User Quick-Start Guide Get up and running with Chrome River in just a few minutes as you learn how to access the application; create, submit, and track a report; approve expenses and view all your activity. Detailed user guides are available in the Chrome River Help Center, accessible via the question mark in the upper right corner of the app. Log In to Chrome River Launch the Chrome River application from a supported web browser at the URL given to you by your organization's Chrome River Administrator. You must disable pop-up blockers for chromeriver.com in order to view and print PDF reports. First-Time Login Click the "Forgot your password" link and enter your login and Company ID. Chrome River will send you an email with a temporary password. The first time you use it, you will be prompted to set your own unique password. Subsequent Login Complete the login screen using the User ID, Password and Company ID assigned to you. Example User ID: svance Password: ******* Company ID: www.cfa.com Click LOGIN. For complete details and troubleshooting steps, see Log in to Chrome River. Chrome River App Chrome River is an optional hybrid application that offers customers an easier way to log in to the full Chrome River app using mobile biometrics like fingerprint and face identification. By downloading Chrome River to your mobile device, you can easily create, submit, and approve expense reports and invoices on-the-go, approve transactions, upload receipts and much more. System Requirements Chrome River is available for Apple iPhones running the latest iOS and for Android phones running Nougat and all newer versions of Android. Download Chrome River 1. Open the Apple App Store or Google Play app and search for "Chrome River." 2. Click on the blue CR icon to download Chrome River. For complete details, see Download & Log In to the Chrome River Mobile App. Create an Expense Report A new expense report can be created for each event, or events can be combined into a single report. 1. On the Dashboard, click + CREATE or + in the Expenses ribbon. 2. The Expense Header section stores all the basic information that applies to every expense listed on the report. Enter the appropriate data. 3. For your first expense, click the PLUS button to show the menu options for adding expenses. There are four main options for adding expenses. Direct: Create a cash-out-of-pocket transaction. Credit Card: Transactions are loaded daily for you to apply to an expense report. Offline: Emailed items, receipt images and HTML emails. Travel Data: Transactions from your organization's travel provider. Direct Expenses To add a direct expense, select the desired mosaic button. Buttons with arrows will display additional options. Complete the required fields and click SAVE to add the transaction. Credit Card Transactions Be sure to wait for the credit card transaction to appear in your Chrome River eWallet before creating a credit card expense. If you submit an expense with just the receipt before the transaction appears in Chrome River, you are requesting a cash reimbursement instead. To add one or more credit card transactions to your report, click the check box above each amount. Then click the PLUS button in the top right. Offline Transactions These are cash receipts sent in using the Emburse Chrome River mobile app, Chrome River SNAP, or Snap & Send or they are HTML emails sent via Forward & Forget. These transactions are treated as an out-of-pocket expense. Click the check box above each amount, then click the PLUS button in the top right. Travel Transactions Only add travel transactions if you have a matching credit card transaction or a receipt to match an out-of-pocket travel expense. When a forwarded travel email or a receipt duplicates a credit card transaction or other travel data already imported into Chrome River, the system will automatically merge them. However, if necessary, you may manually merge transactions. Click ALL, select one of the matching transactions and drag it onto the other. See Merge Receipt and Credit Card Transactions for more details. 4. Click the name of the report to view the preview pane, where you may add notes and upload more receipts to your report. 5. After all the expenses have been added to the report, click SUBMIT if you are done. Or click the BACK ARROW to save what you have entered and return to the Drafts list. If you receive a policy-compliance warning or violation when you submit the report, see Expense Compliance Warnings and Violations for further details. For complete details on creating and editing an expense report, see Create an Expense Report. Attach a Receipt Image You may attach images to an expense while you are creating it or after it has been created. Images may be uploaded directly through the application, emailed, or added via the Emburse Chrome River mobile app or Chrome River SNAP. For a complete list of receipt submission methods, see All Methods for Adding Receipts as an Expense Owner or a Delegate. Only JPG, PDF, PNG, OFD, and TIFF files can be accepted when an image is uploaded via Chrome River. No file may be greater than 10 MB, and JPG and PNG files must be a minimum of 50 kB. Inside an Expense Report On the report Preview pane, scroll down to the Attachments section. Either drag and drop images onto DRAG IMAGE HERE TO UPLOAD Or click ADD ATTACHMENTS to browse for images on your device or upload one from the Create Expenses via the Receipt Gallery. If desired, you may attach an uploaded image directly to a line item on your report. On wide-screen devices, you may drag images from the header to a specific line item on the report. On narrow-screen devices like phones it will be easier to add a line-item image by opening the desired line item, scrolling to the Attachments section, and clicking ADD ATTACHMENTS. Via Email You may use Chrome River's Snap & Send and Forward & Forget features to submit receipts via email when you are not logged into the application. Snap & Send: Email a receipt photo you captured with your mobile device on the go. Forward & Forget: Forward an email confirmation or receipt for an expense. Simply attach