Who this checklist is for
Use this guide if your team handles staff reimbursements, travel claims, project expenses, branch petty cash, fuel, meals, supplier-paid-on-behalf items, or field expenses. It is especially useful when approvals are slow, receipts are missing, or expenses are posted late during month-end close.
If expenses affect close timing, also review Why month-end close takes too long. If expenses are tied to projects or service delivery, review Projects & Services.
Before implementation
Start by defining the policy and ownership model before configuring fields.
- List expense types and which ones require receipts.
- Define approval thresholds by amount, department, project, or role.
- Decide which expenses are reimbursable, billable, taxable, or non-claimable.
- Confirm who owns policy updates and exception approvals.
- Map how approved expenses become finance-ready entries.
This avoids launching a form that captures claims but does not enforce finance rules.
Phase-one expense checklist
A practical first phase should focus on the most common and highest-risk expense flows.
- Expense categories and required fields are approved.
- Receipt, note, project, customer, or branch requirements are defined.
- Approval routes are mapped by team, amount, and exception type.
- Reimbursement and posting timing is agreed with finance.
- Duplicate claim checks and policy exceptions are reviewed.
- Month-end expense cutoff rules are documented.
- Managers can see pending, approved, rejected, and reimbursed claims.
The first success metric is fewer incomplete claims and fewer late finance corrections.
Data and ownership checks
Expense data touches employees, managers, project owners, HR, and finance. Define who can submit, edit, approve, reject, reimburse, export, and post expenses. Also define when finance can return a claim for correction and when a manager can approve an exception.
Use Trust to align approval governance and access rules before go-live.
Recommended modules
- Accounting for expense posting, payables, and reporting.
- Projects & Services when expenses must be linked to project delivery or billing.
- HR Records when employee profiles, departments, or approval lines affect expense routing.
- Exports for audit packs, reimbursement review, and finance analysis.
Common mistakes
- Launching expense submission before policy rules are agreed.
- Making finance the first reviewer for every small expense.
- Skipping receipt and evidence rules.
- Allowing approvals in chat outside the claim record.
- Reviewing expense impact only at month-end.
Next step
Prepare ten recent expense examples and bring them to a guided demo: one approved claim, one rejected claim, one missing receipt, one project expense, and one policy exception.
FAQ
Next steps
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