Expense submission workflow

Understand the complete workflow from purchase to reimbursement and how long each phase takes.

Overview

The expense submission workflow covers the complete expense lifecycle from the moment you make a business purchase to the moment reimbursement money arrives in your bank account. The workflow follows this sequence: Purchase → Receipt → Create Expense → Add to Report → Submit → Approval → Payment. Understanding each phase helps you set realistic expectations for reimbursement timing and identify opportunities to speed up the process.

The total timeline typically runs 7-14 business days from purchase to payment, though this can vary based on your organization's approval structure, payment processing schedule, and how quickly you submit expenses after purchase. Companies that process payments weekly tend to have faster turnaround than those that process monthly.

Phase 1: Make purchase and obtain receipt

The workflow begins the moment you make a business purchase, and your first priority should be capturing the receipt.

After making a business purchase, follow these steps immediately. Ask for a receipt before leaving the merchant's location—don't assume it will be emailed or available later. Take a photo of the receipt with your phone right away while you're still at the location and the receipt is in good condition. For digital receipts delivered by email, save the email or take a screenshot immediately so you have the receipt captured even if the email is later deleted or archived.

Receipt must show essential information. Every receipt you capture should clearly display the merchant name and location, the date of purchase, the total amount paid, and itemization for meals and hotels showing what was purchased. Receipts missing any of this critical information may be rejected by approvers or require additional documentation. Gas station and ATM receipts are notoriously problematic because thermal paper fades quickly, so photograph them immediately.

Phase 2: Create expense

Once you have your receipt captured, create the expense in Eloope within 24-48 hours while details are fresh in your mind.

OCR method (recommended - 30 seconds). This is the fastest approach when you have a receipt image. Open Eloope and click the "+ New Expense" button from anywhere in the application. Switch to the "Scan Receipt" tab at the top of the expense creation form. Upload or photograph your receipt image using the upload area. Wait approximately 3 seconds while OCR technology processes the image and extracts data. Verify the extracted data is accurate, paying special attention to merchant name, amount, and date. Add the expense category and payment method from the dropdown menus. Add a descriptive note explaining the business purpose of the expense. Click "Save" to create the expense. This entire process takes about 30 seconds for most receipts.

Manual method (60 seconds). When you don't have a receipt image available yet, or if you prefer manual entry, click "+ New Expense" and stay on the manual entry tab. Fill in the form fields including merchant name, expense amount, date of purchase, category, payment method, and a description explaining the business purpose. Upload the receipt image if you have it available. Click "Save" to create the expense. Manual entry typically takes about 60 seconds depending on how much detail you include.

After creation, your expense has "Draft" status, meaning it exists in your expense list but isn't part of any report yet and hasn't been submitted for approval.

Phase 3: Group into reports

Rather than submitting individual expenses, you'll group related expenses together into a report. This should be done weekly, or immediately after completing a business trip.

Navigate to "Expenses" then click the "Unreported" tab to view all expenses that haven't been added to any report yet. Select the expense or expenses you want to group together by clicking the checkbox next to each one. Click the "Add to Report" dropdown button that appears when expenses are selected. Choose an existing report from your list of draft reports, or create a new report if this is a new trip or reporting period. Click "Add" to move the selected expenses into that report.

Your expenses now have status "Added to report (still draft)," which means they're organized into a report but the report hasn't been submitted yet. You can continue adding more expenses to the report or edit existing ones before submission.

Phase 4: Submit report

Before submitting your report for approval, run through a comprehensive pre-submission checklist to minimize the chance of rejection.

Pre-submission checklist. Verify that all required receipts are uploaded and attached to their expenses. Confirm that amounts are accurate and match what appears on the receipts. Check that categories are correct according to your company's expense policy. Ensure descriptions are clear and explain the business purpose of each expense. If there are any policy violations flagged by the system, make sure you've added justification explaining why they should be approved.

Submit the report. Open the report from your reports list by clicking on it. Review the summary at the top showing the total amount and any policy violations. Add a submission comment if you need to provide context for your approver—for example, explaining pre-approved policy exceptions or highlighting important details. Click "Submit for Approval" at the bottom of the report. Confirm the submission in the dialog that appears.

