An expense in Avaza records money that someone on your team spent, with the receipt attached. The expense can then be approved. You can pay the money back to the person who spent it. You can also bill the expense to a customer on an invoice.
This guide follows these steps in order, starting with the setup.
Set up expenses
An Administrator or Finance Manager sets up expenses once, in Settings › Expense Settings. The settings apply to the whole account.
- Expense Approval Required: switch this on if an expense approver must approve each expense. See expense approvals.
- Lock Approved Expenses: stop people from editing an expense after it's approved.
- Expense Categories: the types of spending you track. New accounts start with Travel, Entertainment, Meals & Lodging and Other. Click Add Category to add more. A category can add a markup when you bill the expense: an Invoice Markup Percent and a + Fixed Markup Amount. You can also Set a Unit Price for a category, for example a rate per mile. See recording mileage and markup.
- Expense Payment Methods: the ways people pay. New accounts start with Bank Transfer, Cash and Credit Card. Click Add Payment Method to add more.
Then give people access. In Contacts, open each person and tick the Timesheet/Expense User role. With this role, people can record and submit expenses. External contacts, such as contractors, can have this role too. Give the people who approve expenses the Expense Approver role.
Record an expense
Go to Expenses and click Add Expense.
Fill in the required fields: Expense Category, Expense Date, Amount and Tax.
The date is set to today, and the currency to the one you used last. If there's no sales tax, choose No Tax. You set up other tax rates in Settings › Tax (see setting up tax). If the tax rate is above zero, choose whether the amount is Tax Inclusive or Tax Exclusive. If the category has a unit price, enter a Quantity instead, such as the miles driven. Avaza then works out the amount. For expenses in another currency, see foreign currencies.
Click Upload Receipt to attach the receipt. The file can be up to 10 MB.
Add the details that apply: Merchant Name, Merchant Tax Number, Payment Method and Notes. The notes can also appear on the invoice. Tick Reimbursable if the person paid with their own money.
To bill the expense to a customer, choose the Customer and tick Billable. Then pick the Project and Task. Use Group / Trip Name to label related expenses, such as the costs of one work trip. You can then report on them together. Pick an existing name or type a new one.Click Verify & Save when the expense is complete, or Save Draft to finish it later.
The Customer list only shows customers with a project you're a member of. The Project list only shows projects you're a member of. Administrators and Finance Managers see all customers and projects. Archived projects aren't listed. If a project is still missing, see I can't see a project.
The Expenses tab lists your expenses with their status, billing status and customer. To find an expense, use Search and Filter. If you can see other people's expenses, choose a person or Everyone from the menu next to Submit for Approval.
To delete expenses, tick them and choose Delete. You can't delete an expense that's on an invoice. You also can't delete an approved expense while Lock Approved Expenses is on.
Email in receipts
Click the arrow next to Add Expense and choose Email in Receipts. You see your account's receipt address, which ends in @expenses.avaza.com, and a Copy button. Send or forward receipts to this address from the email address on your Avaza account. Send one receipt per email. You need the Timesheet/Expense User or Administrator role.
Avaza then creates a draft expense with the receipt attached, ready for you to complete. The draft is dated the day you sent the email and uses your account currency. Its notes are the email subject. If Avaza can't create the expense, it emails you back with the reason. For example, the email may have come from an address that isn't on your Avaza account.
Scan receipts with AI
First, an Administrator switches on AI receipt scanning in Settings › Expense Settings. To scan a receipt, click the arrow next to Add Expense and choose Scan Receipt. Then pick one or more receipt photos or PDFs. Avaza also reads the receipts you email in.
Avaza reads these details from the receipt:
- the merchant;
- the date, amount and currency;
- the category and payment method;
- the merchant's tax number;
- a short description.
Avaza fills in the tax when the rate matches a tax rate set up in your account. It leaves anything it can't read blank. Each result is a draft: check the draft, complete it and click Verify & Save. Receipts are not used to train AI. See scanning receipts with AI.
Approve and reimburse
Submit and approve
When approvals are on, Verify & Save gives an expense the status Verified. It stays Verified until you submit it. To submit all your verified expenses, click Submit for Approval. To submit only some of them, tick them first.
Approvers open the Approvals tab. Under Pending, click Approve. To reject an expense, click Reject… and give a reason. Under Complete, Return to Pending reopens an approved expense. You can't reopen an expense that has been invoiced, reimbursed or locked.
When approvals are off, Verify & Save approves the expense immediately.
Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Draft | Saved, but not finished. |
Verified | Complete and ready to submit. |
Pending Approval | Submitted and waiting for an approver. |
Approved | Approved by an approver. |
Automatically Approved | Approved on save, because approvals are off. |
Rejected | Sent back with a reason. Edit the expense, click Verify & Save and submit it again. |
Reimburse your team
Admins pay people back on the Reimbursements tab. Pending lists the approved expenses that are marked Reimbursable.
Tick the expenses to pay back. One reimbursement covers one person's expenses.
Click Create Reimbursement. Enter the Reimbursement Date and choose Processing or Paid. If you choose Paid, you can add a Payment Reference. Leave Notify user ticked to send the person an email.
Click Create Reimbursement. A reimbursement with the status Processing stays on the Processing tab until you choose Mark as Paid….
If you won't pay an expense back, choose Not Reimbursable… and give a reason. See the reimbursements guide.
Bill expenses to a customer
You can add billable expenses to an invoice when they're approved (or automatically approved) and not yet invoiced. Avaza adds the markup from the expense category for you.
Go to Invoices, click Create Invoice and choose the customer. Administrators and Finance Managers can create invoices.
On the new invoice, click Add Expense.
To list fewer expenses, you can tick projects or expense users. Then choose All uninvoiced billable expenses or a date range.
Choose how to group the expenses. No Grouping gives one line per expense. Project & Category combines them. Then tick the details each line shows, such as the Expense Category, Expense Date and Notes.
Check the list of expenses and untick any you don't want. Then click Add Expense.
To finish the invoice, see getting started with invoices.