This article is for: admins.
Permissions decide who can see expenses, edit them, set them as paid, reimburse them or change your Expenses settings. Set them up once, so finance can work without asking an admin each time and nobody sees more than they should.
Set Expenses permissions
Overview
- Permissions are given through permission groups. Each employee belongs to one group and gets every permission that group has.
- Factorial comes with three groups: Administrators (every permission, can't be edited), Default group (everyone not moved to another group; its page is titled Default employees) and Welcome space. Edit the Default group or create your own, for example "Finance team" or "Team leads".
- Permissions don't decide who approves an expense (your approval flow does) or, if your company pays per user, who can create expenses (being an Expenses user does). See FAQ 4 and 5.
How to use
- Go to Settings > Permissions.
- Click View group on a group (for example Default group, which holds everyone not moved to another group), or create one with New custom group.
- Scroll down to the Expenses section.
- Tick the permissions you need. For the three permissions that have a scope, also tick who they apply to (see FAQ 8).
- Scroll to the bottom and click Save. Leaving the page without saving discards your changes.
Watch out: a permission without a scope (for example Can set expenses as Paid) also gives Can view and download "Expenses" for the whole company. See FAQ 6.
The Expenses permissions
Permissions that apply to the whole company:
| Permission | What it lets people do |
|---|---|
| Add new expenses on behalf of someone else | Create expenses for other employees. Depends on your plan. |
| Can access expense settings | See and change Settings > Expenses: types, form, rates, approval flow, Expense checks and more. |
| Can create an expense | Report their own expenses. Only shown if your company doesn't pay per user. |
| Can manage cards | Manage all company cards. |
| Can reimburse expenses | Reimburse expenses with a SEPA file or through payroll. Depends on your plan. |
| Can request cards | Request single-use cards for themselves. |
| Can see transactions | See all card transactions. |
| Can set expenses as Paid | Use Set as paid on expenses, and Undo paid status. |
| Global Approver for Expenses | Approve, reject or act on any expense, whatever its approval flow says. |
| Reset the expense approval flow | Restart the approval of pending, approved or rejected expenses. |
| See the employee Legal Entity | See which legal entity each employee belongs to. |
Permissions you can limit to some people (FAQ 8): Can view and download "Expenses" (see the expenses list and export it), Can edit expenses with pending status, Can delete rejected manual expenses.
Tips and Best Practices
- Create groups by role (finance, team leads, assistants), not by person. When someone changes role, move them to another group.
- Give Global Approver for Expenses to very few people: it lets them decide on any expense, skipping your approval flow.
- Give Can access expense settings only to the people who own your expense policy. It lets them change your approval flow and Expense checks too.
- Related: How do I add people to Expenses? · How do I set up the approval flow? · How do I check expenses against my expense policy? · Who can manage and request Factorial cards?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
Someone with permissions still can't create expenses.
If your company pays per user, they need to be an Expenses user. See How do I add people to Expenses?
A team lead sees everyone's expenses, not just their team's.
Check the group's single-toggle permissions. Turning on one of them (for example Can set expenses as Paid) gives Can view and download "Expenses" for the whole company.
I don't see Add new expenses on behalf of someone else or Can reimburse expenses.
They depend on your plan. Your Account Manager can confirm.
Someone can't open or click anything in Settings > Expenses (policies, approval flow, Expense checks).
They need Can access expense settings.
A permission I didn't tick turned on by itself.
Some permissions need others to work, so Factorial turns them on for you. See FAQ 6.
My permission changes disappeared.
Changes aren't saved until you click Save at the bottom of the page; leaving the page without saving discards them.
FAQ
1. Settings now open One. Can admins still change settings by hand?
Most settings, yes: expense types, the expense form, rates, expense groups and accounting are still changed by hand. The approval flow and Expense checks are created and changed only by chatting with One: you review the result and nothing changes until you click Save. You need Can access expense settings for both.
2. Can an employee belong to more than one permission group?
No. Each employee belongs to one group. To change someone's permissions, move them to another group or edit their group.
3. Where did the list of Expenses users go? It used to be in Permissions.
It's now in Settings > Subscription > Expenses users.
4. Do permissions decide who approves an expense?
No. Your approval flow decides who approves an expense, and reviewers can always see the expenses they're asked to review. See How do I set up the approval flow?
5. Do permissions decide who can create expenses?
If your company pays per user, no: being an Expenses user does. If it doesn't, it is the Can create an expense permission. See How do I add people to Expenses?
6. Which Expenses permissions turn on other permissions automatically?
- Editing pending, deleting rejected, resetting the approval flow, setting as paid, Global Approver and seeing the legal entity all turn on Can view and download "Expenses". Permissions without a scope give it for the whole company, so if someone should see only their team's expenses, don't give them a permission without a scope.
- Add new expenses on behalf of someone else also turns on Can create an expense and Can view and download "Expenses".
- Can reimburse expenses also turns on Can set expenses as Paid and the payroll permission to create supplements from expenses.
- Can access expense settings also turns on Edit approvals configuration.
- Can manage cards turns on the card and bank account permissions it needs.
7. How do I set up a permission group for my finance team?
A typical finance team reviews everyone's expenses, pays them back and keeps the settings up to date. Go to Settings > Permissions and create a group called, for example, "Finance team". In Expenses, turn on Can view and download "Expenses" For the whole company, then Can set expenses as Paid, Can reimburse expenses (if your plan includes it) and Can access expense settings. Add the people in your finance team to the group and save.
8. Which Expenses permissions can I limit to some people (scope), and who can I limit them to?
Three permissions can be limited. You choose For themselves, For direct and indirect reports, For people on teams they lead, For people in their legal entity or For the whole company:
| Permission | What it lets people do |
|---|---|
| Can view and download "Expenses" | See the expenses list and export it. |
| Can edit expenses with pending status | Change an expense while it's waiting for approval. The expense stays pending and its approval doesn't restart. |
| Can delete rejected manual expenses | Delete rejected expenses that weren't paid with a card. |
Every other Expenses permission applies to the whole company.
9. How do I stop employees from seeing each other's expenses?
Go to Settings > Permissions and open the group they belong to (for everyone, the Default group). In Expenses, set Can view and download "Expenses" to For themselves, or untick it. Also check that the group has no permission without a scope turned on (for example Can set expenses as Paid), because those give it for the whole company. Click Save.
10. Someone has the permission but doesn't see expenses from another legal entity. Why?
Check the scope of Can view and download "Expenses". For people in their legal entity limits the permission to their own legal entity; choose For the whole company to include the others. See the employee Legal Entity only shows which legal entity each employee belongs to: it doesn't give access to their expenses.
11. Why can't someone see Spending > Employee expenses, or only some employees' expenses?
That page shows other people's expenses. A person needs Can view and download "Expenses" for their direct and indirect reports, the teams they lead or the whole company, or to have been asked to review an expense. Everyone sees their own expenses in My spending > My expenses. If the page is missing for someone who should see it, see Why can't I see Expenses or the New expense button?.