Expense Reports

An expense report is most often filled out by a resource and contains a list of expenses they have incurred. These expenses can be reimbursed to the resource and passed on to a client. Expense Reports can also be filled out on behalf of another resource.

Expense reports are not tied to a single project, but can contain expenses from all of a resource's projects. Each individual expense can then be approved on an item-by-item basis.

To learn how to create and edit Expense Reports, please visit the Expense Entry help page. To start entering expenses, please visit https://app.projectorpsa.com/expense.

A typical expense report would be for a business trip. The resource enters plane tickets, cab fair, lodging, and meals. If these expenses were paid by the resource, the resource can be reimbursed for their outlay. If paid by a company credit card, your credit card provider will be reimbursed. Or, if the resource was given a cash advanced, the expenses can be attributed to the cash.

This page explains the basics of expense reports, which are a type of expense document. Please see these additional help topics if you don't know what an expense document is.

Expense Reports are created and managed on the web through Expense Entry.

Permissions and Settings

There are quite a few permissions that affect expense reports. As an expense report is a type of expense document, you should review that help page so that you understand what higher level permissions inherit down to here.

Resources typically create and modify expense reports through Expense Entry on the web.

The reimbursement currency for an expense report is determined by the resource's company. The chain goes like so: Resource -> Resource Cost Center -> Cost Center Company -> Company Currency. The company is associated with a resource through their cost center. For example, Sarai is in the Spain cost center, which is assigned to the Europe company, which is assigned the Euro currency. Sarai is reimbursed in Euros. As resources can change cost centers over time, we use whichever cost center was active at the time the expense report was first created.

Administrators can enter expense reports for other resources if they have the cost center permission Maintain Expenses Reports.

Each Expense Report is associated with exactly one resource.

Expense Reports are assigned the resource's cost center upon creation. This cost center cannot be changed. This is to keep approval permissions and accounting transactions consistent throughout the lifecycle of an expense report.

Expense approvals are a three step process. To learn more about how to approve expenses, please see the help page Configure Expense Approval.

Workflow approval - initial approval to allow the card into the system. You cannot approve your own expenses ever.
Reimbursement approval - the resource or company credit card will be reimbursed for their outlay
Invoicing approval - the expense may now be pulled onto an invoice and issued to a client

Many settings that affect the workflow of expense reports are available on the System Settings Editor Cost Tab.

Receipts may be optionally attached to entire expense reports or to individual expenses
Optionally resources may mark expenses not chargeable to a client. Although this can be overridden by administrators.
Optionally require Locations
Optionally enter expenses outside of project dates (useful if your sales people incur expenses prior to project work starting)
Optionally convert between currencies based on an automated currency rate feed

Expense reports may no longer have expenses added once all the expenses are marked Approved to Pay. You can optionally tighten this restriction to expense reports where all cards are marked Approved with the system setting Lock expense documents when fully approved.