Expenses - frequently asked questions

Download a new user registration form and then fill in the details, have it approved by your manager and submit it to expenses@pennine.hrshub.co.uk

Capita will then set up your account in Online Expenses within 5 days of receipt.

You will receive an email address with your log on details to confirm this is done.

Note: In order to use the system you need to have an nhs.net email address.

If you haven't got an NHS email address

You should speak with your line manager as a matter of urgency to request that an email account is set up for you.

ICT will set up the account, but please be aware that it may take up to 7 working days for the account to be activated. You can contact the ICT Service Desk on 0161 716 1234.

You will receive a ‘welcome’ email which will confirm your details and how to log in for the first time.

To access the system for the first time go to www.sel-expenses.com and click on ‘forgotten details’.

You will be prompted to enter your work nhs.net email address. Please do so and then click ‘submit’.

Shortly afterwards, you will receive two emails, one containing your user ID and one containing a link in order to put in a memorable password.

Your company ID will be ‘PCNFT’, your user name will be your assignment number, and you will be able to set your password.

Yes, both managers and employees can log on from home to approve and make claims: www.sel-expenses.com

Check that you are using the correct URL which is www.sel-expenses.com

Expenses is compatible with most internet browsers, although can behave differently in certain scenarios – speak with ICT if problems persist, or if you think you need to change your browser. You can call the ICT service desk on 0161 716 1234.

The system is designed to be available 24 hours per day. Occasionally however, the software provider will need to perform routine maintenance to the system. Thus is usually done at the weekends or out of normal working hours during the week. If this is the case, you will receive a message to this effect when you try to log on.

Go to www.sel-expenses.com and click on the ‘forgotten details’ button. Enter your nhs.net email address and you will be sent an email with instructions on how to reset your password.

You should confirm details of your new manager in an email to our HR team: penninecare.expenses@nhs.net.  Please copy your new manager into the email.

You should complete an additional car form.

You should contact our HR team by emailing penninecare.expenses@nhs.net 

You should contact our HR team by emailing penninecare.expenses@nhs.net 

To guarantee payment within the calendar month, you should ensure that your expense claim is submitted,  and that your manager has approved the claim and allocated it for payment, by the 7th working day of the month.

Your expense claims should be made on a regular basis, monthly is preferred, though you can submit them up to three months after the expense date.

In line with the expenses policy, claims over three months old will only be considered in exceptional cases and will be referred to your head of service for consideration (as part of the approval process).

The system allows managers to allocate up to five ‘delegate’ approvers who can approve claims on the managers behalf.

For planned absences such as annual leave, approving managers should make specific arrangements with their delegates to ask them to monitor the account in their absence.

Your record will be open for one month after your date of leaving. You can submit claims for any outstanding expense items during this time and they will be approved in the normal way.

If you log on to expenses (www.sel-expenses.com) there is a help and support function with lots of guidance in document and video format.

You should complete a paper expense claim form, and have this signed by your bank booking manager(s). This is usually the person who signs your timesheet. As part of the approval process, you should present receipts to your manager where these are required.

Once you have a signature of authorisation, you should input the claim in online expenses and submit it for payment.

If you have a scanning facility you should scan a copy of your claim form and any receipts, and attach them to your claim in expenses.

Where you do not have access to a scanning facility, you should retain the original receipts for a period of 12 months for audit purposes.

Your claim will be released for payment on the next available pay run, providing that a signed and legible copy of the claim is present on the claim submission.

For more information please see the flow diagram.

If you don't follow this process it can result in a delay of payment.

Once you have submitted your claim you can monitor its progress in expenses.

If the claim (or a specific item on the claim) is rejected, you will receive an email notifying you that this is the case.

In rejecting the claim, your manager will include the reason the claim has been rejected. This is displayed in the claim details area of the system. You will also receive email updates on the status of your claim.

You can see the status of your claim in online expenses in the claim details area of the system, including whether it has been approved and whether it has been released for payment. You will also receive update emails regarding this (check your junk folder).

If your claim wasn’t approved and released for payment by your approving manager by the 7th working day of the month, it will be carried forward to the next available pay period.

If you have access to a scanner, receipts should be scanned and attached electronically to your claim in online expenses.

Alternatively you may use a Smart phone to photograph your receipt(s) and email them to your nhs.net email address. From there you will be able to attach the electronic image to your claim in online expenses.

If you don’t have access to either of the above, then it will be your personal responsibility to retain the original receipts for a period of 12 months for audit purposes. 

In all cases your manager will not approve claims without sight of supporting receipts, where these are required.

