Quick start for managers

Learn how to review and approve your team's expense reports efficiently and effectively.

Your manager role

As a manager in Eloope, you have all employee permissions plus additional approval powers that enable you to oversee team spending.

What you can do. You have the authority to approve or reject expense reports submitted by your direct reports, ensuring that all expenses meet company policy requirements before moving forward for payment. You can also approve cash advance and trip requests from team members who need funding for upcoming business travel. Your dashboard gives you visibility into all team members' expenses and reports, not just your own, allowing you to monitor spending patterns and identify potential issues proactively. You have access to a team spending dashboard with analytics showing category breakdowns, trends over time, and comparisons to budget. When you need to be away from the office, you can set up delegation to route your approval responsibilities to another manager temporarily.

Your responsibilities. Managers are expected to review and process expense reports within 2-3 business days to avoid delaying employee reimbursements. You're responsible for ensuring your team follows company expense policies consistently and that all expenses are legitimate business expenditures correctly categorized according to company standards. When you need to reject a report, you must provide clear, specific feedback so employees know exactly what corrections are needed. Before taking extended time off, you should set up backup approvers to ensure that expense processing continues smoothly in your absence.

Access approval queue

There are several convenient ways to access reports waiting for your approval, depending on where you are in the application.

From dashboard. The fastest way to reach your approval queue is by clicking the "Pending Approvals" card prominently displayed on your dashboard. This card shows the count of reports waiting for your review and the total dollar amount pending. Clicking anywhere on the card takes you directly to your approval queue with all pending reports listed.

From sidebar. You can also access approvals by clicking "Approvals" in the main sidebar navigation. This option is available from any page in Eloope, providing consistent access to your approval responsibilities regardless of where you're working in the system.

From notifications. When a new report is submitted for your approval, you'll receive a notification that appears in the bell icon menu at the top of your screen. Click the bell icon to view all recent notifications, then select any approval notification to jump directly to that specific report for immediate review. This is particularly useful when you want to process approvals as they arrive rather than in scheduled batches.

Review expense reports

Your approval queue provides a comprehensive view of all reports waiting for your action, with tools to help you prioritize and process them efficiently.

Approval queue shows. Each report in your queue displays the report name assigned by the employee, the submitter's name so you know whose expenses you're reviewing, the total amount of the report, the submission date, the current status, any policy violations flagged by the system, and a Review button to open the full report details.

Sort and filter by. You can sort your approval queue by oldest first, which is the recommended approach to ensure reports are processed in the order they were submitted and employees aren't kept waiting unnecessarily. Alternatively, you might sort by highest amount first when you want to prioritize reviewing large expenses that may require more scrutiny. You can filter to show only reports with policy violations if you want to focus on expenses that need extra attention. You can also filter by specific team members to process all reports from one employee if they're about to go on vacation or if there's a particular urgency.

Opening a report shows. When you click to review a report, you'll see a comprehensive header section displaying the report name, its business purpose, the submitter's name and department, and the date range covered by the expenses. Below that, you'll see the total amount and a clear summary of any policy violations. The main section lists all individual expenses included in the report with attached receipts, amounts, categories, and descriptions. At the bottom, a comments section shows any notes from the submitter or previous approvers, providing context for your review.

Approval checklist

Use this comprehensive checklist every time you review an expense report to ensure consistency and thoroughness in your approval decisions.

Business justification. Start by verifying that these are legitimate business expenses, not personal items. Check that the purpose of each expense is clearly stated in the description field. Consider whether the expenses align with the employee's role and responsibilities—for example, it would be appropriate for a sales representative to expense client meals, but unusual for someone in accounting unless they're entertaining a vendor.

Policy compliance. Verify that all required receipts are present. Most companies require receipts for expenses above a certain threshold, typically $25 or $50. Confirm that expense amounts are within policy limits for their respective categories. Ensure that expense categories are appropriate—for instance, a team dinner should be categorized as "Team Meals" rather than "Client Entertainment." If the system has flagged any policy violations, check whether the employee provided adequate justification in their comments.

Receipt verification. Examine all attached receipts to confirm they match the amounts entered in the system. Check that receipts are legible and complete, clearly showing merchant name, date, itemization, and total amount. Verify that dates on receipts match the expense dates entered. Look for any discrepancies or irregularities that might require clarification from the employee.

Accuracy. Review expense details for obvious errors like typos in amount fields—for example, $1,500 entered instead of $15.00. Verify that dates are correct and make sense in the context of the business activity described. Read expense descriptions to ensure they clearly explain what the expense was for and why it was necessary. Double-check that expenses are categorized correctly, as proper categorization is essential for budget tracking and financial reporting.

Red flags. Watch for personal expenses that might have been included accidentally or inappropriately. Look for duplicate expenses—sometimes employees submit the same receipt twice by mistake. Be alert to unusually high amounts without adequate explanation, which may warrant a conversation with the employee before approval.

Approve a report

Once you've completed your review using the checklist above and are satisfied that the report meets all requirements, you're ready to approve it.

