Expenses
This course covers the Expenses module in Quickenerp. Learn how employees submit expense reports (including mileage and per diem), managers approve them, and how expenses flow to accounting for reimbursement and cost tracking.
| Responsible | System |
|---|---|
| Last Update | 07/21/2026 |
| Completion Time | 1 day 20 hours |
| Members | 1 |
Expenses Overview
View allExpense Reporting
Expense Analysis
Go to Expenses > Reporting > Expense Analysis. Pivot with:
- Dimensions: Employee, Department, Category, Project, Date.
- Measures: Total Amount, Untaxed Amount, Number of Expenses, Taxes.
- Filters: Date Range, Status (Approved, Submitted, Paid), Payment Method.
Key Insights
- Department spending by category (which dept spends most on travel?).
- Expense trends over time.
- Top categories by total spend.
- Reimbursement turnaround time (submission to payment).
Policy Compliance Checks
Use the analysis view to spot patterns that suggest policy issues: expenses consistently just under an approval threshold, missing receipts on high-value items, or one employee's spend trending well above their department's average — these are the things a periodic review should catch, not just individual expense approval.
Best Practices
- Require receipts for all expenses over a set threshold (e.g. $25).
- Use expense categories that match your accounting chart of accounts.
- Set up a corporate credit card journal for automatic reconciliation.
- Review expense policy quarterly.
- Reconcile the Expense Analysis total against what Accounting actually posted for the period — differences usually mean some approved sheets were never posted to journal entries.
Reimbursement Process
Accounting Entries
When an expense is approved:
- Go to Expenses > All Expenses.
- Open the approved expense sheet.
- Click Post Journal Entries.
- Quickenerp creates:
- Debit: Expense Account (e.g. 6220 Travel Expenses).
- Credit: Employee Payable (or Bank if paid directly).
Reimbursement Payment
Go to Accounting → Vendor Bills. The employee payable appears as an open item.
- Click Register Payment.
- Select payment method (Bank Transfer, Check).
- Confirm. The payable is cleared.
Corporate Card Expenses
If "Paid By = Company", no reimbursement is needed. The journal entry debits the expense account and credits the corporate card account instead of the employee payable account.
Billing Expenses to a Customer
If an expense is linked to a Project/Task or Sales Order marked as re-invoiceable, the approved expense (at cost, or with a markup if configured) appears as a line ready to add to the customer's next invoice — useful for consultancies that pass travel costs through to the client.
VAT/Tax Recovery on Expenses
Set the correct tax on each expense line so input tax on business expenses (e.g. reclaimable VAT/GST) is captured for your tax return, exactly like a vendor bill — a common thing to miss when employees enter expenses with no tax at all.
Expenses Without a Traditional Receipt
Mileage
For personal-vehicle business travel, create an expense with the Mileage product category: enter distance travelled instead of an amount, and Quickenerp calculates the reimbursement using a configured rate per mile/kilometre (set in Expenses > Configuration > Settings). No fuel receipt is needed since the reimbursement is distance-based, not cost-based.
Per Diem
For travel where the company pays a fixed daily allowance (covering meals/incidentals without individual receipts), configure a per diem product and rate per destination or employee grade. The employee logs the number of days rather than uploading receipts for every meal.
Setting Rates
Both mileage and per diem rates are configured centrally so every employee is reimbursed consistently, and so changing the rate (e.g. an annual mileage-rate update) doesn't require touching every employee's settings individually.
Expense Workflow
Submitting an Expense
- Go to Expenses > My Expenses → Create.
- Description – What was purchased.
- Category – Select from configured expense categories (Travel, Meals, Supplies).
- Total Amount – Enter with tax included or excluded (configurable).
- Date – When the expense occurred.
- Receipt – Upload image or PDF.
- Paid By – Employee (to be reimbursed) or Company (corporate card).
- Project/Task – If billable to a project.
- Analytic Account – For cost allocation.
- Click Save. Then click Submit to Manager.
Creating an Expense Sheet
Instead of submitting expenses individually, group them:
- Go to My Expenses.
- Select multiple expenses.
- Click Action > Create Report.
- The expense sheet is created with all selected expenses.
- Submit the report for approval.
Approving Expenses
Managers see Expenses to Approve:
- Review each expense and receipt.
- Approve (individually or batch).
- Refuse with a reason if needed.
- Once approved, the expense flows to accounting.
Expense Policies
Go to Expenses > Configuration > Settings. Configure:
- Double Approval – Two-step (Manager + Accountant).
- Payment Method – Register Payment on Approval, Register in Batch.
- Receipt Required – Mandatory receipt upload.
- Tax Inclusion – How taxes are handled on expenses.
The Expenses Module
Go to Expenses from the main dashboard. Employees submit business expenses, managers approve, and Quickenerp generates journal entries for reimbursement.
Core Concepts
| Concept | Model | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Expense | hr.expense | Single expense item (date, product/category, amount, receipt). |
| Expense Sheet | hr.expense.sheet | Collection of expenses submitted together for approval. |
| Expense Product Category | product.category | Type of expense (Travel, Meals, Office Supplies). |
| Expense Policy | Settings | Rules for reimbursement, payment method, approvals. |
Menu Structure
- My Expenses – Employee's own expense reports.
- Expenses to Approve – Manager's approval queue.
- All Expenses – Full list.
- Reporting – Expense analysis.
- Configuration – Settings, product categories.
Capturing a Receipt on the Go
The mobile app lets an employee photograph a receipt right after a purchase; OCR (if enabled) pre-fills the amount, date, and vendor so the employee just confirms the category rather than typing everything manually.