Report Approvals

Report approvals in Expensify allow Workspace Admins to create automated workflows that streamline expense review and approval. This article explains the available approval modes, how to configure them, and how to manage additional controls like over-limit rules and random audits.

Report approval modes

Choose from three types of approval workflows based on your workspace needs:

  • Submit and Close: Reports are auto-approved unless they contain violations.
  • Submit and Approve: Reports are sent to a single designated approver.
  • Advanced Approval: Enables multi-level, conditional approval chains.

How to set an approval workflow

To configure your workspace’s approval mode:

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click the Members tab.
  4. Scroll to the Approval mode section.
  5. Choose one of the following:
    • Submit and Close: Auto-approves all reports unless they have violations.
    • Submit and Approve: Sends reports to a single designated approver.
    • Advanced Approval: Allows multiple approvers and conditional workflows.

Note: You can also set rules for specific categories and tags to fine-tune your workflow.

Enforce workflow rules

To prevent employees from bypassing assigned approval paths:

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click the Members tab.
  4. Enable Enforce workflow.

Admins will still be able to manually override workflows if needed.

Manually review over-limit expenses

You can require manual review for expenses that exceed a specific dollar amount.

Set a manual approval rule

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click Members.
  4. Scroll to Expense approvals.
  5. Under Manually approve all expenses over, enter your desired limit.

Assign an over-limit approver (Advanced Approval only)

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click Members.
  4. Click Settings next to a member’s name.
  5. Enter a limit in If report total is over.
  6. Under Then approves to, select the secondary approver.
  7. Click Save.

Route reports using category and tag approvers

Approvers can be assigned to specific categories and tags to route expenses accordingly.

Assign a category approver

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click Categories.
  4. Locate the category and click Edit.
  5. Assign an approver and click Save.

Assign a tag approver

Only supported for single-level tags.

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click Tags.
  4. Locate the tag and assign an approver.

Understanding complex workflows

Lifecycle of an expense report

  1. Submission: Reports are submitted manually or via Scheduled Submit.
  2. Category/Tag Approvers (if assigned): Reports are routed here first.
  3. Approval mode: Reports follow the selected workflow:
    • Submit & Close: Auto-closes after submission.
    • Submit & Approve: Sent to a single approver.
    • Advanced Approval: Routed through multi-level approvers.
  4. Concierge Approval: For workspaces with manual review enabled, Concierge approves reports under the limit.
  5. Final approval & export: Once approved, reports can be exported to your accounting system.

Example workflows

Submit & Close

Terry and Dana co-run a business and don’t need formal approvals. Their workspace uses Submit & Close, so all reports are auto-approved.

Submit & Approve with Category Approvers

Pat manages accounting. Reports are submitted to Pat, but Dale must review all Plant and equipment purchases. These go to Dale first, then to Pat.

Advanced Approval with Over-Limit Approvers

Amal submits a report with a $1,200 flight and $950 in accommodations. Jamie (manager) can approve up to $2,000. Since the total exceeds the limit, the report is routed to Lee for final approval before it reaches Finance.

Automate receipt audits

Concierge Receipt Audit automatically reviews receipts to flag discrepancies.

  • Available on all Control plan workspaces
  • Cannot be disabled
  • Uses SmartScan to match receipts with entered data
  • Expenses flagged for mismatches require manual review

Set a random audit schedule

You can choose to randomly audit a percentage of otherwise compliant reports.

  1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
  2. Select your workspace.
  3. Click Members.
  4. Scroll to Expense approvals.
  5. In Randomly route reports for manual approval, enter a percentage (default: 5%).
  6. Click Save.

FAQ

Can I disable Concierge Receipt Audit?

No. Concierge Receipt Audit is automatically enabled for all Control plan workspaces and cannot be turned off.

Who can access the Reconciliation tab?

Only Domain Admins have access to the Reconciliation tab.

What if company card expenses are missing?

Use the Reconciliation tool to find missing expenses:

  • Click Update next to the card to pull missing transactions.
  • If expenses are still missing, contact Concierge with the following:
    • Merchant name
    • Date
    • Amount
    • Last four digits of the card number

Note: Only posted transactions will be imported.

Can admins delete expenses on behalf of members?

No, admins cannot delete expenses for other members. Each member is responsible for managing their own expenses.

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