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iExpenses Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions 1
Cash-Related 1
Checking the Status of Your Expense Report 2
Corporate Credit Card 3
Hotel Lodging 3
Personal Expenses 3
Receipts 4

General Questions
Q: If my last paper-based expense report was not submitted by 12 noon on July 28, do I enter it now
using iExpense?
Yes. You should now enter those expenses in the iExpense system.
Q: Will the weekly expense submission deadline change with the implementation of iExpense?
Yes. The new deadline for submitting expense reports is Tuesdays at midnight EST. If an expense report has
been successfully submitted (approved by your manager and including receipts) by the deadline, employees
will receive reimbursement Friday of the same week
Q: Can I prepare expense reports offline or do I have to be connected?
At this time you need to be connected to the Ciena network (via office or remote access) in order to prepare,
edit, or complete an expense report.
Q. How does this application support private mileage, will mileage per mile changes be automatic?
Private mileage is supported in iExpense and rates are setup and updated by AP. They can also be changed by
AP as needed.
Q. Do you attach the pre-approval to the expense report and should we send it with the receipts?
Yes - print pre-approval (email or otherwise) and include it in the scanning batch.
Q. Ciena recommends booking a flight in advance when possible. However, what should I do if the trip
has been cancelled and the ticket has been refunded, all using a Ciena Corporate card?
All refund transactions on a corporate card will also appear in Oracle like the original charges. Employee is then
required to submit this (negative amount) transaction on an expense report just like any other charge.

Cash-Related
Q: How do I handle my Cash Advance transactions in Oracle iExpense?
In Oracle iExpense all Cash Advance transactions should be flagged as "Personal" charges at the Credit Card
Transactions web-form. These will then be offset against the out-of-pocket cash receipts recorded at the Cash
and Other Expenses web-form. Additional Cash Advance fees/charges associated with these fees should be
flagged as "Business" at the Credit Card Transactions web-form.
Q: How do I handle my ATM fees in Oracle iExpense?
All ATM fees related to Cash Advance transactions from an ATM are not recognized as business expenses.
Q. Can I get reimbursed for cash layout for expenses thru iExpense?
Yes, Ciena will continue to reimburse for all Ciena business-related out-of-pocket expenses including those
made with cash or a personal credit card. However, personal credit cards should only be used by those
employees who are infrequent travelers and do have a corporate credit card.
Q: How long will it take to be reimbursed for cash expenses if we do not use the corporate card?
When possible, all expenses you must use the corporate card as stated in Cienas corporate card policy. On the
rare occasions when you must use cash, it will be reimbursed at the same rate as corporate card expenses.

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iExpenses Frequently Asked Questions (continued)


Checking the Status of Your Expense Report
Q: How do I check the status of my expense report?
The status of your expense reports can be checked via the Active Expense Reports web-form after logging into
Oracle iExpense. This form has two sections; one section is labeled "Update Expense Reports" and identifies
all expense reports currently being worked on but not yet submitted. The other section is labeled "Track
Submitted Expense Reports" and lists all submitted expense reports and their current status.
Q: What do the different status classifications in Oracle iExpense mean?
Saved:

Expense report was saved, not yet submitted for approval, and still
available for updates and edits.

Submitted for Approval:

Expense report submitted for approval by the employee

Rejected by Manager:

Expense report has been reviewed and rejected by the manager. The
expense report will be returned to the employee with a request to
update/correct information on the report and resubmit.

Manager Approved:
Pending Accounts
Payable

Expense report has been approved by Manager and submitted to


Accounts Payable for final approval.

Rejected by Accounts
Payable:

Expense report has been reviewed and rejected by Accounts Payable.


The expense report will be returned to the employee with a request to
update/correct information on the report and resubmit.

Ready to Send to
Payroll:

Expense report has been reviewed and approved by Accounts


Payable.
Expense report has been approved by all parties and scheduled to be
imported into Oracle Payables for final processing.
Expense reports has passed final "accounting" validation in Oracle
Payables and is scheduled for submission to Payroll

Sent to Payroll for PMT:

Expense report has been submitted to Payroll for payment.

Approved by Accounts
Payable:
Ready to Import:

Q: How will I know that my expense report was approved by my manager?


