FAQ: How do Expense Policies work? What happens if my expense violates a policy?
Expense Policies in Zudello are rules configured by your organisation administrator to automatically check submitted expenses for compliance with company guidelines and potentially tax regulations.
How They Work:
- Configuration: Administrators define policy rules based on various criteria (managed by Zudello staff or potentially a future admin UI). Common examples include:
- Amount Limits: Maximum allowed amount for specific expense types (e.g., Meal limit $50, Gift limit $100).
- Date Restrictions: Expenses must be submitted within a certain timeframe (e.g., within 60 days of the transaction date).
- Required Information: Certain expense types might require specific fields to be filled (e.g., Attendees required for Entertainment, Justification required for expenses without receipts).
- Duplicate Checks: Detecting potential duplicate expense submissions.
- Keyword Checks: Flagging expenses with certain keywords in the description (e.g., "Alcohol", "Fine").
- Evaluation: When you save, validate, or submit an expense or claim, Zudello automatically evaluates the data against the active policy rules.
- Outcome: Based on the policy configuration, a violation can result in:
- Warning (Yellow/Orange Icon/Banner): Alerts you to a potential issue (e.g., slightly over limit, submitted late) but usually does not block submission. Your approver will also see the warning.
- Blocking Error (Red Icon/Banner): Prevents you from validating the expense or submitting the claim until the issue is fixed (e.g., amount significantly over limit, missing mandatory justification).
What Happens if My Expense Violates a Policy?
- Notification: Zudello will display a warning or error message, typically in a banner at the top of the expense/claim or as an icon next to the problematic field. See Reviewing Validation Issues.
- Review: Read the message carefully to understand which policy was violated and why.
- Action Required:
- For Warnings: Review the expense. If the warning is acceptable according to policy (e.g., minor overspend allowed with justification), you might be able to proceed, but ensure you provide any necessary explanation in the notes/description. Your approver will likely scrutinise it more closely.
- For Errors: You must correct the issue before you can proceed. This might involve:
- Reducing the claimable amount.
- Providing a required justification or attaching missing documentation.
- Correcting incorrect data (e.g., wrong date).
- Removing the non-compliant expense from the claim.
- Re-Validate/Re-Submit: After making corrections, save the expense/claim and try validating or submitting again.
Expense policies help ensure compliance and control spending. Always review policy warnings and resolve blocking errors before submitting claims. If unsure about a policy, consult your company's expense guidelines or your manager.