Expenses & Approval Workflows

Full expense claim lifecycle - from line items with multi-currency support, through configurable multi-stage approval routing, to final payment marking.

How it works at a glance

Employee creates draft claim → Adds line items → Submits → Manager approves (L1) → Finance approves (L2) → Finance marks paid

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Prerequisites

From Core HR:

• ✅ Active employees with assigned reporting managers
• ✅ Projects configured (only if you plan to use project-specific expense categories)

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👤 Role-Based Access

Action	SUPER_ADMIN / ACCOUNT_ADMIN	HR_ADMIN	Manager	EMPLOYEE
Configure expense settings	✅	❌	❌	❌
Create expense categories	✅	✅	❌	❌
Set exchange rates	✅	❌	❌	❌
Submit expense claims	✅	✅	✅	✅
L1 approve (general claims)	-	-	✅ (direct reports)	❌
L1 approve (project claims)	-	-	✅ (project PM)	❌
L2 Finance approve	✅	❌	❌	❌
Mark as paid	✅	❌	❌	❌
Configure workflows	✅	✅	❌	❌

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Admin Workflow

Step 1 - Configure Expense Settings

Navigate to: Settings → Expense Settings

Field	Description	Example
Base Currency	Your company’s default currency	INR
Auto Approval Enabled	Skip manual approval for low-value claims	false

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Step 2 - Create Expense Categories

Categories define what types of expenses employees can claim.

Navigate to: Settings → Expense Categories → Add Category

Field	Description	Example
Name	Category label	Travel – Airfare
Scope	GLOBAL or PROJECT_SPECIFIC	GLOBAL
Project Constraint	If PROJECT_SPECIFIC, link to a project	(select project)

Caution

A PROJECT_SPECIFIC category can only be used in expense claims that are scoped to that exact project. Adding it to a general claim or a different project’s claim is rejected.

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Step 3 - Configure Approval Workflows

The Workflow Engine defines how expense claims (and other requests) are routed for approval.

Navigate to: Settings → Workflows → Create Workflow

Field	Description	Example
Name	Workflow label	Double Level Expense Approval
Entity Type	EXPENSE_CLAIM	EXPENSE_CLAIM
Priority	Higher number = higher priority	10
Conditions	JSON routing rules	{ "departmentId": "uuid" }

Add Workflow Steps (after creating the workflow):

Step Field	Options
Step Number	1, 2, 3… (execution order)
Approver Type	REPORTING_MANAGER, DEPARTMENT_HEAD, PROJECT_MANAGER, SPECIFIC_USER, ROLE, SKIP
Approver Employee ID	Required if SPECIFIC_USER
Role	Required if ROLE (e.g. ACCOUNT_ADMIN)

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Employee Workflow

Step 1 - Create a Draft Expense Claim

Navigate to: Expenses → New Claim

Field	Description
Title	Descriptive name (e.g. Bangalore Conference Trip)
Scope	GENERAL or PROJECT
Project	If PROJECT scope, select the associated project

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Step 2 - Add Line Items

Navigate to: Claim Detail → Add Item

Field	Description	Example
Category	Select from available categories	Travel – Airfare
Amount	Amount in original currency	250
Currency	Currency of the expense	USD
Date	Date of the expense	2026-06-15
Description	What the expense was for	Return flight BLR–DEL
Receipt	Attach receipt (if required)	(file upload)

Foreign currency items: If you enter an item in a currency other than the base currency (e.g. USD when base is INR), the baseAmount will be blank until a Finance admin sets the exchange rate. This is expected - you can still submit the claim.

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Step 3 - Submit the Claim

Once all line items are added:

Navigate to: Claim Detail → Submit

The claim transitions to PENDING_L1 and enters the approval workflow.

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Step 4 - Monitor Approval Status

Navigate to: Expenses → My Claims

Status	Meaning
DRAFT	Not yet submitted
PENDING_L1	Awaiting manager approval
PENDING_FINANCE	Manager approved; awaiting finance
APPROVED	Fully approved; pending payment
PAID	Finance has marked as paid
REJECTED	Declined at any stage
RETURNED	Returned with comments; needs your response

If your claim is returned: Add any missing information or receipts and click Resubmit.

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Approval Workflow for Managers

L1 - Manager Approval

Navigate to: Approvals → Expenses (Inbox)

Review the employee’s claim, line items, and any attachments:

• Click Approve → moves to PENDING_FINANCE
• Click Return with comments → employee can add info and resubmit
• Click Reject → claim is declined immediately

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Approval Workflow for Finance

L2 - Finance Final Approval

Navigate to: Finance → Expense Approvals

Caution

If any line item in a foreign currency is missing an exchange rate, L2 approval will be blocked with “Exchange rates missing”. You must patch the exchange rate first.

Setting exchange rates: Finance → Expense Claims → claim → line item → Set Exchange Rate

• Enter the exchange rate (e.g. 84.5 for 1 USD = 84.5 INR)
• The total claim amount recalculates automatically

After setting all rates, click Approve to finalize.

Mark as Paid

Once funds are transferred to the employee:

Navigate to: Finance → Expense Approvals → claim → Mark Paid

Status moves to PAID and the claim is archived.

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Notifications

Every action in the approval chain triggers a notification:

• Bell icon in the top nav bar shows unread alerts
• Notifications fire when a request is submitted, approved, returned, or rejected
• Click the notification to jump directly to the relevant claim

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Common Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Finance approval blocked	A line item with a foreign currency is missing an exchange rate
Claim submitted but no one is approving	No workflow is configured for this entity type or department; check workflow conditions
Employee can’t add a project-specific category	The category’s project constraint doesn’t match the claim’s selected project
Claim stuck at PENDING_L1	The reporting manager may not have a user account; contact HR admin

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← Projects Project-scoped expense claims require active projects.

Performance → Set up appraisal cycles after operations are running.