First, review the entire report carefully using your approval checklist to ensure everything is in order. Next, add comments in the comments field to document your review. While this step is optional, it's considered a best practice because it creates a clear audit trail. Your comment might be simple, such as "Approved. All receipts verified and within policy." For reports that are acceptable but have minor issues, you might note something like "Approved with reminder: Please itemize meal receipts in future to show individual attendees."

Click the green "Approve" button located at the bottom of the report page. A confirmation dialog will appear asking you to verify your decision. Click "Confirm" to finalize the approval.

Once approved, the report automatically moves to the next step in your organization's approval workflow. If you're the final approver, the report goes directly to the Finance team for payment processing. If additional approval levels are configured, the report routes to the next approver in the chain and they'll receive a notification immediately. The submitter also receives a notification that their report has been approved and is moving forward.

Reject a report

Sometimes you'll encounter reports that don't meet approval criteria and need to be sent back to the employee for corrections.

When to reject. Reject reports when critical information is missing or required receipts are absent. If there are policy violations without proper pre-approval from management, the report should be rejected. Reject when amounts don't match receipts, when you notice duplicate expenses, or when expenses appear questionable or personal in nature.

How to reject. Click the red "Reject" button at the bottom of the report. A dialog will appear requiring you to enter a detailed rejection reason—this field cannot be left blank. List each issue separately, referencing specific expenses by date and merchant name. Clearly explain what needs to be corrected so the employee knows exactly what to fix. Click "Confirm Rejection" to send the report back to the employee.

*Rejection best practices.* Be specific in your feedback rather than vague. Instead of writing "Receipt issues," write "Missing receipts for hotel expense on March 15 ($245) and taxi expense on March 16 ($28). Please attach receipts and resubmit." Be constructive by explaining why something doesn't meet requirements and suggesting how to fix it. Be timely—don't delay unnecessarily, as employees are waiting for reimbursement and rejections that sit for days create frustration.

Team analytics

Eloope provides powerful analytics tools that help you understand team spending patterns and make informed budget decisions.

Access team dashboard. To view team analytics, click "Analytics" in the sidebar navigation. Select the "Team View" tab to switch from personal analytics to team-level reporting. Choose your desired date range using the dropdown selector to focus on specific time periods.

What you'll see. Your team dashboard displays total team spending for the selected period and the average spending per team member, giving you a sense of whether expenses are distributed evenly. A spending trends chart shows how team expenses change over time, helping you identify seasonal patterns or unexpected spikes. Category breakdown charts show spending by expense category and by individual team member, making it easy to see where money is going. A policy violation count shows how many violations occurred, which can indicate areas where your team needs additional coaching or policy clarification. A detailed team member breakdown table lists each team member with their total expenses, number of reports submitted, and any outstanding items.

Use analytics to. Identify spending trends that might affect budget planning or require attention. Track actual spending against your department budget to ensure you stay within allocated amounts. Find coaching opportunities where team members might benefit from guidance on policy compliance or expense categorization. Export data for inclusion in department reports or presentations to leadership.

Delegation

Setting up delegation ensures that expense approvals continue to be processed even when you're away from the office for vacation, business travel, or other commitments.

Set up delegation when unavailable. Navigate to "Profile" then "Delegation" from your account menu. Click the "Set Up Delegation" button to begin the configuration process. Fill in the required details: select your delegate from the list of other managers, specify the start date and end date for the delegation period, and choose the scope of what should be delegated—typically all your approval responsibilities. Click "Activate Delegation" to enable the delegation.

All reports that would normally route to you will automatically route to your chosen delegate during the delegation period you specified. Your delegate receives the same notifications and approval requests you would normally receive. If your plans change and you return early, you can cancel the delegation by clicking "End Delegation" in your profile settings, which immediately routes future approvals back to you.

Best practices

Following these best practices will help you become an efficient and effective approver while maintaining good relationships with your team.

Timing. Review your approval queue daily rather than letting reports pile up for weeks. Aim to approve or reject reports within 48 hours of submission to avoid delaying employee reimbursements. Sort your queue by oldest first to ensure fair processing in the order reports were submitted. Always set up delegation before vacations or extended business trips to prevent approval bottlenecks.

Quality. Don't just "rubber stamp" every report without actually reviewing it—your approval represents accountability for company spending. Take the time to actually verify receipts against entered amounts rather than assuming everything is correct. Enforce expense policies consistently across all team members to maintain fairness and credibility. When you approve exceptions to policy, document your reasoning in the comments to create an audit trail.

Communication. Add comments to provide context for your approvals, especially for reports that needed extra consideration. Be clear and specific in rejection feedback so employees know exactly what to fix. Proactively coach your team about expense policies when you notice recurring issues or misunderstandings. Let your team know in advance if you'll be delayed in processing approvals due to business travel or high workload.

Related articles

• Understanding User Roles
• Submitting Reports
• Understanding Approval Workflows
• Policy Compliance Guide
• Team Analytics