Expense reports

From Clarizen

Expenses are a user's expenditures linked to their work activities.

The Expenses module can be used to track relevant information about expenses such as:

• What was purchased

• How much was spent

• The reason for purchasing

• Whether purchasing was done within the activities of a specific project

• Whether an expense can be billed to a customer

• Whether an employee needs to be reimbursed

Contents 1 Expense Sheets 1.1 Expense Sheet Toolbar 2 Creating a New Expense Sheet 3 Approvals 3.1 Approvals Toolbar 4 Expense Sheet Workflow 4.1 Expense Sheet Life Cycle 4.1.1 Re-Opening Expense Sheets 4.2 Who Can Approve Expense Sheet Reports? 5 Calculation of Expenses within Linked Work Items

Expense Sheets

An Expense Sheet is a personalized report of employee expenditures incurred during work activities for the organization.

All expenses from the expense sheet linked to a specific project will be included in the cost of this project. Billable expenses will be included into the project’s revenue.

The Expense Sheet page provides a personal view of the expense sheets pertaining to a specific user.

On the top left side you can see the name of the expense sheet owner. By default this is you.

You can view other user’s expense sheets if you have one of the following roles:

• Expense Sheet Approver can see all expense sheets where they are assigned as an Approver

• Project Manager and Manager of the project can see all expense sheets that are related to the projects they manage

• The Direct Manager of the expense sheet owner can see expense sheets of all subordinate users

• Users with Financial Permissions can see expense sheets of all users in the organization

Use the Change User filter to switch between users’ expense sheets.

The Search box, located on the right side of the bar, allows you to narrow the list of expense sheets using additional search criteria. Text entered into the search box is searched for across all textual fields of the expense sheet.

The Expense sheet grid contains a flat list of Expense reports with essential information about the reports and included expenses:

• State of the expense sheet – Draft, Submitted, Approved and On Hold

• Name of the expense sheet and its date – clicking the hyperlink will open the related expenses page

• Expense sheet approver

• Total, Billable Total, and Reimbursed Total of the included expenses

• Posts Icon indicating whether there are comments/posts written on a specific expense sheet. Double clicking on the Post cell will open the window with the comments and discussion.

Expense Sheet Toolbar

The Toolbar of the grid contains relevant commands that can be applied on the expense report.

From left to right these actions include:

Add new Expense Sheet

Use this button to create a new expense sheet. Clicking on this button will take you into the Expenses page where you can specify related expenses.

Edit

Use this button to modify an existing expense sheet.

State Drop Down

You can change the state of the expense sheet by selecting the relevant sheet from the grid and selecting the action from the drop down.

States include - Submit, Approve, Reopen and Put on Hold.

Delete

Use this button to delete unnecessary expense sheets.

Send approval request

Use this button to send email request for approval to the person that is assigned as Approver of the expense sheet.

Export to Excel

Use this button to export Expense sheets to an Excel sheet.

Posts

Clicking on this icon will open the window where you can write comments about the expenses and read comments others have made

Creating a New Expense Sheet

Clicking on the "Add new Expense Sheet" button on the toolbar will open the Expenses Page, where you can create a new expense sheet.

The Expense Page tab is split into two sections, the expense sheet details and the grid.

To create an expense sheet follow these steps:

1. Fill in the expense sheet details, including the description, date, expense approver, owner (either yourself or your subordinates), and, if applicable, the Project that is to incur the expenses.
2. In the grid, enter a description for the first line item
3. Select the Expense Category from the drop down list
4. Select the Date Incurred and Date Invoiced
5. Enter the Local Amount if applicable
6. Enter an Exchange Rate if applicable
7. Amount will be automatically filled in if a Local amount was entered, if no local amount is entered, then state the amount
8. Check off the appropriate boxes
   • Billable - if this is a billable expense
   • Reimburse - if you are to be reimbursed for the incurred costs
   • Receipt - if you have a receipt
9. Receipts or other documents can be linked directly into the expense line item
10. Select the work item within the project that the expense sheet will be directly linked to (optional)
11. Enter any comments you may have regarding the specific line item
12. Follow steps 2-10 for any additional line items you may have

Once you have completed filling in the details of the expense sheet click the "Submit for Approval" option from the toolbar state drop down, or alternatively, to save the expense sheet for later editing, select the "Put on Hold" option from the drop down.

Approvals

The Approvals page is a personal view which lists all expense sheets submitted for your approval by employees either directly managed by you or resources assigned to work items in projects you manage.

Approving an expense sheet will complete the life cycle and the expense line items will be linked to the applicable work items within projects.

Reopening an already submitted or approved expense sheet allows you to make additional changes or corrections. It is recommended that Posts be added to any expense sheets that were adjusted or require adjustments to alert the submitter of any changes or corrections made.

Approvals Toolbar

The Approvals page provides two possible views:

• Users view (default view)

• Customers & projects view

To switch between views, use the "View" drop down on the toolbar.

Use the State filter located on the top-left side of the page to select the state of expense sheets you’d like to review.

The "Expense Sheets for" filter allows you to select the time frame of the expense sheets you’d like to review. You can either select one of the pre-defined time frames or select the custom option from the drop down to set it manually.

Clicking on the "Go to Expense Sheet" opens the selected expense sheet in the Expenses page, enabling you to review expenses included in the specific expense sheet.

The State drop down menu includes the "Approve", "Reopen" and "Put on Hold" actions that can be applied on the selected expense sheets.

Expense Sheet Workflow

Clarizen supports two types of expense sheet workflows, either with an approval process or without.

The type of the process depends on your organizational policy.

Expense Sheet Life Cycle

An expense sheet passes through several states during its life cycle.

In an organization that requires Approval of the expense sheets, the expense sheet passes through the following states:

Draft → Submitted → Approved

In an organization that does not require approval of the expense sheets, the Workflow process is shorter:

Draft → Approved

• Draft

"Draft" is the initial state of an expense sheet. Draft expense sheets are editable by their owners and direct managers of the owners.

• Submitted

Once a user Submits the expense sheet, the expense sheets state becomes "Submitted" or "Approved" depending on whether Approval is required in the organization or not.

Submission of the expense sheet can be performed by the owner of the expense sheet or the owner's direct manager.

Submitted Expense Sheets can be approved by the Approver defined in the expense sheet or by the user who has one of the Roles or Permissions described in Who Can Approve Expense Sheet Reports

• Approved

The Expense Sheet Approver is notified when relevant expense sheets are ready for his/her approval.

The Expense Sheet can be updated until the Approver approves it.

An Approved expense sheet report is locked and cannot be updated, however, it can be Re-Opened

Re-Opening Expense Sheets

There are two scenarios when the expense sheet can be reopened:

1. The person who approved the expense sheet or the expense sheet Approver can "Reopen" approved expense sheets when changes are required.
2. The Owner of the expense sheet can "Reopen" a submitted expense sheet, which pauses the approval process for an expense sheet that has not yet been approved by the Expense Approver or a direct manager.

The "Reopen" command will change the state of the expense sheet back to Draft.

Who Can Approve Expense Sheet Reports?

Expense sheets can be approved by following people:

• The Direct manager of the expense sheet owner

• Managers of the related project

• Users with financial permissions

Calculation of Expenses within Linked Work Items

Approved expenses that are linked directly to work items will be factored into the Actual Cost of the linked work item, and are then rolled up into the parent work items.

Expenses marked as billable, when filling out the expense line item, will also be factored into the Actual Revenue of the linked work item.