How to Configure Expense Categories
As an Administrator, you define the rules for how expenses are categorized, who approves them, and how they integrate with your company’s financial reporting. Proper setup ensures that your “Audit-Ready” reports are accurate and easy for the accounting team to process.
1. Setting Up Expense Categories
- Categories help you track where company money is being spent. You should create categories that match your accounting chart of accounts.
1. Navigate: Go to Settings > Add-ons > Expense Manager.
2. Add Category: Click “+ Add New Category.”
3. Labeling: Enter a name (e.g., Client Hospitality, Mileage/Fuel, Software Subscriptions).
4. External Code (Optional): If you use accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero, enter the General Ledger (GL) Code here to make data import seamless.
5. Save: Click “Update.”
2. Defining Approval Workflows
You can decide who has the authority to approve or decline an expense.
• Direct Manager Approval: By default, expenses are routed to the employee’s direct manager (as defined in their Employee Profile).
• Secondary Review (Finance): You can enable a “Finance Review” step where, after a manager approves, a final user (like an HR or Finance lead) must give the final “Reimbursed” status.
• Notification Settings: Ensure “Expense Alerts” are toggled ON under Reminders and Alerts so managers get an email/push when a new request is submitted.
3. Currency and Limit Settings
4. Payroll Integration Logic
To ensure employees get paid back, the Expense Manager must talk to your payroll reports.
1. Link to Payroll: In the Expense Settings, toggle “Include in Payroll Export.”
2. Reimbursement Status: Only expenses marked as “Approved” will be pulled into the Periodical Reports.
3. Custom Fields: You can choose to have expenses appear as a separate line item in the attendance report or as a total “Reimbursement” sum at the bottom.
5. Managing Attachments & Storage
All receipts are stored in the TimeClock365 cloud.
• Audit Trail: Every expense has a history log showing when it was submitted, who approved it, and when the status changed.
• Batch Download: For tax season, you can go to Reports > Expense Summary and download all receipt images for a specific month in a single .zip file.