the image or PDF to an email (or forward the email you received) and send it to the receipt-submission email address provided by your Chrome River administrator. See Create Expense Items Via Email for details on finding the email address. The email address you are sending from must be one of those listed in your Chrome River Account Settings. Images will be placed in the Receipt Gallery for you to attach to a report later. Each image will appear in the Receipt Gallery as its own item, complete with the corresponding information about the expense. If a multipage PDF contains text, a single item will be created. If a multipage PDF contains only images, each image will be created as a separate expense item unless you put the amount and currency in the subject line of the email. If your organization has deactivated this feature, only single-page image-based PDFs will be split into individual receipt images. See Create Expense Items Via Email for complete details on attaching images and PDFs via email. Via the Emburse Chrome RIver Mobile App or Chrome River SNAP The free Emburse Chrome River mobile app and SNAP app both enable you to quickly and easily capture and upload receipt images right when the expense occurs. Simply snap a photo of the receipt using Emburse Chrome River or SNAP and it will be uploaded directly to your Receipt Gallery and the Offline tab of the eWallet for use the next time you access Chrome River. Emburse Chrome River and SNAP may also be used to upload images taken with another app on the device. Click the appropriate link below for complete details on downloading and using Emburse Chrome River or SNAP with your mobile device. Emburse Chrome River Mobile App FAQ Capture and Upload Receipts via Chrome River SNAP for Android Capture and Upload Receipts via Chrome River SNAP for iPhone See Add Images for complete details on all the ways you may attach images to an expense report. Track Your Submitted Expense Report Once you click SUBMIT, the expense report will appear in your Submitted list. From there, you may track its progress through the approval routing process by selecting it, clicking the three dots above the preview, and then selecting TRACKING. Click an item to see where it is in the approval process, including the approver to whom it is currently assigned, the date, and the rule that triggered the assignment. See Track Your Submitted Expense Reports for complete details, including explanations of the various report statuses. View All Your Activity The Inquiry Dashboard allows you to perform quick inquiries on all your expense activity by category. Depending on your organization's configuration, these may include expense reports, expense items, credit card items, firm-paid items, approvals, and paid expenses. 1. Click the MENU button in the upper left corner of Chrome River and then select INQUIRY. 2. Click on the desired inquiry report, then use the Transaction Date drop-down to filter the results. For complete details, see View Inquiry Reports on Expense Activity. Approve an Expense Report If you are part of the approval process, Chrome River allows you to easily approve expenses in the app and by email. Approve in Chrome River 1. If you have items awaiting your approval, you will see a yellow notification bar on the Dashboard. Click on the number of expense reports to be taken to the Approvals Needed list. 2. Click on a report in the list to open a preview. 3. Clicking RETURN or APPROVE in the preview immediately rejects or approves all line items on the report. Return: Enter the required note and click RETURN. All the line items on the report will be sent back to the expense owner. Approve: Click APPROVE again to confirm. All the line items on the report will move to the next step in the approval process. 4. If you want to approve or return line items individually, you'll need to open the report by double-clicking on it in the Approvals Needed list, single clicking its name in the preview, or clicking OPEN under the three dots menu item in the upper left-hand corner of the preview. 5. Unless they have compliance warnings, line items are marked as approved by default. You will see a green check mark on the line item in the list, as well as an "Approve" check mark in the line item preview. If the line-item has been returned or reassigned, you will see it noted by a red arrow in the same places. 6. Clicking ADJUST will allow you to change certain information on the line item. See Approve Expenses in Chrome River for complete details. You will be required to add a note, but, depending on your organization's configuration, you may decide whether to notify the expense owner of the adjustment. Click SAVE. 7. When you are finished adjusting or returning items, click SUBMIT at the bottom of the line item list. Do not click RETURN unless you wish to return all the line items, even those you approved or adjusted. See Approve Expenses in Chrome River for complete details on approving expenses inside Chrome River. Approve via Email Chrome River will email you expenses that require your approval. You may only approve or return all expenses via this method—any line-item adjustments must be made in Chrome River online. Accept: This creates a new email that must be sent to instantly approve all line items on the report. Return: This creates a new email that must be sent to instantly reject all line items on the report. To add questions or comments, simply type them in the body of the email, above the forwarded text, then click SEND. Email approvals may only be sent from your primary Chrome River account email address, unless your organization has activated the ability to approve from any email address listed in your Account Settings. Certain mobile devices may autopopulate the email "From" field with the default email address for the device, rather than the email address to which the approval notification was sent. Be sure the "From" field contains your primary Chrome River account email address before you click SEND on your approval or return email. See Approve Via Email for complete details on approving via email. Was this article helpful? Yes No