You will receive an e-mail message notifying you that your expense report has been approved (or rejected) by
your manager. If your expense report is approved it will be electronically sent to the Accounts Payable for audit
and final approval. . If your expense report is rejected, it will be electronically returned to you for additional
editing. Additionally, you can check the status of your submitted expense reports at the Active Expense Reports
web-form.
Q. As a manager, how will I know that I have expense reports to approve?
You will receive an e-mail message notifying you of the expense reports sent to you for your approval.
Q: What happens if my approver does not handle my report in a timely manner?
After five (5) elapsed days the approver will be sent a reminder email notification each day until action is taken.
Of course, the employee can always contact the approver via phone, email, etc. for additional follow-up.

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iExpenses Frequently Asked Questions (continued)


Corporate Credit Card
Q: When will my Corporate Travel Card (Bank of America MasterCard) be activated?
All new Corporate Travel Cards will be active on Monday, August 3. You should begin using them at this time.
American Express cards will be de-activated August 3rd. Please dispose of your old American Express cards
appropriately.
Q: Will the new BofA MasterCard be linked to the iExpense system?
Yes. Expenses paid using the corporate MasterCard will appear in the iExpense system automatically and will
be available to include in the appropriate expense report. You can learn exactly how to fill out and submit an
iExpense form by attending one of the offered training sessions.
Q: Can I use my personal credit card for Ciena-related business expenses?
No, you must use the corporate credit card for all Ciena business-related expenses. However, infrequent
travelers and those without corporate cards should continue to use their personal credit card. That said, this
should be the exception and not the rule. Please note that personal credit card usage will be monitored very
closely.
Q. What if a merchant will not accept MasterCard, can I use my personal Visa card in that case?
On those rare occasions when a merchant does not accept Master Card, employees may use their personal
credit card this should be considered an exception, rather than a rule.
Q. If I were to (erroneously) charge something personal on the Corporate Credit Card will it ever go
away from the transaction list? Or will it haunt me for the rest of my days?
Once you have marked a charge as personal, it will no longer show up on the transaction list.
Q: How do I handle disputed transactions?
ALL disputed transactions should be communicated directly with the Ciena MasterCard Corporate Card issuer;
Bank of America

Hotel / Lodging
Q: I have a hotel bill that has a meal, a room, and telephone charges; what expense type should I pick?
You should code the expense item using the "Lodging" expense type and then choose the Itemize button at the
Credit Card Expenses web-form to split the transactions. The itemize feature allows you to select different
Expense Types for each of the split lines resulting from the original expense item. Please refer to Step 5 in the
Oracle iExpense User Guide for more instructions
Q. A hotel charge is not itemized on my bill, what do I do?
Itemizing all charges associated with your hotel bill is required. If the line items are not automatically listed you
must itemize your charges manually. Corporate card integration can itemize expenses automatically but it is not
consistent across different vendors (hotel chains). Finance Dept. will look into eliminating the requirement to
itemize hotel charges in future based on the data analysis after go live. Right now, its required

Personal Expenses
Q: How do I handle a personal expense on my corporate card?
As our policy states, the corporate card should only be used for business expenses. However, should you have
a personal charge, select the charge as "Personal" in the box next to the expense item at the Credit Card
Transactions web-form. All pre-populated charges must be included on an expense report. If any charge is not
a valid business expense, mark it "Personal".

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iExpenses Frequently Asked Questions (continued)


Receipts
Q: Not all receipts are legible or easily photocopied; what should I do?
Some receipts are extremely light and difficult to reproduce via photocopy or by scanning. For best results,
attach each receipt to a sheet of paper and circle the total amount that is printed on the receipt. If the receipt is
not legible, draw a line to the right of the total and clearly write the amount of the receipt making the amount
clear and legible. Duplicate this effort as often as necessary.
Q: How long do I need to keep my original receipts?
We ask that you keep your original receipts for 90 days after submission.
Q: Do I still have to send my "hard copy paper receipts" to Accounts Payable?
NO. Upon completion of your expense report on-line, simply print out your hard-copy Confirmation Page with
the barcode on top and attach your receipts and either email or fax your receipts to the Accounts Payable
department.
Q: Do I need signature approval on "hard copy expense reports" from my manager?
Ciena no longer accepts hard copy expense reports in US and Canada.

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