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The 23-year-old, whose contract officially expires on June 30th, will be a Portsmouth player next season having penned a three-year deal at Fratton Park.
He will provide cover for Harry Redknapp's first choice goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, but Ashdown could soon challenge Shaka, the 35-year-old ex-Reading keeper, for his first team spot.
However, as Ashdown is under 24, the Fratton Park side must pay Reading compensation, even though the goalkeeper is out of contract.
The Royals are believed to be holding out for a £400,000 up-front fee but Portsmouth are thought to be only prepared to pay that much if the figure is heavily linked with appearances.
Although the club are still hoping to resolve the issue, Director of Football Nicky Hammond admits the club will probably have to go to a tribunal to agree a fee.
"It looks like it will go to a tribunal, but that's not to say we're far off and it can't be sorted. It's not so much the fee but how the payments are formulated," he explained, speaking to the Reading Evening Post.
The tribunal is likely to take place at the end of July.
Ashdown broke into Reading's first team late last season with a series of stunning displays in Marcus Hahnemann's absence.
The Reading-born goalkeeper ended the season as the club's first choice shotstopper but was not prepared to sign a new deal at the Madejski Stadium as the club would not promise him the number one jersey.