Add a new claim category
From the Administration menu, select Expenses, then Categories to either Edit, Remove or Add a claim category.
Category List
Use the Description to search for an existing category. Deleted categories can be viewed/hidden by selected the Deleted option.
To Edit an existing category clicks on the Pencil icon on the left-hand side of the category.
To Delete an item use the Pencil icon then click the bin icon in the top right of the page. This will mark the category as deleted so that no further claims can be made against it, but it will not completely remove the category from the system. This is because there may still be live claims using that category within the system.
To Allocate users to a category, use the People icon next to the category. This will take you to the user allocation screen. From here, use the blue arrows on the right-hand side of the users' name to allocate them to this category. There is also the ability to assign a category to a user template.
Use the Add New button on the right-hand side to enter a new category.
Category Details
Description – The name of the category that the claimants will see when entering a claim
Category type – There are 9 category types, Mileage, Standard purchase, Entertainment, Car hire, Trip, Allowance, Allowance with meals, Standard purchase (split category) and Hourly rate. Each is described in more detail below under Category Types.
Category group – This is the icon grouping that the category will appear in within the iOS, Android and desktop version
Position in a list – This is a number that defines where about in the list of categories this one will appear. It can either be alphabetical or you may wish to put the most used categories at the top of the list
Tax Reporting – This allows categories to be set to appear on either the P11D or PSA reports (available from the Expense Team option within Reports). This will help those companies with agreements with HMRC to extract the relevant information as easily as possible. If the No reporting option is set then the category will not appear on either report.
The P11D setting is very important for mileage categories and must be set as this tracks the claimants mileage totals over the tax year in case there is a rate reduction at a certain mileage level.
Allow additional people – This allows you to add people who are involved in the claim line to the claim, such as passengers and entertainment expenses
Default account type – This drop-down contains all 4 account types and whichever is selected the system will default to the first account of that type defined on the claimants' profile when the category is selected within the claim assistant.
Reasons – This is a list based code, where certain codes can be added to specific categories and will then be the only ones available in the claim assistant.
Category Types
Standard Purchase – There is no change to the admin screen for this type, it allows values to be entered for these categories in a straightforward manner.
Mileage – There are several different types of mileage claims that the system can cope with.
Entertainment – Within the admin screen, you can define which groups allow VAT reclaim and which do not for entertaining. You can also set a default group for that category and add additional groups specific to your business. The groups include employees, customers, suppliers etc.
Trip – Whilst there is no change to the administration screen for this category, when entering a claim line the start and end time and date of the trip will be requested along with the trip type, the Calculate link will then show the subsistence value to be reimbursed for that trip.
Car hire – Whilst there is no change within the administration screen for this category when entering a claim line the start and end dates of the hire will be requested.
Allowance – Use this category type to store specific rates which cannot be changed by the claimant, if claims for nights away from home are applicable. For further explanations see Allowance.
VAT
Default Code – This is the default VAT code entered on the claim for this category unless the claimant has a different organisation set against their user profile (in which case those VAT rates will be displayed).
No Receipt – This is the default VAT code entered in the claim assistant for this category if no receipt has been attached to the claim line unless the claimant has a different organisation set against their user profile (in which case those VAT rates will be displayed).
Foreign transactions – This is the default VAT code entered in the claim assistant for this category if the currency differs from the base currency of the system unless the claimant has a different organisation set against their user profile (in which case those VAT rates will be displayed).
Validation
For some validation within the system, you can define the type of limit used, these can be value or time limits:
Advisory Limit – if a claimant claims over the limit set for this category on any 1 claim line the system will show a warning message to the claimant and manager but allow the claim line to be saved and the claim processed.
Hard Limit – if a claimant claims over the limit set for this category on any 1 claim line the system will show an error message and the claimant will not be allowed to save the claim line without changing the value to be within the limit.
No Limit – claim limits are not set for this particular validation.
Type of claim limit – On selecting either the hard or advisory limit an additional field is displayed to enter the claim value.
Age of claim limit – On selecting either the hard or advisory limit an additional field is displayed to enter the number of days back an item can be claimed for.
Length of employment limit – On selecting either the hard or advisory limit an additional field is displayed to enter the number of days you have to have been employed to be able to claim this benefit.
Description – when selected, the description field is mandatory on the claim
Reference – when selected the reference field is mandatory on the claim
Receipt – when selected attaching a receipt is mandatory on the claim. If set to yes, the claimant will either have to attach a receipt or give a reason why a receipt is not attached to be able to save the claim line.
Coding
Department Coding/Project Coding/Customer Coding – Is this coding field in use, if yes then the 2 following fields are displayed.
Is coding required – Options are yes, meaning a claimant has to enter a valid code to be able to save the claim line. Yes (if available), the claimant has to enter a valid code if there are any in the list. No, a claimant can enter a valid code but does not have to.
Account code – This is usually the financial code used in the accounts system for this category.
Allow creation of new codes – Can the claimant only select a code from the drop-down list, or can they enter their own codes?
Coding 9 / 10 – These are additional coding fields, but can only be maintained through the database.
Save – to save the details entered.