documentation/content/applications/finance/expenses/expense_reports.md

Expense reports

When expenses are ready to submit (such as, at the end of a business trip, or once a month), an expense report needs to be created. Open the main {menuselection}Expenses app dashboard, which displays the {guilabel}My Expenses dashboard, by default. Alternatively, navigate to {menuselection}Expenses app --> My Expenses --> My Expenses.

Expenses are color-coded by status. Any expense with a status of {guilabel}To Report (expenses that still need to be added to an expense report) is shown in blue text. All other statuses ({guilabel}To Submit, {guilabel}Submitted, and {guilabel}Approved) the text appears in black.

(expenses-create-report)=

Create expense reports

First, select each desired expense to be added to the report on the {guilabel}My Expenses dashboard, by ticking the checkbox next to each entry, or quickly select all the expenses in the list by ticking the checkbox next to the {guilabel}Expense Date column title, if needed.

Another way to quickly add all expenses that are not on a expense report, is to click the {guilabel}Create Report button, without selecting any expenses, and Odoo automatically selects all expenses with a status of {guilabel}To Submit that are not already on a report.

:align: center
:alt: Select the expenses to submit, then create the report.

:::{note} Any expense can be selected from the {guilabel}My Expenses list, except for expenses with a status of {guilabel}Approved.

The {guilabel}Create Report button is visible as long as there is a minimum of one expense on the list with a status of either {guilabel}To Report or {guilabel}To Submit.

When the {guilabel}Create Report button is clicked, all expenses with a status of {guilabel}To Submit that are not currently on another expense report appears in the newly-created expense report.

If all expenses on the {guilabel}My Expenses report are already associated with another expense report, an {guilabel}Invalid Operation pop-up window appears, stating {guilabel}You have no expenses to report. :::

Once the expenses have been selected, click the {guilabel}Create Report button. The new report appears with all the expenses listed in the {guilabel}Expense tab. If there is a receipt attached to an individual expense, a {icon}fa-paperclip {guilabel}(paperclip) icon appears between the {guilabel}Customer to Reinvoice and {guilabel}Analytic Distribution columns.

When the report is created, the date range for the expenses appears in the {guilabel}Expense Report Summary field, by default. It is recommended to edit this field with a short summary for each report to help keep expenses organized. Enter a description for the expense report, such as Client Trip NYC, or Office Supplies for Presentation, in the {guilabel}Expense Report Summary field.

The {guilabel}Employee, {guilabel}Paid By, and {guilabel}Company fields autopoulate with the information listed on the individual expenses.

Next, select a {guilabel}Manager from the drop-down menu to assign a manager to review the report. If needed, update the {guilabel}Journal field, using the drop-down menu.

:align: center
:alt: Enter a short description and select a manager for the report.

If some expenses are missing from the report, they can still be added from this report form. To do so, click {guilabel}Add a line at the bottom of the {guilabel}Expense tab.

An {guilabel}Add: Expense Lines pop-up window appears, displaying all the available expenses (with a {guilabel}To Submit status) that can be added to the report.

If a new expense needs to be added that does not appear on the list, click {guilabel}New to {doc}create a new expense <../expenses/log_expenses> and add it to the report.

Tick the checkbox next to each expense being added, then click {guilabel}Select.

Doing so removes the pop-up window, and the items now appear on the report.

:align: center
:alt: Add more expenses to the report before submitting.

:::{note} Expense reports can be created in one of three places:

1. Navigate to the main {menuselection}Expenses app dashboard (also accessible, via {menuselection}Expenses app --> My Expenses --> My Expenses)
2. Navigate to {menuselection}Expenses app --> My Expenses --> My Reports
3. Navigate to {menuselection}Expenses app --> Expense Reports

In any of these views, click {guilabel}New to create a new expense report. :::

(expenses-submit)=

Submit expense reports

When an expense report is completed, the next step is to submit the report to a manager for approval. To view all expense reports, navigate to {menuselection}Expenses app --> My Expenses --> My Reports. Open the specific report from the list of expense reports.

:::{note} Reports must be individually submitted, and cannot be submitted in batches. :::

If the list is large, grouping the results by status may be helpful, since only reports with a {guilabel}To Submit status need to be submitted; reports with an {guilabel}Approved or {guilabel}Submitted status do not.

The {guilabel}To Submit expenses are identifiable by the {guilabel}To Submit status, and by the blue text, while all other expense text appears in black.

:align: center
:alt: Submit the report to the manager.

:::{note} The status of each report is shown in the {guilabel}Status column. If the {guilabel}Status column is not visible, click the {icon}oi-settings-adjust {guilabel}(additional options) icon at the end of the row, and tick the checkbox beside {guilabel}Status from the resulting drop-down menu. :::

Click on a report to open it, then click {guilabel}Submit To Manager. After submitting a report, the next step is to wait for the manager to approve it.

:::{important} {doc}Approving <../expenses/approve_expenses> expenses, {doc}posting <../expenses/post_expenses> expenses, and {doc}reimbursing <../expenses/reimburse> expenses are only for users with the appropriate {doc}access rights documentation </applications/general/users>. :::