Expense Permissions and Troubleshooting
If an Expenses menu is missing or a button never appears, it is almost always licensing, menu gates, or the wrong role for that step. Your administrator manages these under Settings → Users & roles.
Roles, in plain language
| Role | Typical use |
|---|---|
| ExpenseEmployee | Create and submit your own expenses |
| ExpenseManager | Approve team expenses |
| ExpenseFinance | Company-wide view, payments, disburse advances, reports |
| ExpenseAdmin | Categories, workflow, full configuration |
| ExpenseHR | Read-only summaries |
Fine-grained rights for advances and disbursements may also apply — ask your administrator if settle or return stays disabled after you have the finance role.
Menu visibility
| What you want to see | You need |
|---|---|
| Expenses menu | Module licensed, plus company admin, View Finance, or View Reports |
| Pending Approvals | Company admin, View Finance, or Company Management |
| Settings | Company admin or Manage Company Settings |
Frequently asked questions
No Expenses menu. Confirm the Expense Management module is licensed for the company, and that your user has company admin, View Finance, or View Reports.
Cannot post to the ledger. Check that the category has a GL account, Settings default accounts are filled in, and the expense is Approved. If you expected an automatic journal, confirm Auto-Post on Approval is enabled.
Submit or approve button missing or fails. You may not be the current approver (or delegate), or your role is not assigned to the active workflow stage. Review Settings → Approval Workflow.
Disburse, settle, or return is missing. The advance must be in the right status (Approved to disburse; Disbursed or Partially Settled to settle or return), and you need ExpenseFinance or ExpenseAdmin.
Budget blocked my submit. You are over budget and the category has a maximum amount. If you only expected a warning, check whether that max amount should be removed or the budget increased.
No approval email. Communication Center / SMTP must be configured. Escalation emails use the same path.
Approvals are not escalating. Ask your administrator whether the expense approval escalation job is enabled and what schedule your company uses (many tenants escalate weekly).
Receipt OCR. Scanning is available through the Expense APIs (images and PDF). There is no separate OCR page under the Expenses menu — attach files on the expense, or use the API review/confirm flow your integrator set up.