Expense Management
Submit, review, and approve employee expense claims with full category tracking.
Overview
Expense Management handles the full employee reimbursement lifecycle — from an employee submitting a travel claim to a manager approving it and the approved amount flowing automatically into Finance. No spreadsheets, no email chains, no double data entry.
The expense table gives managers a real-time view of all pending claims, sorted by submission date. Filter by employee, category, or status to find exactly what you need. All data is server-backed and instantly available in HR Reports and Finance → Expenses & Budget.
Finance Integration
Approved expense claims automatically flow into Finance → Expenses & Budget without any manual transfer. The Finance module reads directly from the HR expense store. Never enter the same figure twice.
Expense Categories
Every claim must be assigned to one of the following categories. Categories drive the breakdown charts in Finance and HR Reports:
Travel
Flights, trains, taxis, ride-share, mileage reimbursement for business trips.
Accommodation
Hotel stays, serviced apartments, or other lodging during business travel.
Meals
Business lunches, client dinners, team meals, per diem food allowances.
Office Supplies
Stationery, printer ink, desk accessories, and other consumable office items.
Equipment
Hardware purchases — monitors, keyboards, webcams, cables, peripherals.
Software
Licence fees, SaaS subscriptions, app purchases made by employees on behalf of the company.
Other
Any business expense that does not fit the above categories. Use the description field to clarify.
Submitting a Claim
- Click Add Expense in the screen header.
- Select the Employee from the dropdown (pulls from Employees).
- Enter the Amount and select the Currency. Multiple currencies are supported; amounts are stored in the submitted currency.
- Choose the Category (Travel, Accommodation, Meals, etc.).
- Set the Expense Date — the date the expense was incurred, not the submission date.
- Enter a Description — for example "Client dinner at Nobu, NYC" or "Flight BER-LHR for Q2 offsite".
- Click Save. The claim appears in the table with a Pending status.
Use Descriptions for Audit Trails
A good description makes approval faster. "Travel" as a description requires the approver to ask for more detail. "Return flight London to Berlin for industry conference, 14–16 May" gives the approver everything they need to approve in one click.
Approval Workflow
Expense claims follow the same Pending → Approved / Rejected flow as leave requests:
- Pending — newly submitted claim awaiting manager review.
- Approved — claim accepted; amount flows into Finance → Expenses & Budget automatically.
- Rejected — claim declined; an optional rejection reason can be recorded.
Managers typically start their review by clicking the Pending filter pill to see only unresolved claims. Click any row to open the detail view, then click Approve or Reject.
Approval is Final
Once a claim is approved, it cannot be unapproved from the HR Expense Management screen. The Finance module will have already recorded the amount. If an approval was made in error, contact your Finance team to reverse the corresponding entry in Financial Accounts.
Summary Statistics
The top of the Expense Management screen shows four quick-stat cards that update in real time as claims are submitted and approved:
| Stat Card | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Total Submitted | Sum of all claims regardless of status (all time or filtered period) |
| Pending Amount | Total value of claims awaiting approval |
| Approved Amount | Total value of claims that have been approved |
| Rejected Amount | Total value of declined claims |
These stats respect the active filters. If you filter to a specific employee or department, the stats update to show only those figures.
Finance Integration Detail
When an expense claim is approved in HR Expense Management:
- The approved amount, category, employee name, and expense date are immediately available in Finance → Expenses & Budget.
- The HR Reports AI assistant can include the approved expense in its answers immediately — no delay, no cache to refresh.
- Finance's departmental budget usage bars update to reflect the new spend against each department's budget allocation.
Currency Handling in Finance
Expenses submitted in foreign currencies are displayed in their original currency in HR Expense Management. Finance → Expenses & Budget shows all amounts in your base currency using a fixed exchange rate. Set your base currency and exchange rates in Settings → Finance.