Expenses
Submit, categorize, and approve business expenses with receipt tracking and policy enforcement.
Key concepts
- Expense: A record of money spent by a team member. Contains line items (description, quantity, rate, amount), a category, and an optional Receipt URL (a link, not an uploaded file).
- Category: A classification label for the expense (e.g., "Travel", "Office Supplies", "Software"). Categories are managed in Settings > Categories and are color-coded for quick identification.
- Status Workflow: Pending -> Approved / Rejected.
- Pending -- submitted, awaiting manager review
- Approved -- accepted and cleared for reimbursement
- Rejected -- declined by a manager
- If the submitter has approval permission, expenses are auto-approved on creation.
- If the workspace expense policy is set to "Auto" approval, all expenses are auto-approved.
- Expense Policy: Workspace-level rules that control:
- Receipt Required -- whether a Receipt URL must be provided
- Receipt Required Above -- threshold amount above which a Receipt URL is mandatory
- Max Amount Per Transaction -- maximum allowed amount for a single expense
- Approval Workflow -- one of three values: Auto (auto-approve), Manager (requires manager approval), or Finance (requires finance approval). The default is Manager.
- Line Item: A single cost row within an expense -- description, quantity, rate, and calculated amount. The expense description comes from the Notes field if you fill it in; otherwise it falls back to a comma-joined list of the line-item descriptions.
- Multi-currency: Submit expenses in any supported currency. The system converts to base currency for reporting.
Step-by-step
Submitting an Expense
Navigate to Finance > Expenses.
Click Add Expense in the top-right.
Fill in the form:
- Category (required) -- select from the dropdown (e.g., Travel, Office Supplies)
- Currency -- defaults to your base currency; change if needed
Add line items:
- Click Add Line Item
- Enter Description, Quantity, and Rate
- The Amount calculates automatically (quantity x rate)
- Add more line items as needed
Optionally provide a Receipt URL -- paste a link to the receipt (e.g., `https://...`). This is a link field, not a file upload.
Optionally add Notes. If filled in, the Notes text becomes the expense description; otherwise the description falls back to a comma-joined list of your line-item descriptions.
Optionally fill in VAT Information:
- Supplier VAT Number -- the supplier's VAT/tax registration number
- VAT Rate (%) -- the VAT rate applied
- VAT Amount -- the VAT portion of the total
Click Submit.
If you have approval permissions, the expense is auto-approved. Otherwise, it goes to Pending status.
Screenshot
the new expense form showing category dropdown, currency selector, line items table, Receipt URL and Notes fields, and the VAT information section
Viewing and Managing Expenses
Navigate to Finance > Expenses to see the full list.
The Stats Strip shows: Total, Pending, Approved, and Rejected amounts.
Use filter tabs to view by status: All, Pending, Approved, Rejected.
Use the search bar to find expenses by description, category, or submitter name.
Filter by currency or date range using the controls in the filter bar.
Click any row to open the expense detail.
Screenshot
the expenses list with stats strip, status filter tabs, search bar, and date range filter
Approving Expenses (Managers)
In the expenses list, filter by Pending status.
On the mobile view, click the Approve button directly on the expense card.
On the desktop view, click into the expense detail and use the Approve action.
The expense status changes to Approved.
Screenshot
a pending expense card on mobile with the Approve button visible
Rejecting Expenses (Managers)
In the expenses list, filter by Pending status.
Open the expense detail (or use the expense card on mobile).
Use the Reject action.
The expense status changes to Rejected.
Screenshot
the expense detail showing the Approve and Reject actions side by side
Editing an Expense
Open the expense detail.
Click Edit.
You can change the category, update line items, update the Receipt URL, and adjust the currency.
Click Save.
Note: only Pending expenses can be edited. Once an expense is Approved or Rejected, it is locked and can no longer be changed.
Note: you can only edit your own expenses unless you have the "View All Expenses" permission.
Screenshot
the expense detail page in edit mode showing editable fields
Duplicating an Expense
In the expenses list, click the More actions menu on a row.
Select Duplicate.
A new expense form opens pre-filled with the original data.
Modify any fields and submit.
Screenshot
the row actions dropdown showing View, Edit, Duplicate, and Delete options
Tips & best practices
- Set up Expense Categories in Settings > Categories before team members start submitting -- consistent categories make reporting accurate.
- Configure your Expense Policy in Settings > Expenses to enforce receipt requirements and set spending limits.
- Always provide a Receipt URL when the expense amount exceeds the policy threshold -- the system will reject submissions that violate the policy.
- Regular users can only see their own expenses. Users with the "View All Expenses" permission can see everyone's submissions.
- The expense description is auto-generated from your line item descriptions (joined by commas), so keep line item descriptions clear and concise.
- Multi-currency expenses are automatically converted to your base currency using the exchange rate at the time of submission.
- Use the Duplicate feature for recurring expenses like monthly subscriptions.
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