An expense claim is how someone gets paid back for business costs they paid with their own money. They put the expenses they paid themselves and their business trips on one claim and submit it. A Supervisor, Admin or Owner approves the claim or rejects it with a reason. Once the person has been paid back, the claim is marked as paid. The claim can be exported as a PDF, Excel or CSV file, and an approved claim can be published to QuickBooks Online, Xero, Procountor or SimplBooks as one bill that pays back the claimant.
SparkReceipt doesn't move the money itself. You pay the person back the way you do today, for example by bank transfer or through payroll, and then mark the claim as paid.
Where to find expense claims
Web app. Open Expense claims from the left sidebar. The list shows every claim you can see, with tabs for All, Draft, Submitted, Approved, Paid and Rejected.
Mobile app (iOS / Android). In app versions that include expense claims, open the Reports tab and switch to Expense claims.
You can also start a claim from your expenses and trips: select them and choose Add to expense claim. See How do I create and submit an expense claim?
Which plans include expense claims
Creating a claim, adding items and submitting it need a paid plan (Pro or Elite). On other plans the Submit button explains that "Submitting expense claims needs a paid plan." Existing claims can still be opened, exported, approved and marked as paid.
How a claim moves through its statuses
| Status | What it means | Who acts next |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | The claimant is still adding items. Only drafts can be changed. | The claimant submits it. |
| Submitted | Waiting for approval. The claimant can Withdraw it back to Draft to change something. | An approver approves or rejects it. |
| Approved | Approved and locked. It can be published to your accounting software. | Someone marks it as paid once the money is paid back. |
| Paid | The claimant has been paid back. The claim keeps the date and any payment reference. | Nobody. The claim is done. |
| Rejected | Sent back with the approver's reason. The claimant can Reopen it, fix it and submit it again. | The claimant. |
Every claim has a History card that lists who created, submitted, withdrew, approved, rejected, reopened or marked the claim as paid, and when items were added or removed.
Who can do what
| Role | Expense claims |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Creates and submits their own claims, and sees only their own. |
| Member | Creates and submits their own claims, sees every claim in the account, and can export and publish claims. |
| Supervisor | Everything a Member can do, plus approve, reject and mark as paid other people's claims. |
| Admin and Owner | Everything a Supervisor can do, and can also approve their own claims. |
| Accountant | Sees every claim and can export and publish claims. An accountant can approve claims only if the account gives them a supervisor or admin level role. |
A Supervisor can't approve their own claim. Someone with a higher role does that.
If you work alone, you are both the claimant and the approver: submit the claim, approve it, then mark it as paid once the business has paid you back. That gives you a record of what the business owed you and when it was settled.
Notifications
SparkReceipt sends a push notification and an email when:
- someone submits a claim: everyone who can approve it is told, except the claimant;
- a claim is approved or sent back: the claimant is told;
- a claim is marked as paid: the claimant is told, with the date and the payment reference.
Nobody is notified about their own actions. You can turn these off in your notification preferences, under Expense claims: Expense claim to review, Expense claim approved or sent back and Expense claim paid.
What expense claims don't do
- SparkReceipt doesn't pay anyone. Mark as paid records the day the claimant was paid back.
- Marking a claim as paid doesn't create a payment in QuickBooks Online, Xero or other accounting software. The bill stays open there until you pay it there.
- There is one approval step. There are no multi-level approval chains, spending limits or policy rules.
- A claim holds only the claimant's own expenses and trips. You can't submit a claim on someone else's behalf.
- Approved and paid claims can't be changed or deleted.