Why configure the expense form?
By adjusting the Expense form settings, admins and finance teams ensure employees submit expenses with the right data from the start. This reduces back-and-forth, supports compliance, and keeps accounting clean.
With Regular, Mileage, and Per Diem forms tailored to your company’s needs, employees can submit expenses faster while finance gets accurate data from the start.
You can decide:
- Which fields employees see when submitting Regular, Mileage, or Per Diem expenses.
- Which fields are optional or required.
- Whether important fields such as subcategories, projects, or cost centers are shown.
Accessing the expense form settings
- On your sidebar, go to Settings and then search for the Expenses settings option.
- Once inside, search for the Expenses form section.
- Choose the expense type you want to configure: Regular, Mileage, or Per Diem.
- For each field, choose one of the following options:
- Required - employees cannot submit the form without filling this field.
- Optional - employees may leave the field empty.
- Hidden - the field does not appear on the form.
- Save your changes.
Only admins or users with the right permissions can edit the forms. Employees will immediately see the updated form in the Spending section when creating new expenses.
Configuring the Regular expense form
In Expense form > Regular, you can enable or require fields such as:
| Field | Mandatory by default |
|---|---|
| Budget | Optional |
| Category | Optional |
| Cost center | Optional |
| Description | Optional |
| Document | Mandatory |
| Document currency | Mandatory |
| Document date | Mandatory |
| Document number | Mandatory if Document = Invoice; Optional if Document = Receipt |
| Document total amount | Mandatory |
| Document type | Optional |
| Exchange rate | Optional |
| Internal reference | Optional |
| Payment method | Optional |
| Payment type (reimbursable or not) | Mandatory |
| Project | Optional |
| Provider name | Mandatory if Document = Invoice; Optional if Document = Receipt |
| Provider NIF | Mandatory if Document = Invoice; Optional if Document = Receipt |
| Reimbursable amount | Mandatory |
| Reimbursable currency | Optional |
| Subcategory | Optional |
| Tax (base amount, tax type, tax amount) | Mandatory if Document = Invoice; Optional if Document = Receipt |
Tip: Factorial’s OCR automatically extracts many of these values when a receipt is uploaded.
Configuring the Mileage expense form
In Expense form > Mileage, you can manage:
| Field | Mandatory by default |
|---|---|
| Budget | Optional |
| Cost center | Optional |
| Currency | Mandatory |
| Date | Mandatory |
| Description | Optional |
| Document | Optional |
| Internal reference | Optional |
| Measuring unit | Mandatory |
| Mileage rate | Mandatory |
| Origin | Optional |
| Project | Optional |
| Reimbursable amount | Mandatory |
| Subcategory | Optional |
| Total distance | Mandatory |
Configuring the Per Diem expense form
In Expense form > Per Diem, you can define the following fields:
| Field | Mandatory by default |
|---|---|
| Budget | Optional |
| Description | Optional |
| Destination | Optional |
| Document | Optional |
| End date | Mandatory |
| Internal reference | Optional |
| Origin | Optional |
| Per diem rate | Mandatory |
| Project | Optional |
| Start date | Mandatory |
| Subcategory | Optional |
Adding subcategories
You can add subcategories to make categories more detailed:
- Open the relevant expense form (Regular, Mileage, or Per Diem).
- Scroll to Subcategories.
- Choose a parent category, then click Add option.
Showing cost centers and projects
- Enable the Cost center field if you want employees to tag their expenses by cost center.
- Activate the Project field to link expenses to specific projects and track budget utilization.
OCR & auto-fill behavior
When employees upload a receipt (Regular/Mileage):
- OCR extracts values like date, merchant, total, and taxes.
- These are pre-filled in the form.
- Employees can review and adjust before submitting.
For Per Diems, OCR is not relevant since no receipts are usually required, but you can still allow employees to attach documents if needed.
Best practices
- Start simple: only enable the fields you really need.
- Make required only what’s essential: e.g. vendor, amount, receipt for Regular; dates and rate for Per Diem.
- Mirror your accounting needs: if you reclaim VAT, make tax fields required.
- Keep employees in mind: too many required fields slow submissions and lead to errors.
- Review periodically: Company needs evolve - revisit your form settings every quarter to ensure alignment.
FAQ
-
Do these settings apply on mobile too?
Yes, employees see the same form fields on both web and mobile.
-
Can different teams see different forms?
No, the form is global. Use policies and approval flows for team-specific rules.
-
Can we hide Per Diem if we don’t use it?
Yes, you can simply avoid enabling the Per Diem form in settings.
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