Cash advance workflow

Learn how to request upfront funding for business travel and reconcile it with actual expenses after your trip.

What is a cash advance?

A cash advance is money provided to an employee before expenses are incurred, which must later be reconciled with actual expenses to determine if the employee owes money back or should receive additional reimbursement. Think of it as a pre-trip loan that you'll settle up after your business travel is complete.

Common use cases. Cash advances are most commonly used for business trips involving flights, hotels, meals, and ground transportation, where employees might need to pay significant amounts upfront before their credit cards are paid off. They're frequently provided for conferences and events where registration fees and accommodations require payment well in advance. Large client entertainment expenses that exceed an employee's personal credit limit often justify a cash advance. International travel particularly benefits from advances, as employees might be uncomfortable charging thousands of dollars in foreign currency to personal cards.

Timeline. The complete cash advance process typically takes 5-7 business days from submitting your request to receiving disbursement, plus a settlement deadline of 30 days after your trip ends. This means you should plan ahead and request advances at least two weeks before your travel dates to ensure funds are available when you need them.

Request an advance

Before submitting a cash advance request, proper preparation ensures your request is approved quickly and accurately reflects your needs.

Before requesting, complete these preparation steps. Calculate your estimated costs comprehensively, including airfare, hotel charges, meals based on the number of days, ground transportation like taxis and rental cars, and a contingency buffer of 10-15% for unexpected expenses. Check your company's cash advance policy to understand the maximum amount you can request, the minimum number of days before travel you must submit your request, and the settlement deadline for reconciling the advance after your trip. Verify your eligibility by confirming you don't have any outstanding advances from previous trips that haven't been settled, and check that you don't have any overdue settlements that would block new requests.

Submit your request through Eloope. Navigate to "Advances" in the sidebar navigation. Click "+ New Advance Request" to open the request form. Fill in all required details including the advance amount you're requesting based on your calculations, a clear purpose statement such as "NYC client meetings March 15-17, 2025," the start and end dates of your trip, a detailed cost breakdown showing how you arrived at the requested amount, and justification explaining why you need an advance rather than using a personal card and seeking reimbursement afterward.

Click "Submit Request" to send your request to your manager for approval. Your request status changes to "Pending Manager Approval" and your manager receives a notification to review it.

Approval process

Cash advances require two levels of approval to ensure proper oversight of company funds.

Level 1: Manager approval (1-2 days). Your direct manager reviews your advance request first, considering whether there's a legitimate business need for the travel and whether the estimated costs are reasonable for the trip planned. Managers can approve the request to move it forward, or reject it if they don't believe an advance is necessary or if the amount seems excessive. During review, managers may add comments asking questions about your estimates, which you can respond to without resubmitting.

Level 2: Finance approval (1-2 days). After your manager approves, the finance team reviews the request for final authorization. Finance examines whether the requested amount fits within budget guidelines, verifies that funds are available to disburse, and ensures the request follows company policy. Finance has final approval authority and can approve or reject based on financial considerations. Once finance approves, your request status changes to "Approved."

Disbursement

After receiving finance approval, the actual disbursement of funds takes 1-3 business days depending on your organization's payment processing schedule.

The finance team follows a systematic disbursement process. They process your payment using the method specified in your request or according to company policy—typically direct deposit or a company check. They mark your advance as "Disbursed" in the system and record the disbursement date and payment method for tracking purposes. They also automatically set your settlement deadline, which is typically 30 days after your trip end date.

You receive multiple notifications when disbursement is complete. A payment notification confirms that your advance has been processed. Money is deposited into your bank account or a check is issued for pickup. A settlement deadline notice reminds you of the date by which you must reconcile your advance with actual expenses.

Your advance status changes to "Active (must be settled)," which serves as a reminder that you have an outstanding advance requiring reconciliation.

Spend money and create expenses

During your business trip or event, you'll use the advance funds and track all your actual expenses in Eloope.

