbursement. E-Reimbursement will also continue to be the tool for approvals and auditing.
“We recognize that campus may be best served by utilizing a single tool for the submission of expense reimbursements, but we were so excited about the new functionality provided by GET. We’re happy to respond to customer requests to use the new tool now while we continue to enhance it,” Kerner says.
GET was developed in response to campus requests for a more intuitive, user-friendly tool for submitting travel and other expenses. GET includes some functions specifically requested by campus that are not available in e-Reimbursement, including:
- Built-in wizards for selecting funding and mileage rates
- Receipt and documentation requirement indicators
- Easier assignment of expense and billing types
- Built-in help and contact links
- Enhanced tools for alternates
GET is the result of a Lean Six Sigma project, managed by Administrative Process Redesign in partnership with Business Services.
Development was preceded by a thorough requirements-gathering process and included an extensive pilot to ensure campus needs are met with this tool.
The pilot was a particularly unique feature of this campus project, involving more than 700 participants from 19 campus divisions over a period of seven months.
As the pilot users entered more than 1,100 expense reports, they also submitted feedback, allowing the GET team to identify additional requirements and implement the appropriate enhancements.
Features added during the pilot phase included sorting and paging functions on the report screens, improved help documentation and the implementation of a public transportation category. Customer satisfaction with the tool improved as the pilot progressed, leading to the current all-campus rollout.
“Ninety-six percent of the pilot users tell us they’ll recommend GET to their colleagues,” says Dan Langer, controller and director of accounting services. “And with easier entry, we should also see shorter submission times and fewer errors, resulting in minimal send-backs and quicker approvals. It’s a win for everyone involved.”
–By Janet DesChenes