Expense Claims
Claim back money staff spent on the business, route it for approval, and pay it out.
Expense claims are for money an employee or director paid personally for the business, such as fuel, travel or a software subscription on a personal card. They live under Purchases → Expenses.
For a supplier invoice, use a bill. For a business card or bank payment, categorise the bank line under Banking.
Lifecycle
Draft → Submitted → Approved → Paid
↓
Rejected → ResubmitCreate a claim
- On Purchases → Expenses, click New Expense Claim.
- Under Claim Info, enter a Title (for example Business trip to Durban) and an optional Description.
- Under Expense Items, click Add Item for each expense and enter:
- Date and Description,
- Amount, Category (for example Travel), Account and Tax,
- Receipt: attach a photo or PDF of the slip.
- Click Create Expense Claim. It is saved as a Draft.
For travel by car, tick Mileage claim on an item and enter the Distance and Rate; Anchor works out the amount.
Submit, approve, pay
| Step | Who | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Submit | The claimant (manage:expenses, members and up) | Sends the claim for approval. Recall to edit pulls it back while it is still waiting. |
| Approve | An approver (approve:expenses, admins and up) | Posts the claim, dated the day you approve: debit each item's account, credit Employee Reimbursements Payable (2110). |
| Reject | An approver | Requires a Reason, which the claimant sees. They can fix the claim and Resubmit. |
| Mark as Paid | An approver | Enter the Payment Date, then Confirm Payment. Posts debit Employee Reimbursements Payable, credit account 1100. |
Approval posts each item's full amount to its account. The Tax you pick on an item is not split out as Input VAT, so it will not appear on your VAT report. If the VAT on a slip must be claimed, record the expense as a bill instead. Mark as Paid always pays from account 1100; if the reimbursement left another bank account, categorise that bank line to Employee Reimbursements Payable instead of using Mark as Paid.
Fix an approved or paid claim
Click Reverse on the claim. Anchor reverses what it posted (the approval, and the payment if it was paid) and moves the claim back to Draft so you can correct and resubmit it. Nothing is deleted; the reversal stays in your books.
Recurring expenses
Purchases → Expenses → Recurring holds templates for expenses that repeat. See Recurring invoices, bills and expenses.
Approval rules
Expense claims use the built-in submit and approve steps above. Approval workflows under Settings → Approvals do not apply to expense claims yet (see Approvals).
MCP tools
Expense claim tools are listed in the MCP guide.