This article is for: admins, approvers and employees.
Factorial tells the right people when an expense needs them: approvers when something is waiting for approval, and employees when their expense is approved, rejected or needs changes. Nobody has to chase anyone by message.
Notifications Factorial sends
Overview
Notifications arrive in the Factorial Inbox, by email and as push notifications in the mobile app, depending on the notification and each person's preferences.
| Who | When |
|---|---|
| Approvers | An expense or an expense group is waiting for their approval. It also appears in their Inbox as a task. |
| The employee | Their expense is approved, rejected, or needs changes. Someone created an expense on their behalf. Once a week, if they have expenses still in draft. After a Factorial card payment, a push with the amount and merchant asks for the receipt. |
Finance isn't notified automatically when an expense is fully approved: add a custom notification (see below).
How to use
Each person chooses how they receive notifications:
- Click the bell next to your name at the bottom of the sidebar to open Notifications, then click the gear at the top of the panel.
- Search for the notification, for example expense, or scroll to the Expenses section.
- Tick or untick Email and Mobile for each one.
Add your own alerts with custom notifications
Overview
Use custom notifications to tell someone about expenses your process cares about, for example "email finance when an expense over £1,000 is approved". Custom emails depend on your plan; your Account Manager can confirm.
How to use
- Go to Settings > Advanced Configuration > Custom Notifications.
- Create a new custom notification and choose a Trigger, for example When an expense is approved.
- Add conditions, for example the amount is over 1,000.
- Choose the action, for example Send a custom email to, and the people to notify.
- Click Create automation (the button that saves a custom notification).
Tips and Best Practices
- Keep custom notifications for the few cases that need extra eyes, so nobody starts ignoring them.
- Reviewers who use the mobile app get approval requests fastest with push notifications on.
- To decide who reviews an expense, use your approval flow, not notifications. See How do I set up the approval flow?
- Related: About your Inbox: notifications and requests centralised · How do I set up the approval flow?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
A reviewer didn't get the approval request.
Check that they're the right reviewer in your approval flow, and that they haven't turned off email or push for New pending expense. The request is always in their Inbox.
An employee says they don't get notified when their expense is approved.
Ask them to check Expense reviewed in their notification settings.
My custom notification doesn't send emails, or reaches nobody.
Check four things. Custom emails depend on your plan (your Account Manager can confirm). The notification needs at least one person to send to, and an email subject and message. People whose access to Factorial hasn't started yet can't receive it. And the trigger and conditions must match the expenses you expect.
FAQ
1. Can I turn off notifications for my whole company?
No. Each person chooses how they receive their own notifications. Required notifications always stay in the Inbox.
2. Can notifications be sent only by email?
Yes. Each person can turn off push and keep email, and custom notifications can send a custom email.
3. Does finance get notified when an expense is approved?
Not by default. Add a custom notification with the trigger When an expense is approved, or check the expenses list filtered by status.
4. Do employees get reminded to add receipts?
After each Factorial card payment they get a push notification asking for the receipt, and once a week a reminder if they have expenses in draft.
5. Which events can start a custom notification?
A custom notification can start when an expense (or a mileage expense) is created, is ready to be reviewed, is rejected or is approved. You can add conditions such as the amount, currency or category.
6. What does Disable all notifications do?
Disable all notifications turns off all emails and push notifications except the required ones. You'll still see notifications in your Factorial Inbox.
7. Which expense notifications are on by default for approvers?
Approvers get New pending expense and New pending group by email and on mobile unless they turn them off.
8. Can One send me a regular summary of expenses?
Yes, with a routine. Ask One, our AI assistant, for example "Every Monday, send me my team's pending expenses", and One runs it on that schedule and emails you the result. A routine can also act for you, for example "Every Friday, approve my team's in-policy expenses under £50". It runs as you, so it can only approve what you could approve yourself. Routines run without you watching, so check the instructions One shows you before you save the routine. See What can One do in Expenses?.
9. Can admins get an alert for every new expense?
Yes, with a custom notification. Choose the trigger When an expense is created, then Send a custom email to the admins who should know. Each person can also see new expenses in Spending > Employee expenses if they have permission to view them.
10. How do I stop the approval emails?
Each approver turns off Email for New pending expense and New pending group in their own notification settings (bell > gear). You can't switch them off for the whole company. The request stays in their Inbox.
11. I don't want emails for uploaded or new expenses. Which notification do I turn off?
It depends on who gets it. Approvers: New pending expense and New pending group. The employee an expense was created for: Expense reported on my behalf. The employee who sent an expense: Expense reviewed. Anyone with drafts: Expenses in draft. Exports: Expense export ready, Expenses export ready, Expense group export ready and Expense report ready. A group's decision: Expense group approved.
12. How do I stop a custom notification from emailing one person?
Open the custom notification in Settings > Advanced Configuration > Custom Notifications and change who it is sent to. Custom notifications are separate from each person's own notification settings.
13. Who is notified when a budget goes over, or when an export is ready?
Budget owners, the first time a budget goes over its amount. Whoever asked for an export or an expense report, when it is ready to download.
14. Can the approval flow notify someone when an expense is approved or rejected?
No. The approval flow only has review steps and automatic approval or rejection; it can't send a message. To tell someone, for example Finance when an expense is approved, use a custom notification as described above.