Expense claim submission and approval
Expense processes fail quietly. Claims arrive without receipts, managers approve them because refusing is awkward, and the policy becomes whatever gets approved in practice. Writing down what happens when evidence is missing is what makes the policy real, because that is the case everyone actually encounters.
- 1
Claimant submits the claim within the stated window, itemised, with the business purpose for each line.
Claimant
Timing: Within the claim window, for example 30 days
The business purpose per line, not one purpose for the whole claim. "Client meeting" against a single dinner is checkable; against six mixed items it is not.
- 2
Claimant attaches a valid receipt for every line above the receipt-free limit.
Claimant
All receipts attached: go to step 4
Receipt missing: go to step 3
- 3
Claimant provides a written explanation of the missing receipt and the evidence they do have.
Claimant
There has to be a defined path for a genuinely lost receipt, or people will either abandon legitimate claims or attach something inaccurate. Define it, cap it, and make the exception visible.
Explanation accepted: go to step 4
Not accepted: go to step 9
- 4
Approving Manager checks each line against the expense policy, including any per-category limit.
Approving Manager
Within policy: go to step 6
Outside policy: go to step 5
- 5
Approving Manager either rejects the out-of-policy line or approves it as a documented exception with a stated reason.
Approving Manager
An exception with a name and a reason attached is manageable. A quiet approval turns the policy into a suggestion.
Exception documented: go to step 6
Line rejected: go to step 9
- 6
Approving Manager confirms they are not approving their own claim, and routes it upward if they are.
Approving Manager
Self-approval is the control that fails most often, usually because the system permits it. Nobody approves their own expenses, including the most senior person.
Independent approver: go to step 7
Own claim: go to step 10
- 7
Approving Manager approves the claim in the system, creating a dated record.
Approving Manager
Timing: Within five working days of submission
- 8
Payroll or Finance verifies the approval is present and complete, then pays the claim in the next payment run.
Payroll or Finance
Verify before paying. Paying an unapproved claim and chasing the approval afterwards means the control is decorative.
Paid: the procedure ends
- 9
Approving Manager records the rejection with the reason and informs the Claimant.
Approving Manager
A stated reason, so the same claim is not simply resubmitted unchanged.
Closed: the procedure ends
- 10
Payroll or Finance routes the claim to the approver above the Claimant and records who approved it.
Payroll or Finance
Routed and approved: go to step 8
Change these before you use it
- Set your receipt-free limit, per-category limits, and claim window explicitly. This template deliberately states none.
- Define who approves the most senior person's expenses, by name or role, before it comes up.
- Add your tax treatment rules where reimbursement is taxable, and confirm them with whoever files your returns. This template covers no tax position.
- If you use a card programme rather than reimbursement, most of this becomes a reconciliation procedure instead, and step 8 changes entirely.
- Cap how often the missing-receipt path in step 3 can be used per person per year, or it becomes the normal route.
This is a starting point, not compliance advice. It is written to be adapted, and a procedure that touches access, money, or customer data needs to match how your business actually operates and whatever rules apply to you. Use it as a first draft to edit, not a policy to adopt.
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