This article is for: admins, finance teams, HR teams, approvers and employees.
Expenses in Factorial takes every expense from the moment it's paid to the moment it's in your books, in one place. So there are fewer lost receipts, spreadsheets and approvals to chase, and less matching at month end.
From receipt to books, in one place
Overview
Every expense follows the same six steps. One, our AI assistant, helps at each of them.
| Step | What happens | What it saves you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Submit | Employees take a photo of the receipt on their phone or upload it on the web; Factorial reads it and fills in the expense for them to check. Mileage and per diems use your company's rates. Factorial card payments become expenses automatically. | No paper, typing or spreadsheets. |
| 2. Review | Expense checks review each expense against your expense policy once it has the details they need, and read the receipt for things like missing VAT or totals that don't add up. Employees see what to fix before they send. | Less checking of receipts by hand. |
| 3. Approve | Your approval flow sends each expense to the right person, by amount, team, category or any rule. In-policy expenses can be approved automatically. Approvers get the request in their Inbox and decide on the web or in the mobile app. | Less chasing. Expenses that need nothing don't wait. |
| 4. Reimburse | Through payroll, a SEPA payment file, or set as paid by hand (depending on your plan). Through payroll, approved expenses are added to the payslip, each under the payroll concept you linked to its category. | With payroll, no separate bank transfer for each person. |
| 5. Report | Spend by person, team, category, project or budget, ready to export. Budgets show what's left as expenses come in. | You know what you've spent while it's fresh. |
| 6. Sync | Approved expenses reach your accounting with category, ledger account, taxes and receipt, and can be sent to your accounting software. | Less reconciliation at month end. |
One at every step: employees can ask One to create an expense from a receipt or a mileage trip, reviewers can ask One to approve expenses, and admins set up the approval flow and Expense checks by describing them in their own words.
Getting started (admins)
- Add the people who'll use Expenses. See How do I add people to Expenses?
- Choose the expense types you reimburse. See How do I choose which types of expenses employees can create?
- Set up mileage and per diem rates if you use them. See How do I set up mileage and per diem rates?
- Set up your approval flow with One. See How do I set up the approval flow?
- Check the ready-made Expense checks and add your own rules. See How do I check expenses against my expense policy?
- Link categories to your ledger accounts. See How do I set up expense categories and subcategories?
- If you pay back through payroll, link each category to a payroll concept. See How do I set up how expenses appear on the payslip?
Tips and Best Practices
- Start with the defaults and adjust after the first month: the ready-made Expense checks and a simple approval flow cover most companies.
- Tell employees to install the mobile app, so they can submit a receipt the moment they pay.
- Related: Expenses glossary · How do I create an expense? · Expenses FAQ for HR and payroll
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
I don't see Expenses in the sidebar.
Your company may not have Expenses in its plan, or you may not have access yet. Ask your admin.
I see My expenses but no New expense button.
You haven't been added to Expenses yet. Ask your admin to add you. See How do I add people to Expenses?
FAQ
1. Do I need Factorial cards to use Expenses?
No. Expenses works with out-of-pocket expenses, mileage and per diems. Factorial cards are physical and virtual company cards whose payments become expenses automatically, so employees don't pay out of their own pocket and you see the spend straight away. See What are Factorial cards, and why use them for company spending?
2. Can employees submit expenses from their phone?
Yes, from the Factorial mobile app.
3. How are employees paid back?
Through payroll, with a SEPA payment file, or with Set as paid once you've paid them another way, depending on your plan.
4. Do I have to use One?
Employees and approvers can do everything in Expenses without One. Admins set up the approval flow and Expense checks by chatting with One; the rest of the settings are changed by hand.
5. Who does Expenses help?
Employees submit an expense in a few taps, see its status at any time and get paid back without chasing anyone. Approvers get only the expenses that need them, with the receipt, the policy result and the comments in one place, on the web or the phone. Finance teams get one place for every expense, card payment and receipt, with rules applied automatically and exports and accounting ready at month end. HR and payroll teams pay back approved expenses on the payslip, each under its own payroll concept, and settle a leaver's expenses before their last day. See Expenses FAQ for HR and payroll and What happens to expenses when an employee leaves?
6. Where do I find Expenses?
It depends on your role and permissions. Employees go to My spending > My expenses to create and follow expenses, and My spending > My cards for a Factorial card; in the mobile app, they open Expenses. Finance teams and admins go to Spending > Employee expenses to see and manage everyone's expenses, expense groups, reports and budgets. Admins set up Expenses in Settings > Expenses.
7. Can I import expenses from another tool?
No. Expenses has no import for past expenses from another tool or a spreadsheet. From the day you start, employees create their expenses in Factorial from a receipt, on the web or the mobile app, or by sending receipts to One. See How do I create an expense?.