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• Chrome River

Chrome River

Chrome River is the university's comprehensive travel expense reimbursement tool. This system allows university employees to manage Preapprovals, track Expense Reports, run reports, and submit and receive reimbursements in the most cost-effective, timely, and efficient manner possible. W&M travelers who paid for pre-authorized, business-related travel expenses with personal funds may be reimbursed per the university travel policy. All reimbursement requests must be accompanied by receipts and/or supporting documentation. Failure to include any required documentation may unnecessarily delay the reimbursement.

Access Chrome River Travel System

Report Type Profiles in Chrome River

Non-W&M Affiliates and Students cannot access the system; only employees have profiles within Chrome River. Therefore, a W&M employee must process the preapproval and expense report for non-W&M affiliates and students in the system. The Report Type is located on the preapproval and expense report header pages.

• Employees: All employees (except adjunct faculty and student employees) can log in to Chrome River to process their preapproval and expense report reimbursement requests.
• Student Reimbursements: While current student information exists in Chrome River, students do not have access to Chrome River and cannot submit their own reimbursement requests. (VIMS is the only exception, as their students are listed as employees)  
• Non-W&M Affiliates: Non-W&M Affiliates are guests of the university, including job candidates, speakers, performers, adjunct professors, and graduate assistants.  A request must be made through the Vendor Management process in buyW&M. On the request form, please select the option for the vendor to be coded into Chrome River. For adjunct professors, please submit a buyW&M Help ticket and request that they code the adjunct to CR in Banner. 

Payment Disbursements

Payment disbursement to most travelers will be by direct deposit to their Accounts Payable direct deposit account set up in Banner Self-Service. For those without an Accounts Payable direct deposit,  the address sequence that Banner will use to process the checks is as follows:

A four-column table with header cells for each column

Travel Advances	Students	Non-W&M	Employees
Bursars Address	CS (Dorm Address)	Default AP address	MA (Mailing)
	LC (Off-Campus)
	MA (Mailing)
	PR (Permanent)

Wires for travel cannot be submitted in Chrome River for processing. If wire payment is the only option, please contact the Travel Office directly. 

Chrome River Travel Submissions and Travel Processing Times

Expense reports submitted in Chrome River for reimbursement must be submitted by the employee within 60 days from the date of the expense or the last travel day. If an expense report is submitted after the 60 days, Chrome River will populate a compliance warning and an explanation and/or justification must be provided on each expense line item that is incompliant to the policy.  The full policy on the Timeline of Reimbursements and procedures for non-compliance can be found under the Travel Planning and Introduction to Policy tab. 

Chrome River Travel Processing 

If an expense report is accurate and complete, the Travel Team will process the reimbursement. Processing time is five (5) working days from the submission date of a complete and accurate expense report. Processing times do not include delays in the approver routing. If the expense report is submitted correctly, the Travel Team will process the reimbursement within the allotted timeframe. 

Incomplete Submissions

Incomplete and/or inaccurate expense reports submitted to the Travel Team will be returned for corrections in Chrome River. A system-generated email will be sent to the traveler and any associated delegates indicating the corrections required or listing what additional documentation is required before the reimbursement can be processed—such as itemized receipts, a receipt showing a method of payment/zero balance, conference agenda, etc. Processing time is five (5) working days from the submission date of the corrected expense report.

Chrome River Training and Materials

Chrome River training is listed below under Chrome River Training Videos. Please watch and view all videos listed for Chrome River Training. These videos are located in the Chrome River system under the Help Center. 

The following User Manuals, Quick Guides and Flow Charts are provided in PDF format. Review them for training and assistance while navigating the system. If you experience difficulty accessing the documents due to a disability, please contact us for assistance.

A one-column table presenting a breakdown of Chrome River Training Materials

User Manuals Chrome River User Manual Chrome River Approver Manual

Quick Guides Adding and Removing a Delegate Requesting a Cash Advance and Cash Advance Return Creating a Preapproval Creating an Expense Report- Employee Creating an Expense Report- Non-WM Affiliate Creating an Expense Report- Student Creating a Hotel Expense Creating a Mileage Expense Creating a Per Diem Expense Tracking Preapprovals and Expense Reports Using Built-In Currency Converter Splitting Expenses Between Multiple Allocations Creating a Business Meal Expense and/or Alcohol ONLY Expense

Flow Charts Responsibilities within Chrome River Preapproval Report Routing  Travel Cash Advance Routing Expense Report Routing

Chrome River (In-System)  Video Training Chrome River has a newly designed Help Center to aid in additional training and help within the system. To access the Help Center: Login into Chrome River, Click on the Emburse Assistant (the question mark with the circle) and Click on "Help Center", Click on "Access Online Help Center". Help and resources are abundant in the Help Center. Here are some videos that are recommended: System Basics User Quick-Start Guide Navigating Chrome River Login to Chrome River Authorize or Work as a Delegate Expense Create an Expense Report Allocate Line Items on an Expense Report Track Your Submitted Expense Reports Recall an Expense Report to Draft Status Add Receipt Images to Expenses Approve Expenses in Chrome River Preapproval Create a Preapproval Request Attach a Preapproval to an Expense Report Track a Submitted Preapproval Request Approve Preapprovals in Chrome River or via Email