Expensify allows Workspace Admins to create automated workflows for expense report approvals. You can choose from three approval modes:

• Submit and Close: Automatically approves reports unless they contain violations.
• Submit and Approve: Sends reports to a single designated approver.
• Advanced Approval: Enables multi-level approvals for complex workflows.

Set an Approval Workflow

1. Navigate to Settings > Workspaces.
2. Select the desired workspace.
3. Click the Members tab.
4. Scroll to the Approval Mode section.
5. Choose an approval mode:
   • Submit and Close: Reports are auto-approved unless they have violations.
   • Submit and Approve: Reports go to a single approver.
   • Advanced Approval: Allows multiple approvers and conditional rules.

You can also set approval rules for specific categories and tags to enhance your workflow.

Enforce Workflow

To prevent employees from overriding approval rules, enable workflow enforcement in the Members tab. Admins can still manually override workflows when needed.

Require Review for Over-Limit Expenses

You can enforce manual review for expenses that exceed a specific limit.

Set a Manual Approval Rule

1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
2. Select the workspace.
3. Click Members.
4. Scroll to Expense Approvals.
5. Enter a limit in Manually approve all expenses over:

Assign an Over-Limit Approver

For Advanced Approval workspaces, you can assign a secondary approver for large expenses.

1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
2. Select the workspace.
3. Click Members.
4. Click Settings next to the member.
5. In If report total is over, enter the limit.
6. In Then approves to, select the secondary approver.
7. Click Save.

Assign Tag and Category Approvers

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

Assign a Category Approver

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

Assign a Tag Approver

Tag approvers are supported only for single-level tags.

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

Understanding Complex Approval Workflows

Lifecycle of an Expense Report

1. Submission: Reports can be submitted manually or via Scheduled Submit.
2. Category & Tag Approvers: If assigned, reports first go to these approvers.
3. Approval Mode: Reports proceed according to the selected workflow:
   • Submit & Close: Auto-closes after submission.
   • Submit & Approve: Goes to a single approver.
   • Advanced Approval: Travels through a chain of assigned approvers.
4. Concierge Approval: If manual approval is required, Concierge will approve reports under the limit.
5. Final Approval & Export: Once approved, reports can be exported to an accounting system.

Approval Workflow Examples

• Submit & Close: Terry and Dana co-run a business and don’t need approval workflows. They set their workspace to Submit & Close, so reports are auto-approved.

• Submit & Approve with Category Approvers: Pat handles accounting for an engineering firm. Everyone submits reports to Pat, but Dale must approve all Plant and equipment purchases. Dale reviews these expenses before Pat gives final approval.

• Advanced Approval with Over-Limit Approvers: Amal submits a report with a $1,200 flight and $950 in accommodations. Jamie, their manager, can approve reports up to $2,000. Since the total exceeds the limit, the report escalates to Lee, who provides final approval before it goes to finance.

Automate Receipt Audits

Concierge Receipt Audit automatically verifies receipts and flags discrepancies.

• Available on all Control plan workspaces.
• Cannot be disabled.
• SmartScan verifies receipt details against entered data.
• Flagged expenses require manual review.

Set a Random Report Audit Schedule

While Expensify automatically flags reports that contain inaccurate or non-compliant expenses for review, you can set a percentage of compliant reports to be audited at random.

1. Go to Settings > Workspaces.
2. Select the 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, this feature is automatically included in Control plan workspaces.

Who can access the Reconciliation tab?

Only Domain Admins have access.

What if company card expenses are missing?

1. Use the Reconciliation tool to locate missing expenses.
2. Click Update next to the card to pull missing transactions.
3. If expenses are still missing, contact Concierge with:
   • Merchant name
   • Date
   • Amount
   • Last four digits of the card number

Note: Only posted transactions will be imported.