The system automatically calculates the quickest route between two postcodes (like your sat nav) and returns the ‘recommended’ mileage total for that journey.

Different mileage for outgoing and return legs

All journey steps are calculated individually to take account of one-way systems, roundabout exit points, and entry/exit points from main roads. In some cases this gives a difference on each journey (e.g. A to B = 23.10 miles, but B to A = 22.50 miles).

The system automatically calculates the quickest route between two postcodes and returns the ‘recommended’ mileage total for that journey.

You may have a different figure, for example road works caused a diversion to your journey. In these circumstances you should use the ‘detour mileage’ claim item to claim additional mileage, providing a reason for the difference in miles to your manager to support approval.

If you log on to online expenses, you can find lots of guidance documents and videos in the help and support function.

You will receive an email alerting you to the fact that there are claims awaiting approval. Please check these haven't gone into your junk folder by mistake.

Yes, you can set up a ‘delegate’ approver who can approve claims for your team during your absence, preventing the build-up of claims upon your return.

It is good practice to set up a delegate(s) against your account in case of unplanned absences.

For planned absences such as annual leave, you should make specific arrangements with your delegate before you go on leave and ask them to monitor your account for this purpose. Note - delegates do not receive an automated email alerting them that a claim is pending approval.

Where delegated users access an expense account, there is a fully identifiable audit log of all actions, should there be a need to track back.

For further information on setting up delegates and logging in as a  delegate, please visit the help and support function in online expenses.

Yes, you can approve a claim at any time. 

You should be aware of the monthly deadlines for approval. To guarantee payment in the next payroll run you should ensure that you approve claims and release them for payment by 7th working day of the month.

You may wish to log in and check expenses on a daily or weekly basis, or allocate time at the end of the month to review all claims in one go. You should find a way of working that suits you and your team, and expenses gives the flexibility for you to do this.

Our expenses policy can be found at www.penninecare.nhs.uk/policies

There's also a link to the NHS Employers website where you can find Pay Circulars and other useful reference information.

The expenses system has been set with ‘claimable items’ and associated limits (where applicable) accordingly to an employee’s terms and conditions of employment. Upon reviewing expense claims the system will ‘flag’ items that exceed these thresholds for particular attention.

The system will also flag what it considers to be duplicate expense items (same element type/date) for you to review.

As an approver, you may feel it is necessary to query or return either the full claim or individual items to the claimant.

For further information on returning a claim please refer to the log on to expenses and visit the help and support section.

Returning individual items in a claim

If you refer one or more items (individual lines) from a claim back to the claimant due to a query, for example - no receipts attached, then the claim in its entirety is placed on hold until the item is corrected and approved. The reason for this is that the online expenses system treats the claim as a whole.

If you want to ensure that payment for the other items in the claim are not held up then you can delete the item in question and provide a reason for doing so. The rest of the claim can then be approved. The claimant will be notified that that the item has been deleted. In this scenario the item will need to be claimed again in the next period.

It is important that claims are approved in as real time as possible to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays with payments.

For further information on returning a claim please refer to the log on to expenses and visit the help and support section.

You can find a copy of the policy at: www.penninecare.nhs.uk/policies

For specific guidance on mileage rates and associated entitlements please refer to our expenses policy and the respective handbook which details your terms and conditions of service.

Full details of what you can claim can be found in the expenses policy, but these are some of the common queries:

Rail fares

You can claim rail fares by selecting the ‘travel’ expenses category and then ‘train ticket’ expenses item. You should attach the receipt to the claim.

Course or conference fees

You can claim course or conference fees by selecting the ‘training and education’ expenses category and then ‘course/conference fees’ expenses item. You should attach the receipt to the claim.

Hotel bills

You can claim hotel bills by selecting the ‘accommodation’ expenses category and then ‘hotel’ expenses item. You should attach the receipt to the claim.

No. NHS Protect Guidelines forbid the use of credit card payments. In incurring expenses you are expected to use cash or a debit card.

No. NHS Protect Guidelines forbid the accumulation of loyalty points in incurring business expenses. This constitutes a benefit in kind and as such if undeclared breaches HMRC rules.

The system has been configured to hold as little personal data as possible and has a secure interface into ESR. Information security is something that is taken very seriously by us and Software Europe. Software Europe is one of only 400 companies in the UK to have ISO 27001 certification.

No, only those staff who are directly employed by Pennine Care and who are on the ESR/Payroll system can be paid expenses via the online system. If you are not, you need to continue to submit expenses in the normal manner.