As you spend money from your advance, keep all receipts regardless of amount—you'll need them to reconcile the advance and justify your spending. Create expenses in Eloope as you incur them rather than waiting until after the trip. The same-day expense creation ensures you don't forget details and keeps you aware of your spending relative to your advance amount. When creating each expense that was paid using advance funds, check the "Link to Advance" checkbox on the expense form and select your active advance from the dropdown. This links the expense to your advance so the system can automatically track how much of your advance has been used.

Expenses automatically accumulate against your advance total, giving you real-time visibility into whether you're on track to spend exactly the advance amount, underspend and need to return money, or overspend and qualify for additional reimbursement.

Settlement

Within your settlement deadline—typically 30 days after your trip ends—you must reconcile your advance with your actual expenses.

Navigate to "Advances" from the sidebar and open your active advance. The advance detail page displays all expenses you've linked to this advance, showing exactly what you spent. Check the settlement status section, which calculates three possible scenarios. If there's an exact match where your advance amount equals your total expenses, the advance is fully reconciled with no additional payment needed in either direction. If you underspent and your expenses total less than the advance amount, you owe the company the difference back. If you overspent and your expenses exceed the advance amount, the company owes you reimbursement for the excess amount you paid out of pocket.

Submit your settlement. Verify that all expenses from your trip are linked to the advance—any unlinked expenses won't count toward settlement and may cause discrepancies. Click "Submit Settlement" at the bottom of the advance page. Add comments if needed to explain unusual circumstances or large variances from your original estimate. Click "Confirm" to finalize your settlement submission.

Settlement scenarios

Understanding the three possible settlement outcomes helps you know what to expect after reconciliation.

Scenario 1: Exact match. If your advance was $1,500 and you spent exactly $1,500, the advance is closed immediately with no payment needed in either direction. This is the ideal scenario where your estimate was perfectly accurate.

Scenario 2: Underspent. If your advance was $1,500 but you only spent $1,350, you owe the company $150. Finance will provide instructions for returning the funds, typically through payroll deduction or by check. The return must be completed within the specified timeframe to avoid your advance being marked overdue.

Scenario 3: Overspent. If your advance was $1,500 but you spent $1,680, the company owes you $180 in additional reimbursement. This amount goes through the normal expense reimbursement process as if you had submitted expenses without an advance. You'll receive the $180 in the next payment batch after your settlement is approved.

Overdue advances

Failing to settle your advance by the deadline triggers a series of consequences that can affect your ability to travel and your paycheck.

If your settlement isn't submitted by the deadline, the advance is automatically marked "Overdue" in the system. You receive escalating reminder notifications via email and in-app messages. Finance may automatically deduct the full advance amount from your payroll check to recover the funds, since you haven't provided receipts justifying the spending. Your account may be blocked from requesting future advances until the overdue advance is settled, which can prevent you from traveling for work.

If you're unable to settle on time due to extenuating circumstances, communicate proactively with the finance team before the deadline to request an extension or make alternative arrangements.

Best practices

Following these best practices ensures smooth cash advance experiences without issues or delays.

Request advances 7-10 business days before your trip to allow time for both approval levels and disbursement processing. Estimate your costs conservatively by reviewing actual costs for similar past trips and adding a 10-15% contingency for unexpected expenses—it's better to return unused funds than to overspend. Keep all receipts during your trip in a dedicated folder or envelope so nothing gets lost. Create expenses daily in Eloope rather than waiting until after the trip when you might forget details or lose receipts. Link all expenses to your advance immediately as you create them to ensure accurate real-time tracking. Submit your settlement within 7 days of your trip ending while everything is fresh in your mind and before the deadline becomes urgent. Communicate with finance if any issues arise, such as unexpected large expenses or receipt problems, rather than waiting until the deadline.

Related articles

• Expense Submission Workflow
• Creating Expenses
• Submitting Reports
• Policy Compliance