This article is for: admins, approvers and employees.
An expense that waits too long means an employee waiting for their money. Here's how to see who it's waiting for, why, and how to get it moving again.
Find out who the expense is waiting for
How to use
- Go to Spending > Employee expenses and open the expense. (Employees: My spending > My expenses.)
- Check its status. Changes requested: it's back with the employee, who needs to fix it and click Send for approval. Pending: the Approval history shows the steps done and the step In progress, with who it's waiting for.
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| An approver hasn't acted | Remind them: the request is in their Inbox and they got an email. |
| The approver is away | Someone with the Global Approver for Expenses permission can use Global approve. |
| The approval hasn't started | With Expense checks, it starts once checks finish (1 hour after sending at the latest). |
| No approver shown | Reset the approval flow (below). If it's still stuck, contact support with the link to the expense. |
Find out why it went to the wrong approver
- Rule order: the first rule that matches decides.
- Timing: flow changes only apply to expenses sent after you saved them (see FAQ 2).
- Profile: if a rule says "the employee's manager" and there's none, or a project has no project manager, the expense goes to a company admin.
Still unsure? Ask One (FAQ 4).
Send an expense through the approval flow again
Reset approval flow sends an expense back to Pending, at the first step of your current flow, without the employee sending it again. It needs the permission to reset the approval flow (FAQ 8).
- Go to Spending > Employee expenses.
- In the expense's actions menu (⋯ at the end of the row), click Reset approval flow. It applies straight away, with no confirmation. To reset several, select them, click Reset approval flow in the bar at the bottom and confirm with Reset.
- The Approval history shows a new request time, and every step approves again. The expense can take a moment to reappear in the approver's list.
Tips and Best Practices
- Keep employees' manager and team up to date. Most "wrong approver" cases come from a missing manager.
- Write rules that point to roles, like "the employee's manager", and put the most specific rules first.
- Give someone in finance the Global Approver for Expenses permission, so there's always a way to unblock an urgent expense.
- Related: How do I set up the approval flow? · How do I find the expenses I need to approve? · How do I approve, reject or send back an expense?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
An approver approved a group of expenses, but some still show Pending, and the approver gets the same email more than once.
Open one of those expenses and look at its approval history. If every step shows as completed but the status is still Pending, contact our support team with the links to the affected expenses so we can fix them. Don't ask the approver to approve again.
An employee sent a corrected expense back, but the approver didn't get an email.
The request is still in the approver's Inbox and in Spending > Employee expenses with Pending approvals > Mine. Let the approver know it's there.
I reset the approval flow but it went to the same person.
The reset uses your current approval flow. If the route is still wrong, fix the flow or the employee's profile first, then reset again.
I clicked Reset approval flow in the list and nothing seemed to happen.
From Spending > Employee expenses, the reset applies with no confirmation window and no message. Open the expense: the Approval history shows a new request time.
The approver left the company.
A person who left isn't asked to review new expenses; if nobody else is set for the step, it goes to a company admin. For an expense already waiting, ask your admin to use Reset approval flow. If it still shows no approver, contact our support team with the link to the expense.
FAQ
1. Why did an expense go to an admin instead of a manager?
If a rule says "the employee's manager" and the employee has no manager in their profile, or a project has no project manager, the expense goes to a company admin instead. Update the profile, then reset the expense's approval flow.
2. Why did the approval flow change not apply to an expense?
With the approval flow set up through One, changes apply to expenses sent after you saved them. Expenses already waiting keep their original route until you use Reset approval flow.
3. Why does it look like an approval step was skipped?
When the person who sent the expense is an approver of a step, that step is approved automatically, so it can look like a step was skipped.
4. How can I check why my approval flow sent an expense to someone?
In Settings > Expenses > Approval flow, click Edit and ask One "Explain my approval flow". Nothing changes unless you click Save.
5. What should I do when the approver is away?
Someone with the Global Approver for Expenses permission can approve the expense with Global approve. To avoid it next time, update your approval flow with One.
6. Why does a broad approval rule catch expenses before a specific one?
Rules are checked from top to bottom and the first one that matches decides. A broad rule placed above a specific one catches the expense first, so put the most specific rules first.
7. When should I reset an expense's approval flow?
Use Reset approval flow after fixing the approval flow or an employee's profile, or when an expense has no approver. The employee doesn't need to send it again.
8. Who can reset an expense's approval flow, and which expenses?
You need the permission to reset the expense approval flow. It works on Pending, Approved and Rejected expenses. It doesn't work on expenses that are In payroll, Sent to pay or Paid. To reset an expense group, every expense in it must be one that can be reset.
9. Can I edit the approval flow without One?
No. One is the only way to set up and change the approval flow. You review every change before you save it. See How do I set up the approval flow?.
10. Does resetting the approval flow send the expense back to the employee?
No. It goes back to Pending at the first step, with the same details. If the employee needs to change something, the approver can then use Request changes.
11. Can I move a pending expense to a different approver by hand?
No. Change the approval flow, or the employee's manager, and then reset the expense's approval flow. Or use Global approve if you have that permission.
12. An expense was approved by mistake, or auto-approved. How do I fix it?
Changing the approval flow only affects expenses sent afterwards. For the one already approved, someone with permission to reset the approval flow can send it back to Pending (not if it's In payroll, Sent to pay or Paid). It runs again from the first step with your current flow.