The following step-by-step instructions demonstrate how to approve a tuition expense authorization on the SF Employee Portal. For additional information about the tuition reimbursement process, please refer to the Department of Human Resources (DHR) Online Tuition Reimbursement site.
How to Approve a Tuition Expense Authorization Request
Step 1) Log into the SF Employee Portal via the SF Employee Gateway: https://sfgov.org/sfc/employee-gateway
Step 2) Under the Manage Expense Requests section in the Manager Links tab, click Approve Expense Transactions.
Step 2) On the Transactions to Approve page, scroll to the right until you see the Transaction ID field and click the blue Transaction ID number for the expense authorization request you would like to review. Please note that you may need to use the scroll bar to navigate left to right on some screens when approving via the SF Employee Portal.
Step 3) Review header-level attachments and other details of the request on the Expense Authorization Summary page. Click the line item details under the Expense Type field to review accounting details (Chart fields) and attachments for each detailed line item.
Step 5) On the Expense Detail page, you can review line item-specific attachments and accounting details (chart fields). Click Update Accounting Detail to change accounting details (chart fields).
Step 6) Update accounting details (chart fields) as needed (scroll to the right to see all accounting fields) and click OK to return to the Expense Detail page.
Step 7) Click Return to Expense Authorization Summary to return to the Expense Authorization Summary page.
Step 8) On the Expense Authorization Summary page, scroll down to the right to review attachments in the detailed line item. Note that the Approve field will be checked by default. If you have reviewed the expense authorization request and are ready to approve, please skip to Step 10 below.
Step 9) If you have reviewed the expense authorization request and would like to deny or send it back to the requester for additional documentation, un-check the Approve field and select a reason. Please note, you may approve some lines of a transaction and deny or send back others within the same expense authorization request. For example, you may approve a registration fee line item, but send back an airfare line item for additional justification.
Step 10) Once you have reviewed all expense line details, scroll to the bottom of the Expense Authorization Summary page to complete your review. You will have the following options:
Click Approve to change the status of the Expense Authorization to Approved. The system will automatically update the current date and approver’s user ID.
Click Send Back to return the Expense Authorization to the employee for correction or revision. This action changes the status to Pending. If you send the Expense Authorization back to the employee, you must also provide an explanation in the Comments field. The employee can resubmit after the edits are complete.
Click Hold to change the status of the Expense Authorization to Hold by Approver. Holding an Expense Authorization claims the transaction for the approver. For approver pools (MEA and DHR), placing the transaction on Hold removes the Expense Authorization from other pooled approvers' queues. While in Hold status, only the approver who placed the Expense Authorization on Hold can act on the transaction.
Click Deny – Click to change the status of the entire Expense Authorization to Denied. If you deny the request, you must also provide an explanation in the Comments field. The system does not route denied transactions to the subsequent approvers and the Employee cannot Resubmit it.
- Click Save Changes to save any changes you have made.
Related Solutions:
- How to Request Pre-Approval for Tuition Expenses
- How to View the Status of an Expense Authorization
- How to Modify a Returned Expense Authorization
- How to Copy an Expense Authorization to a New Expense Report
Additional Resources:
- DHR Training: Tuition Reimbursement Process Improvements (PowerPoint) - DHR Training to help guide you throughout the tuition reimbursement process
- Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) & Labor Agreements - Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) negotiated with employee organizations that represent the employees of the City and County of San Francisco.
- Department Representatives for Tuition Reimbursement Questions - If your expense authorization was routed to the incorrect supervisor, please email the department contact listed here to update the field for future requests and email your department expense manager to reassign the expense authorization to the correct supervisor.
- Municipal Executives' Association (MEA) Equipment Guidelines - MEA represented employees must select Tuition Reimbursement in the Business Purpose field for all Equipment requests.