WFM UK: Configuring Expenses Functionality

Overview

The Expense functionality enables expenses to be entered into the system by the employee and submitted for authorisation.

Once an Expense Request has been authorised, it can be processed (paid out) through the payroll.

To access the Expense functionality

• Go to the Payroll module and select either Employee Expenses or My Expenses from the Expenses drop-down menu

Fig.1 - Expenses menu​​​​​​​

• Employee Expenses - Allows the expense authoriser to view employee expenses, view the detail and authorise or decline a request.
• My Expenses - Allows the employee to create an expense period, list their expenses and submit these for authorisation.

Creating an Expense Request
To enter an expense into the system:

• Go to Payroll > Expenses > My Expenses > Create an Expense Request
• The Expense Claim Date From and Expense Claim Date To dates must be entered - this is the expense period that will open once saved
• Expense Claim Date From - Must be a rota week start date
• Expense Claim Date To - Must be a rota week end date
• Enter the details of individual expense claims by choosing the Expense Type from the drop-down menu, enter the Value, and the Reason for Expense 
• Tick the Receipt box if the expense has a valid receipt

Fig.2 - Expense Type drop-down

• The entire Expense Request may be saved for further editing by selecting Save in Progress. In this case, the Approval Status of the Expense Request will remain as a Draft.

Once all individual expense claims have been correctly captured within the Expense Request, the entire Expense Request can be submitted for authorisation.

• Select Submit Completed

This will change the status of the Expense Request to Unauthorised. An email will be sent to the Expense Authoriser notifying them of the expense awaiting their approval.

Fig.3 - Expense Save In Progress or Submit Completed

Expense Authorisers can either be set up as the ‘Reports To’ individual in the ‘Assign Access Levels’ page or tailored specifically for expenses in the ‘Line Manager Notification’ page if different to the Holiday Authoriser.

The employee submitting the expense must also have the expense permissions ticked in their Payroll access template, and have access to at least their own Location and Division in the Payroll module

Once an Expense Request has been submitted for authorisation, it will retain the status Unauthorised until an Expense Authoriser authorises it, declines it, or turns it back into a draft.

See also:

• WFM UK - Creating Employee Expenses
• WFM UK - Submitting Expenses

Declining an Individual Expense Claim within an Expense Request

• Go to Payroll > Expenses > Employee Expenses 
• Use the Search Bar to find the expenses
  

A search will return a list of Expense Requests within the filters and date ranges selected, and within the Access Level, Location access and Division access of the user doing the search.

• Select View to display the detail of the Expense Requests

An individual expense claim in an Expense Request can be declined. To do so:

• Tick the Declined tick box and add a Comment to the individual expense 

This will be indicated by a blue exclamation point on the main expense page.

Fig.4 - Declining a Line of Expense

Individual expense claims that have not been declined will continue through the workflow and be paid out once the entire Expense Requested has been Authorised and Processed.

Any declined expense claims will not be paid.

Authorising an Expense Request

By changing the Request Status, the Expense Request can be Authorised, Declined, or turned back into a Draft expense that can be edited or deleted by the employee. 

Fig.5 - Authorisation Screen

Processing an Expense Request

Once an Expense Request is authorised, it can be processed (paid out) through the payroll.

• Go to Payroll > Expenses > Employee Expenses 
• Use the Search Bar to find Expense Requests with the status Authorised

A search will return a list of Expense Requests within the filters and date ranges selected, and within the Access Level, Location access, and Division access of the user doing the search.

• Tick the Processed box for each Expense Request as appropriate
• Select Save

Any processed Expense Requests will be paid out through the payroll.

Fig.6 – Processing an Expense Claim 

 
Expense Codes

Expense Codes are the types of expenses that employees log their expenses against. These can be created by each customer, although Mileage is default and cannot be deleted.

