---
title: "Expenses: overview and life of an expense report"
description: "The Expenses module, from entering an expense to its reimbursement and accounting: who does what, where the screens are and the statuses of an expense."
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/expenses-overview/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: Expense Reports
---

# Expenses: overview and life of an expense report

The **Expenses** module covers the whole life of a business expense: the employee enters it or scans the receipt, submits it, the approver validates it, then the company reimburses it by bank transfer or with the salary and posts it to the accounts. This article introduces the module, who does what and the life of an expense report; it is for all users.

## Before you start

- The **Expenses** module must be activated for your workspace.
- The **Expense Notes** tab of your profile only appears if one of your roles holds the "Expense report" permission at the **Access** level. By default, every role supplied by Illizeo holds it.
- The permissions to enter, approve, pay and configure are detailed in *Administering the Expenses module*.

## What the module covers

- **Four ways to declare an expense.** An expense entered by hand, a receipt or invoice scanned and read automatically, a mileage trip calculated from the route, or a per diem (a flat-rate travel allowance by country).
- **Expense rules.** The company sets limits by category and by population, in one or more currencies, and decides whether going over the limit is blocked or only flagged.
- **An approval workflow.** Each submitted expense follows the workflow set in Workflows; failing that, it goes to the employee's line manager. Some expenses can be approved automatically.
- **Reimbursement.** Approved expenses are paid through a bank payment file or with the next salary.
- **Tax obligations.** VAT rates by country, legal mileage scales and calculation of the taxable part of a mileage reimbursement above the exemption threshold.
- **Accounting.** Each approval generates its accounting entries, which you export in your accounting software's format.
- **Several currencies and several contracts.** An expense can be entered in any currency; it is converted automatically. An employee with several contracts assigns each expense to the right employer.

## Who does what

| Profile | What they do in the module |
| --- | --- |
| Employee | Enters expenses, trips and per diems, submits them, follows their status and fixes a rejected expense. |
| Approver (the manager by default) | Accepts, rejects or delegates the expenses sent to them, under **Workflows › Expense reports**. |
| Person in charge of payment | Chooses how each approved expense is paid, generates the payment file and follows the file history. |
| Administrator | Configures the module: categories, VAT rates, rules, mileage rates, per diem, mandatory fields, thresholds, notifications, accounting and permissions. |

## Where the screens are

| Screen | Path |
| --- | --- |
| Your expenses | Your profile, **Expense Notes** tab |
| Expenses to approve | **Workflows › Expense reports** |
| Configuration, payments, reports and accounting | **Settings › Expenses** |
| Approval workflow | **Settings › Manage Employees › Workflows**, Expenses category |

![Expense Notes tab of the profile: indicators, Expenses, Mileage and Per Diem tabs, status filters, creation buttons and list of expenses](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/expenses-overview-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C342&quality=80&ssl=1)
The Expense Notes tab of your profile.

![Expense Settings page: Expense Rules, Mileage Rates, Vehicle Groups, Categories, Tax Rates, Expense Settings, Payments, Payment Files, Per Diem, Reports and Accounting tiles](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/expenses-overview-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The tiles under Settings › Expenses.

## The life of an expense report

1. **Entry.** The employee creates the expense. With **Save Draft**, it stays editable and does not yet enter the approval workflow.
2. **Submission.** With **Submit**, Illizeo checks the mandatory fields, the receipt and the limits of the applicable rule. A forbidden overrun blocks the expense; an allowed overrun lets it through with a warning.
3. **Approval.** The expense is approved automatically if a rule or threshold provides for it; otherwise it enters the approval workflow. A rejection requires a reason, which is passed on to the employee.
4. **Reimbursement.** Depending on the payment method, the expense is paid through a bank payment file or with the payroll of the month of the expense. The employee is told when it has been reimbursed.
5. **Accounting.** The expense's entries are generated as soon as it is approved, then exported to your accounting software.

## Expense statuses

| Status | Meaning | What the employee can do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Draft | The expense is saved but not submitted yet. | Edit it, submit it or delete it |
| Pending | The expense is submitted and awaits a decision in the workflow. | View the details and history |
| Approved | The expense is validated, by an approver or automatically; it awaits reimbursement or has already been paid. | View the details and history |
| Rejected | An approver rejected the expense and gave a reason. | Fix it and submit it again, or delete it |

Payment is not a separate status: the history in the expense details shows the date it was paid. A per diem is submitted as soon as it is declared: it has no draft and goes straight to "Pending".

## Good to know

- Nobody can approve or reject their own expense, whatever their role.
- An expense that has been paid, or already included in a payment file or in the payroll, can no longer change status.
- The amount of an expense is entered excluding tax; the chosen VAT rate calculates the tax, and the limits are checked against the amount excluding tax.
- An expense in a foreign currency is converted at the rate of the expense date. If no rate is available for that date, a 1 to 1 rate is applied and flagged "Exchange rate to verify": the expense is then never approved automatically.
- An expense cannot be dated in the future, nor before the employee's start date.

### *Similaire*