💷 Expense claims

Members can submit their own expense claims from the members’ app, and the club’s Treasurer approves and pays them. Every claim tracks its own status so the member always knows where it is.

The lifecycle at a glance

Submitted → Approved → Paid (or Rejected with a reason). A member submits a claim with one or more receipts; the Treasurer approves it (larger claims can also need a second approver such as the Chairman); then the Treasurer records payment and marks it Paid. Approve and Pay are separate steps on purpose, so money only moves once payment is actually recorded.

Setting it up (first time)

The quickest way is the 🪄 Set up expenses wizard — open Accounts → Expenses and click it. In a few steps it lets you pick your Treasurer, decide whether big claims escalate to a Chairman over a threshold, set your mileage rate, and turn on member submissions — then applies it all. Prefer to do it by hand? Approvers live on Admin Tools → Approvals, mileage and notifications on Accounts → Expenses settings, and committee roles on each member’s profile (from the list under Settings → Permissions & Roles → Committee Roles).

How a member submits a claim

In the app, a member opens Settings → Expense claims (or taps the Expense claims card on their home screen) and taps New claim. A short two-step wizard asks:

• What it’s for, the date, and either an amount or the miles travelled (mileage is worked out automatically).
• One or more receipts — attach several photos and/or PDFs straight from the phone if a claim has more than one.
• Their bank details for reimbursement.

As soon as a claim is submitted, the Treasurer is emailed so nothing sits unnoticed.

Approving and paying

Claims arrive under Members → Approvals. A claim moves through Submitted → Approved → Paid, or can be Rejected with a reason — the member is emailed automatically when a claim is rejected. The member sees the current status against their claim at all times. On the Expenses admin report, the Receipt column shows a ✓ View link for each attached photo or PDF — click to open it.

Approving from the members’ app (treasurer)

Whoever you set as the expense approver (your treasurer) under Admin Tools → Approvals can approve or reject other members’ claims straight from the app. A My approvals card appears on their home screen — only for approvers, so ordinary members never see it — listing each pending claim with the claimant, amount, date and a link to view every attached receipt. Approve clears it (or passes it to the next level if you use multi-level approval); Reject asks for a reason and emails the claimant. Only the configured approver(s) can approve, so set your treasurer there to keep approvals in their hands.

Reporting

The Expenses page has a Payment summary by member — each member’s total split into Paid, Awaiting payment and Pending approval, with a grand total — plus charts of claims by member and by status. The same expense-claim charts also appear on the Accounts Dashboard and Reports tabs.

What it costs the club, and where it lands

Marking a claim Paid also books it into the club’s ledger as an expense, dated the day you paid it and filed under the category the member chose. So the accounts dashboard, the P&L and the year-end report all include volunteer expenses without anybody keying them in twice — and a claim can only be booked once, however many times the button is pressed.

Turning it on or off

The app expense feature is on by default. It appears automatically for members once the Accounts module is in use.

Common questions

Can the treasurer approve their own claim?

No. Whoever submitted a claim cannot sign it off, however senior they are — the claim goes to the next approver on the list instead. For a charity that is the point of having approvers at all, so there is no setting to turn it off.

We need two signatures over £100. Does clicking Approve twice do it?

No — the second signature has to come from somebody on the second level. After the first approver signs, the claim stays “Submitted” and the screen says which level it is waiting on. Only a club administrator can override a chain, and only when nothing is genuinely waiting.

Where does the mileage rate come from?

Accounts → Expenses settings. Whatever you put there is what a mileage claim is worked out at, and it is the figure shown to the member on the claim form. Many clubs use the HMRC rate of 45p.

How far back can a claim be dated?

Whatever you set as the claim deadline on the same settings page — three months by default. Anything older is refused, unless it is being entered by somebody who can manage members, so the committee can still allow one by exception.

Who gets told when a claim comes in?

The address in “Send new-claim notifications to” on the expenses settings page. Leave it blank and it falls back to the treasurer’s address, then the site administrator’s.

Can a paid claim be rejected?

No. Once it is marked paid the money has gone, so the only way back is a correcting entry in the ledger. A submitted or approved claim can still be rejected.

Who can see and act on the Expenses screen?

It needs the “manage settings” permission — a treasurer or club administrator. Ordinary members and volunteers submit claims from the app and see only their own.