Expense Management

Go to Expenses → Configuration → Expense Categories.

Expense categories define what can be expensed and which GL account the cost posts to. Click New:

• Expense Category Name — e.g., “Travel & Accommodation”, “Meals & Entertainment”, “Office Supplies”
• Expense Account — the GL expense account (e.g., 6210 – Travel, 6220 – Meals)
• Vendor Taxes — default tax rate on this expense type
• Re-Invoice Expenses — enable to pass expenses back to customers on projects
• Total / Unit Price — whether expenses are claimed as a total or per unit (e.g., mileage per km)

Create categories for every type of expense your employees incur regularly.

Employees go to the Expenses app (or mobile app) and click New Expense.

Fill in:

• Expense Description — what the expense was for
• Category — select from configured categories
• Total — the amount (including taxes)
• Currency — auto-fills company currency; change for foreign currency expenses
• Date — when the expense occurred
• Receipt — upload a photo or scan of the receipt (required for reimbursement)
• Bill on Customer — link to a project/task to re-invoice the customer
• Analytic Account — for internal cost tracking by project or department

Click Create Expense Report to group expenses into a report and submit for approval.

Once an employee submits an expense report, it goes to their manager for approval.

Manager view (Expenses → Expense Reports → To Approve):

• Review each report and the attached receipts
• Click Approve to move it to accounting, or Refuse with a reason

Configure multi-level approval for high-value claims: Go to Expenses → Configuration → Settings:

• Enable Expense Approval by Manager for direct manager approval
• Set Amount threshold above which a second approval is required (e.g., over £500 requires Finance Director approval)

After manager approval, the expense report goes to accounting.

Go to Expenses → Expense Reports → Approved.

Click Post Journal Entries to:

• Create journal entries for each expense line (debit expense account, credit employee payable)
• Assign the correct accounting date and period
• Apply analytic accounts for project cost tracking

Once posted, the expense appears in the employee’s outstanding payable balance.

After posting, register the reimbursement payment.

Option 1 — Direct payment: Click Register Payment on the expense report. Select the payment journal (bank account) and date. Odoo creates a vendor payment to the employee and marks the expense as paid.

Option 2 — Via payroll: If expenses are reimbursed with the employee’s salary, mark the expense as “To Reimburse via Payroll” and handle in the Payroll module.

Option 3 — Company credit card: If the expense was paid by a company card, set the Payment Mode to “Company” on the expense. The expense is posted directly to the credit card liability account — no reimbursement needed.

Go to Expenses → Reporting → Expenses Analysis.

Analyse expenses by:

• Employee — who is spending the most?
• Category — which expense types are highest?
• Project / Customer — cost breakdown for client billing
• Period — monthly trend analysis

Controls to implement:

• Set per-diem limits on categories (e.g., max £50/day for meals)
• Require receipts for all claims above a minimum amount
• Enable duplicate detection in settings to flag duplicate expense submissions