public boolean anyPendingExpenses() {
        CriteriaBuilder cb = getEntityManager().getCriteriaBuilder();
        CriteriaQuery<Boolean> cq = cb.createQuery(Boolean.class);
        Root<Expense> expense_ = cq.from(Expense.class);
        return getEntityManager().createQuery(
            cq.distinct(true).where(
                cb.equal(expense_.get("status"), Expense.Status.Submitted)
            ).multiselect(
			cb.selectCase()
    				.when(cb.gt(cb.count(expense_), 0L), true)
    				.otherwise(false)
	    )
        ).getSingleResult();
    }