To set up Expense Codes

• Go to Payroll Module > Expenses > Expense Codes > Create New Expense Code
• Enter the description of the expense, e.g. Travel and an Expense Accounting Reference Code
• Select a VAT Amount
  
  • The options available in this drop-down can be configured via Payroll > Expenses > Manage VAT Rates
  • Amend existing rates as needed or Create A New VAT Rate > enter a Name, Code and Rate > Save

These will then be seen in the drop-down list when employees create their expenses.
 

Mileage Schemes

If the customer uses Mileage Schemes for those employees who drive and need to claim the cost back through expenses, these can be configured through:

• Payroll Module > Expenses > Mileage Schemes > Create New Mileage Scheme
• Enter the Description of the Mileage Scheme, e.g. Company Mileage
• Enter the Starting Mileage, End Mileage and the Amount Per Mile
• Create additional bands for different mileage bandings by using the Plus symbol

Multiple mileage schemes can be created to account for the different rates between types of vehicles.

Fig.7 - Example of a Created Mileage Scheme

Once the Mileage Scheme(s) are set up, the employees that are on each scheme will need to be assigned to it.

• Go to Mileage Schemes > Employee List > select mileage scheme against the employee > Save

This will enable the correct mileage rate to calculate when the employee uses the mileage expense code when logging their expenses.

Expense Workflow

An Expense Workflow can be set up if expenses past a certain value need to be authorised by more than one person. The workflow is created and assigned to relevant locations, then bandings for values are created and job titles assigned.

• Configure the workflow in Payroll > Expenses > Expense Workflow > ‘Create Workflow’
• Enter in a Workflow Description, such as ‘Head Office’ and assign this to the locations that apply
• Create the Expense Bands and select Assign Job Titles for each band

Please Note: A job title can only be assigned to one band.

Fig.8 - Expense Workflow & Bandings

For example, if a General Manager was able to authorise expenses up to £100, and an Area Manager was able to authorise expenses up to £250, the job title ‘General Manager’ should be assigned to Band 1 and the job title ‘Area Manager’ should be assigned to Band 2. 

If an expense of £200 was submitted by an Assistant Manager, this would need authorising by the General Manager and the Area Manager.

Expense Global Settings
Global Settings exist for the expenses functionality:

• Pay All Expenses Through Payroll - All expenses entered are paid through the Payroll module
• Display Employee Reference on Expense Request - When creating the expense claim period, the employee will be prompted to add a reference
• Record Location Against Expenses - Gives an extra drop-down menu of Locations when creating the expenses
• Link Receipt with VAT Calculation - Calculates VAT only when the receipt tick box is ticked
• User Defined Field - Allows one additional column for a tick box on the expense creation page
• User Defined Label - Allows the additional column to be named, for example ‘rechargeable’
• Use Custom Form for Expense Processors - For the user(s) with permission for Processing Expenses. This setting gives more information on the expense form and allows the status of an expense to be amended 

Expense Permissions

The permissions for expenses are found on the Payroll template

• To access these, go to Payroll > Users > Templates

Every template is divided into sections. Expenses are split between the Administration and the Expenses sections of the template.

• Select or Create the template for the relevant access level
• Assign Permissions

Administration Section

The permissions in the Administration section are for the System Administrator/Finance/Payroll individuals who require the access to set up expenses and edit submitted expenses, as well as being able to authorise their own expenses.

Fig.9 - Expense Permissions in the Administration Section of the Template

Expenses Section

The permissions in the Expenses section of the template are for employees who need to create their own expenses – they can create employee expenses and view their own expenses - and the managers who need to view and authorise these expenses.

Fig.10 - Expense permissions in the Expenses section of the template

Expenses Report Permissions
There are five reports in the Payroll module for Expenses driven by permissions on the Payroll template

• For employees who need to print off their expense claims, assign the permission Printing Expenses and enable access to their own Location and Division within Payroll to allow this

In addition to the existing reports, there is a page of Expense Fields in Payroll Custom reports.

Fig.11 - Expenses report permissions

Also See

• Expenses Functionality Features & Benefits