Expense policies

Limits per expense, per category and per day, receipts and descriptions above an amount, claim deadlines, and what happens when an expense breaks a rule.

A policy is the set of rules your team's expenses are checked against. Expense policies are part of the Standard plan and above. Admins set them in Settings > Policies.

Everyone follows the default policy. On Professional and above you can add a policy for each team, such as Sales or Directors, and put people on it in Settings > Users > More.

Rules for every expense

Limit an expense: the most one expense can be.
Receipt needed above: expenses above this amount need a receipt. Enter 0 to always need one.
Description needed above: expenses above this amount need a description. Enter 0 to always need one.
Claim within: how many days after the expense date it can still be claimed.
Limit a report: the most one report can add up to.

Leave a box empty for no rule.

Rules for each category

For each category you can set:

Allowed: turn it off to stop people claiming it.
Limit an expense: the most one expense in this category can be.
Daily limit: the most a person can claim in this category on one day, adding up all their expenses that day.
Receipt above: a receipt is needed above this amount.
Description: a description is always needed.

When an expense breaks a rule

The expense is checked when it is saved, when a receipt is added or removed, and again when its report is sent. What it breaks shows as a policy flag on the expense, in the expenses list and on the report. Approvers see every flag before they approve.

Breaks are flagged (the default): the report can still be sent, and the approver decides.
Stop a report from being sent while an expense breaks the policy: the person fixes the expense first.
A category that isn't allowed always stops the report.
Ask for a reason on every flagged expense: the person writes why, on the expense or with Give a reason on the report, before they can send it. The approver sees the reason with the flag.

To find flagged expenses, choose With policy flags in the status filter on Expenses.

Possible duplicates

When Flag possible duplicates is on in Settings > Preferences, an expense with the same date and amount as another of the person's expenses, at the same merchant, is flagged. A duplicate flag never stops a report. This is included in every plan.

Changing a policy

A changed policy applies to expenses saved and reports sent from then on. Reports already sent for approval can still be approved.