Spend Clarity Information
Visa Spend Clarity is a complete reporting and expense management system that allows CMU Business Cardholders to manage their transactions, upload expense receipts, and submit their expense reports for approval online.
Training dates and times
No trainings are scheduled at this time. Please contact travel@cmich.edu for more information.
Training manuals
- CMU Spend Clarity Guide (PDF)
- Approver Quick Guide (PDF)
- Spend Clarity Demo - This is a recorded demo of how to use Spend Clarity. This demo goes over coding expenses, adding out-of-pocket reimbursement requests, creating expense reports, and approving expense reports.
Additional resources
- CMU Delegate Authorization - Please use this web form to authorize a delegate on your Spend Clarity account.
- Spend Clarity Travel Form - Please attach this form as backup when claiming mileage and per diem
- Expense Payroll Deduction - Please attach this form as backup for transactions that will be payroll deducted, such as personal expenses.
- Missing Receipt Form - Please attach this form as backup for transactions for which you are unable to acquire a receipt.
- Entertainment/Hosting Form - Please attach this form along with the receipt for any entertainment/hosting expenses.
Frequently asked questions
What is Visa Spend Clarity?
Visa Spend Clarity is a web-based expense management system. Through Visa Spend Clarity CMU Cardholders and their authorized delegates are able to code their CMU Business Credit Card transactions, create expense reports, and submit their expense reports for approval.
Who will use Visa Spend Clarity?
All CMU Business Credit Cardholders and employees who approve expense reports will have access to Visa Spend Clarity.
How do I submit reimbursement vouchers if I am not a CMU Business Cardholder?
Only CMU Business Cardholders and faculty and staff who require access to approve or edit their transactions will have Spend Clarity accounts. All other faculty and staff will submit a paper reimbursement voucher to Payroll and Travel Services.
Can I authorize another CMU employee to code expenses and create expense reports on my behalf?
Yes, Spend Clarity allows CMU Cardholders to authorize delegate users to code expenses, create expense reports, and submit these reports on behalf of another user. To authorize a delegate please complete the CMU Delegate Authorization form.
How do I access my credit card statement in Spend Clarity?
Statements will no longer be emailed to cardholders. Paper statements will still be mailed to the employees business address. To access your statement in Spend Clarity go to Accounts, select your card account, the statement tab and the billing cycle you wish to download a statement for. A download icon on the right side of the screen will allow you to download your statement.
How do I get access to Visa Spend Clarity?
Your user account will automatically be created by Payroll and Travel Services. Once your account is activated you will receive an email with your username and an email with your initial password.
How is this system different from ActivePay?
While ActivePay allowed cardholders to code their expenses, it was not a complete expense management system. Visa Spend Clarity allows users to code their expenses and create their expense reports within the system. Expense reports can then be routed in Spend Clarity to the employee's supervisor for approval, through a built-in workflow.
How does my supervisor know when I've submitted an expense report?
Users with approval access will receive a notification by email when they have a pending expense report to approve. Additionally, when they log into Spend Clarity they will have indicators on their dashboard telling them they have expense reports that require their attention.
Does moving to Spend Clarity change when items need to be coded or when expense reports are due to Payroll and Travel?
No. The transition to Spend Clarity does not change the credit card month-end schedule or when expense reports are due. Expense reports are due to Payroll and Travel Services by the 15th of the following month.
How do I submit travel expenses through Visa Spend Clarity?
CMU Business Cardholders will submit reimbursement requests, including mileage and per diem requests, through Spend Clarity as cash expenses. For mileage and/or per diem expenses, please attach the CMU Spend Clarity Travel form in place of a receipt.
I coded my expenses and now they have disappeared. How do I update them?
There are two screens that you can use to code expenses in Spend Clarity The first is the Expenses tab. The default filters on this tab show the items that are in a "to-do" status. To view already coded items update the filters at the top of the screen to show the status "pending approval."
Another option for coding your transactions is to use the Transactions Search - Personal report under the Reports tab. This will allow you to run a report on your transactions or transactions you have delegate access to for a selected statement period. You can also code from this report by selecting the radio buttons next to the transactions.