Giving Accounting Approval for Expense Reports

Expense reports have no accounting impact until they are approved by someone with accounting authority. When reports are entered, their totals remain in an unapproved non-posting account.

By default, an expense report requires approval by the employee's immediate supervisor before being sent for accounting approval. If approval routing is enabled and set up, a more complex approval hierarchy is followed. See Approval Routing.

When an expense report receives accounting approval, a bill is automatically created and its amount is reflected on your books. The expense report is posted in the earliest open period, which may not be the same as the period when the expense report was entered.

The following three conditions must be met for a role to be able to give accounting approval of an expense report:

• Use one of the following centers:

  • Executive Center

  • E-Commerce Management Center

  • Marketing Center

  • Classic Center

  • Support Center

  • Shipping Center

  • Sales Center

  • Project Center

  • Accounting Center

  • Engineering Center

• Expense Report permission set to Edit or Full

• Restrict Time and Expense preference is set to False

You can customize an existing role or create a new role to give access to accounting approval permissions. For more information, see Customizing or Creating NetSuite Roles.

If an expense report is rejected by accounting, it can be edited by the employee. It can be resubmitted for approval by the employee’s immediate supervisor before being routed to accounting for approval.

Expense reports that require accounting approval can be accessed in two different places:

• Unapproved Expense Reports Register - See Approving Expense Reports from the Register.

• Expense Reports List - See Approving Expense Reports from the Expense Reports List.

Setting Default Payable Accounts for non-OneWorld Account

Companies with multiple payable accounts can set a company-wide default payable account for expense reports. Setting a default account enables more consistent expense reporting across your company.

To set a default payable account non-OneWorld account:

1. Go to Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences.

2. Click the Time & Expenses subtab.

3. In the Default Payable Account for Expense Reports field, select a payable account.

   Note:

   The Default Payable Account for Expense Reports field is only available when you have more than one payable account.

4. Click Save.

In OneWorld accounts, the default payable account preference is set by subsidiary.

Setting Default Payable Accounts for OneWorld Account

To set a default payable account (OneWorld account):

1. Go to Setup > Company > Subsidiaries.

2. Next to the subsidiary you want to update, click Edit.

3. Click the Preferences subtab.

4. In the Default Payable Account for Expense Reports field, select a payable account.

5. Click Save.

Note:

You can see the general ledger impact of an expense report before you approve it. You can also view the expense report record. Click the Actions menu, then click GL Impact.

Approving Expense Reports from the Register

To approve expense reports from the Unapproved Expense Reports Register:

1. Go to Transactions > Employees > Enter Expense Reports.

2. In the More menu, click the Approve Expense Reports link.

3. Click the date next to the expense report you want to approve.

4. If the report is complete, click Approve in the middle of the form.

   If you want to reject the report, click Reject. When the email form appears, you can send a message to your employee about the expense report. Complete the email message, and then click Save.

   If multiple payable accounts exist and a default account is not selected, you cannot automatically approve the expense report from the register. You must edit the expense report and manually select a payable account. You set up a default account at Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences > Time & Expenses.

Approving Expense Reports from the Expense Reports List

To approve expense reports from the list:

1. Go to Transactions > Employees > Enter Expense Reports > List.

2. Click Edit next to an expense report with a status of Pending Accounting Approval.

3. On the expense report, check the Accounting Approval box.

4. If multiple accounts payable accounts are available and a default account has not been set, select a payable account in the Account field. (This field does not display if there is only one accounts payable account.)

5. Click Save.

Note:

If you customize the expense report list view to include a Currency column, note the following. The listed currency values correspond to base currencies for employees and may not match the actual currencies in the expense reports.

Related Topics

Expense Reports

Employee Access to Expense Reporting

Enter an Expense Report

Approving an Expense Report

Editing an Expense Report From the Expense Reports List

Deleting an Expense Report From the Expense Reports List

Rejecting an Expense Report From the Expense Reports List

Corporate Card Expenses

Reviewing Expense Reports

Paying Expenses on Employee Paychecks with Payroll

Giving an Employee Access to Purchase Requests

Notifying a Supervisor or Approver About Required Approvals

Expense Reporting

General Notices