The report status immediately changes to "Submitted," which locks it to read-only mode so you can't edit it during the approval process. You receive a confirmation notification that your report was submitted, and your approver receives a notification that they have a new report to review.

Phase 5: Approval process

The approval process typically takes 1-3 business days per approval level, depending on how many levels your organization requires and how quickly approvers process their queues.

The system automatically routes your report based on rules configured for amount thresholds, expense categories, and your department. Most organizations have at least one approval level, with larger expenses requiring additional approval.

Level 1: Manager review. Your direct manager reviews the report first, examining business justification to ensure expenses were necessary for company purposes, checking policy compliance to verify all expenses meet company requirements, and verifying receipts match the amounts and details entered in the system. If your manager approves the report, it moves to the next level or directly to finance if there's only one approval level. If they reject it, the report returns to draft status so you can make corrections. If they have questions, they'll add comments and you can respond in the comments section without needing to resubmit.

Level 2: Finance or Department Head. For larger expenses or expenses that need additional oversight, a second approval level reviews the report. This might be your department head for budget approval or the finance team for final compliance verification. This level either approves the report, moving it to payment processing, or escalates unusual situations to senior management.

Once all required approvers have approved your report, its status changes to "Approved" and it moves to the finance team for payment processing.

Phase 6: Payment processing

After final approval, the finance team processes payments in batches, typically taking 3-5 business days from approval to money in your account.

The finance team follows a structured process to ensure accurate payment. They export all approved reports that are ready for payment processing. They process batch payments according to the company's payment schedule, which might be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on your organization. They mark each report as "Paid" in Eloope and record the payment date and method for audit purposes.

You receive multiple notifications when payment is processed. An email notification confirms that your expense report has been paid. Money appears in your bank account via direct deposit, typically 1-2 days after finance processes the batch. An in-app notification appears in Eloope showing the payment details.

Your report status changes to "Paid ✅," indicating the complete workflow is finished and you've been reimbursed.

Timeline example

This realistic example shows the complete timeline from purchase to payment for a typical business trip.

On Day 1, you have a client lunch costing $45, immediately take a photo of the receipt, and create the expense in Eloope. Day 2 brings a hotel charge of $245, and you create that expense. Day 3 involves an Uber ride costing $28, and you create that expense as well. By Day 7, you've completed your trip and create a report titled "NYC Client Meetings - March 2025," add all three expenses to it, and submit it for approval. On Day 8, your manager receives the notification and approves the report. Day 9 sees the finance team review and give final approval. Day 12 arrives and finance processes their weekly payment batch, which includes your report. Finally on Day 15, your direct deposit arrives in your bank account.

The total time from first expense to reimbursement is 14 calendar days or 8 business days, which is typical for organizations with weekly payment cycles.

Tips for faster reimbursement

Several best practices can significantly reduce your reimbursement timeline.

Create expenses the same day as the purchase while details are fresh and receipts are in good condition. Submit reports weekly rather than monthly—frequent smaller reports move through approval faster than large monthly reports. Upload all receipts upfront with clear, detailed descriptions so approvers don't need to ask questions. Follow expense policy carefully to avoid violations that trigger additional review or rejection. Batch related expenses together logically so approvers can review them in context.

Common delays and solutions

Understanding what causes delays helps you avoid them proactively.

Missing receipts cause 5-7 day rejection delays. Solution: Upload receipts the same day you make purchases, before they fade or get lost.

Policy violations cause 3-5 day escalation delays. Solution: Get pre-approval from your manager before making purchases that might violate policy, or add clear justification when submitting.

Inaccurate amounts cause 5-7 day rejection delays. Solution: Always verify that amounts you enter match what's on receipts exactly, checking for typos like extra zeros or misplaced decimal points.

*Approver on vacation causes 5-10 day delays.* Solution: Ask your manager to set up delegation before they leave so approvals are automatically routed to another manager.

Late submission causes additional verification requirements. Solution: Submit expenses within 30 days of purchase to avoid having to provide additional documentation justifying the late submission.

Related articles

• Creating Expenses
• Submitting Reports
• Handling Rejections
• Policy Compliance
• Quick Start for Employees