Expenses
The Expenses module handles employee expense report submission and approval. Employees submit reports; supervisors and managers approve them through a configurable workflow. Approved reports can be exported as CSV for payroll or accounting.
- Who can use it: all tiers can submit their own expense reports. Supervisors approve reports for their team. Managers approve everything.
- Where: Sidebar → Expenses.
- Default: off. Enable it at Settings → Modules.
Expense reports group one or more line items - individual expenses - under a single submission. The report’s date range is automatically calculated from the earliest and latest expense dates you enter.
- Go to Sidebar → Expenses.
- Click Add expense report.
- Add line items using the Add item button. For each item:
- Select the expense type (mileage, meals, accommodation, or whatever your company has set up).
- Enter the date of the expense.
- Enter a description and any notes.
- For fixed-rate types (like mileage), enter the quantity (e.g. kilometres) - the rate is set by the expense type and can’t be changed.
- For variable-rate types, enter the amount directly.
- Click Save to save as a draft, or Submit when you’re ready to send it for approval.
Each expense report gets a reference number (EXP-DDMMMYY-NNNN) once saved. You can paste
this into the search bar to jump straight to the report, or include it in correspondence
with your finance team.
Once submitted, a report moves through your company’s configured approval chain. There are three options:
- Supervisor then manager - the supervisor approves first, then it goes to the manager for final approval. The default.
- Supervisor only - the supervisor’s approval is final.
- Manager only - reports go directly to the manager, skipping the supervisor step.
Approvers see reports pending their action in the Pending Approvals widget and in the Expenses list under the “Pending approval” section.
To approve or reject a report, open it and click Approve or Reject. Rejecting requires a note explaining why. The employee can then edit the report and resubmit.
WarningSubmitted reports can’t be edited until they’re rejected. If an employee spots a mistake after submitting, a manager or supervisor needs to reject the report (with a note) so it goes back to draft. Then the employee can fix it and resubmit.
Once a report has received final approval, a CSV export becomes available on the report’s detail page. The timing is intentional - the CSV is the handoff to your finance team, so it’s only available once the approval chain is complete and the report is ready to act on.
The CSV includes all line items with expense type, date, description, quantity, unit amount, total, and tax where applicable. It’s designed to give your finance team everything they need to reimburse the employee, without requiring them to log in to mizuiro.
Supervisors and managers can export approved reports; employees can’t.
Managers can create expense reports on behalf of any employee. Supervisors can create for their team members. This is useful when someone doesn’t have app access or when you’re entering a reimbursement retroactively.
When creating, select the employee from the For field at the top of the form. The workflow and approval chain work the same way as a self-submitted report.
Settings → Expenses
Approval chain
How reports flow through approval. Options are supervisor then manager (default), supervisor only, or manager only.
Currency symbol
The symbol shown on expense totals and in exported CSVs. Defaults to $.
Thousands separator
How numbers are formatted. Defaults to a comma (1,234.56).
Distance unit
Whether mileage expense types display kilometres or miles. Affects the label on fixed-rate mileage items.
Expense age limit
Optionally set a maximum number of days after which an expense is considered stale. If set, mizuiro warns when an employee tries to submit a report that includes expenses older than the limit. Leave blank to allow expenses of any age.
Expense types
The catalogue of expense categories your team can claim against. Manage them at Settings → Expenses → Expense types.
Each type has:
- A name and GL code.
- A rate type: fixed (you set the per-unit rate and unit label, like
$0.67/km) or variable (the employee enters the amount). - Optionally, a tax rate if the expense is taxable.
You can archive expense types you no longer use. Archived types stop appearing on new reports; existing reports that used them are unaffected.
Widget colour
Sets the accent colour for Expenses dashboard widgets.
| Widget | Size | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Pending Approvals | 2x1 | Reports currently waiting for your approval. Shows the submitter, total, and submission date. |
| Monthly Total | 1x1 | Total approved expense spend for the current month. |
| Monthly Spend | 2x1 | Approved expense totals for the current month broken down by expense type. |
Can an employee see the rejection note?
Yes. When a report is rejected, the employee sees the rejection note when they open the report. This is intentional - they need to know what to fix before resubmitting.
What happens to a report if the approving supervisor leaves the company?
If a supervisor with pending approvals in their queue is terminated, a manager can step in and approve or reject those reports directly. The manager sees all reports regardless of the approval chain step.
Can I change the approval chain after reports have been submitted?
Yes, but it only affects new submissions. Reports already in the approval process continue through the chain that was in effect when they were submitted.
Are expense notes visible to the employee?
Line item notes are visible on the report to the employee and all approvers. If a note contains information you don’t want the employee to see, put it in the rejection note instead, which is only visible when the report is rejected.
Can I export all expenses for the month in one go, rather than report by report?
The current export is per-report. For a bulk export across all approved reports, use the Reports module if it’s enabled, which can generate company-wide expense summaries.