Purpose

This article explains the time frames for TravelBank reimbursements.

Audience

This article is intended for TravelBank administrators of paid TravelBank accounts.

Prerequisites

To turn on reimbursements for your organization, you must first verify your company information in accordance with the Know Your Customer (KYC) initiative.
During processing of reimbursements, TravelBank checks for:
- a verified company bank account (so the company can send out reimbursements), and
- a verified employee bank account* (so the employee can receive reimbursements).
In order for reimbursements to be processed, both accounts must be updated in TravelBank. You may want to remind employees of this (refer them to our article on adding a bank account for reimbursements if needed) and also double-check that your company bank account is connected with your TravelBank account.

*This connection is essential because even if you approve reimbursement reports by the approval deadline, if an employee has not connected and verified their bank account, the employee will not receive a reimbursement, because the reimbursement has nowhere to go—a verified bank account.

Notes

Note that time zones matter for the administrative approval deadlines listed in this article. All times are listed in Pacific Time, unless otherwise specified.
The dates listed in this article do not account for holidays. Reimbursement dates may change depending on holidays and individual bank policies.
If TravelBank learns of an issue with a customer reimbursement, the support team will reach out to the customer directly (not the administrator).
Be sure to reach out to TravelBank support or your implementation specialist to get the TravelBank company ID to ensure that draws can be made on your company funding account.

Reimbursement workflow

In the TravelBank reimbursement workflow, customers fund reimbursements through a “For benefit of” account before the reimbursement process begins. Once the KYC requirements have been met, the reimbursement toggle becomes active, allowing you to configure the reimbursement settings (review our article about turning on reimbursements). The workflow has four steps (Figure 1):

Report gets approved: An expense report gets approved by the deadline based on the decided-upon reimbursement schedule/frequency.
ACH debit file pulls funds: The ACH debit gets triggered on the ACH process date, per the schedule. The ACH debit pull request then goes out to pull the money from the customer's company bank account and deposits the money into the VAM account that belongs to that customer.
ACH credit is triggered to pay: Once the money has arrived in the VAM account, the ACH credit is triggered to pay out to the corresponding employees.
Employee receives reimbursement: The employee will receive the reimbursement 2 to 5 business days after the ACH Process Date.

Figure 1. Activity section for reimbursement request

Figure 1. Reimbursement workflow activity, in app

Fund availability factors

Consider the following factors when projecting fund availability:

When banks will route funds between financial institutions: typically Monday through Friday, excluding weekends and holidays.
Your company’s subscription model:
- Paid subscription: Reimbursements pay out, in accordance with the company’s reimbursement schedule, as soon as they are funded by the customer’s company bank account. The employee will receive the reimbursement 2 to 5 business days after the ACH Process Date.
- Free subscription: Users with a free TravelBank account do not have access to reimbursements.
Your company’s reimbursement model (Table 1)

Table 1. Reimbursement models and time frames

For additional information, refer to Table 2, which has example time frames.

Table note: Employees will receive reimbursements 2 to 5 business days after the ACH Process Date.

Reimbursement model	Employee reimbursement report submission deadline	Administrative approval deadline	Processing date*
Daily	Determined by customer organizational policy	1 day before processing date	Daily
Weekly	Determined by customer organizational policy	1 days before processing date	The day the administrator has selected for processing each week
Twice a month (semi-monthly)	Determined by customer organizational policy	2 days before processing date	The day before the 1st and the 15th of each month
Monthly	Determined by customer organizational policy	2 days before processing date	The 1st of each month

Table 2. Reimbursement models and time frames example dates

Table notes

*The report approval deadline is final.

**The ACH Process Date is when TravelBank pulls funds from the organization. Employees will receive the reimbursement 2 to 5 business days after the ACH Process Date.

Semi-monthly

The semi-monthly reimbursement schedule only drives processing dates; it does not indicate the date in which the employee receives the reimbursement in their bank account.
Processing will always take place the day before the 1st and the 15th of each month. Therefore, final approvals need to take place 2 days before.
If the report is approved after the deadline, the report reimbursement will be processed on the next cycle processing date (either the 1st or 15th).
Example: If the final approver approves the report 12:50 a.m. UTC on Friday, September 14, the employees’ reimbursement will be processed on Tuesday, October 31.

Monthly

Processing will always take place the day before the 1st of each month. Therefore, final approvals need to take place 2 days before.
The monthly reimbursement schedule only drives processing dates; it does not indicate the date in which the employee receives the reimbursement in their bank account.
If the report is approved after the deadline, the report reimbursement will be processed the following month.
Example: If the final approver approves the report 12:50 a.m. UTC on Saturday, September 30, the employees’ reimbursement will be processed on Tuesday, October 31.

Weekly

The weekly reimbursement schedule only drives processing dates; it does not indicate the date in which the employee receives the reimbursement in their bank account.
Administrators can select a business day of the week (Monday through Friday) for processing their company's weekly reimbursements.
Processing will always take place the day before the day of the week you have selected for reimbursement. Therefore, final approvals need to take place 1 day before reimbursement.
If a report is approved after the deadline, the report reimbursement will be processed the following week.
Example: If the final approver approves a report at 12:50 a.m. UTC on Friday and your weekly reimbursement is set for Friday; the employees’ reimbursement will be processed the following Friday.

Daily

Processing will always take place daily. Therefore, final approvals need to take place 1 day before.
If the report is approved after the deadline, the report reimbursement will be processed the following day.
Example: If the final approver approves the report 12:50 a.m. UTC on Friday, September 1, the employee reimbursement will be processed on Saturday, September 2.

Table 2. Reimbursement models and time frames example dates

Reimbursement model	*Report approval deadline: UTC	Report approval deadline: EST	Report approval deadline: CST	Report approval deadline: MST	Report approval deadline: PST	**ACH Process Date: UTC
Semi-Monthly	Fri, Sept 14, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Thurs, Sept 13, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Thurs, Sept 13, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Thurs, Sept 13, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Thurs, Sept 13, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 14, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Semi-Monthly	Sat, Sept 30, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Sat, Sept 30, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Semi-Monthly	Sat, Oct 14, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Fri, Oct 13, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Fri, Oct 13, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Fri, Oct 13, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Fri, Oct 13, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Sat, Oct 14, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Semi-Monthly	Tues, Oct 31, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Tues, Oct 31, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Monthly	Sat, Sept 30, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 29, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Sat, Sept 30, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Monthly	Tues, Oct 31, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Tues, Oct 31, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Weekly - On Fridays	Fri at 12:45 a.m.	Thurs at 8:45 p.m.	Thurs at 7:45 p.m.	Thurs at 6:45 p.m.	Thurs at 5:45 p.m.	Fri at 2:10 a.m.
Weekly - On Tuesdays	Tues at 12:45 a.m.	Mon at 8:45 p.m.	Mon at 7:45 p.m.	Mon at 6:45 p.m.	Mon at 5:45 p.m.	Tues at 2:10 a.m.
Daily	Fri, Sept 1,2023, 12:45 a.m.	Thurs, Aug 31, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Thurs, Aug 31, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Thurs, Aug 31, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Thurs, Aug 31, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 1, 2023, 2:10 a.m.
Daily	Sat, Sept 2, 2023, 12:45 a.m.	Fri, Sept 1, 2023, 8:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 1, 2023, 7:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 1, 2023, 6:45 p.m.	Fri, Sept 1, 2023, 5:45 p.m.	Sat, Sept 2, 2023, 2:10 a.m.