Files
odoo-docs/content/applications/finance/expenses/approve_expenses.rst
larm-odoo 602c73143b [IMP] Expenses: Approve expenses
closes odoo/documentation#16050

Signed-off-by: Lara Martini (larm) <larm@odoo.com>
2026-01-26 19:30:42 +00:00

114 lines
5.1 KiB
ReStructuredText

================
Approve expenses
================
In Odoo, most users cannot approve expenses; only users with the necessary :doc:`access rights
<../../general/users/access_rights>` or permissions can. This means that a user **must** have at least
*Team Approver* rights for the **Expenses** app. Employees with the necessary rights can review
expenses, approve or refuse them, and provide feedback with an integrated :ref:`Refuse Expense
<expenses/refuse-report>` communication tool.
Please refer to the :doc:`access rights documentation </applications/general/users>` to learn more
about managing users and their access rights.
View expense reports
====================
Users who are able to approve expense reports (typically managers) have an :guilabel:`Expense
Reports` main navigation button at the top of the **Expenses** app. This allows managers to view all
expense reports they have access rights for. Navigate to :menuselection:`Expenses app --> Expense
Reports`, to view the :guilabel:`All Reports` dashboard.
A list of all expense reports with a status of either :guilabel:`To Submit`, :guilabel:`Submitted`,
:guilabel:`Approved`, :guilabel:`Posted`, or :guilabel:`Done` appears. Expense reports with a status
of :guilabel:`Refused` are hidden, by default.
.. image:: approve_expenses/expense-reports-list.png
:alt: Reports to validate are found on the Reports to Approve page.
Approve expense reports
=======================
Expense reports can be approved in two ways: :ref:`individually <expenses/individual>` or :ref:`in
bulk <expenses/multiple>`.
.. important::
Only reports with a status of :guilabel:`Submitted` can be approved.
It is recommended to display only :guilabel:`Submitted` reports by ticking the checkbox beside
the :guilabel:`Submitted` filter, in the left column, under the :guilabel:`Status` section.
If a report is **not** able to be approved, the :guilabel:`Approve Report` button **does not**
appear on the :guilabel:`All Reports` page.
.. _expenses/individual:
Approve individual reports
--------------------------
To approve an individual report, navigate to :menuselection:`Expenses app --> Expense Reports`, and
click on an individual report to view the detailed report form.
From here, several options are presented: :guilabel:`Approve`, :guilabel:`Refuse`, and
:guilabel:`Reset to draft`. Click :guilabel:`Approve` to approve the report.
.. image:: approve_expenses/approve-individual.png
:alt: An individual expense report that can be approved or refused.
.. _expenses/multiple:
Approve multiple reports
------------------------
To approve multiple expense reports at once, first navigate to :menuselection:`Expenses app -->
Expense Reports` to view a list of expense reports. Next, select the reports to approve by ticking
the checkbox next to each report being approved, or tick the checkbox next to the
:guilabel:`Employee` column title to select all the reports in the list.
Next, click the :guilabel:`Approve Report` button.
.. image:: approve_expenses/approve-multiple.png
:alt: Select multiple expense reports at once.
.. tip::
Team managers can view all the expense reports for their team members only. While on the
:guilabel:`All Reports` page, click the :icon:`fa-caret-down` :guilabel:`(down arrow)` to the
right of the search bar, then click :guilabel:`My Team` in the :icon:`fa-filter`
:guilabel:`Filters` section. This presents all the reports for only the manager's team.
.. _expenses/refuse-report:
Refuse expense reports
======================
Expense reports can **only** be refused on the individual expense report, and **not** from the
:guilabel:`All Reports` dashboard. To open an individual expense report, navigate to
:menuselection:`Expenses app --> Expense Reports`, then click on an individual expense report to
view the detailed expense report form.
If more information is needed, such as a missing receipt, communicate any necessary information
requests in the *chatter* of the report form. On the individual expense report, click either
:guilabel:`Send message` or :guilabel:`Log note` to open a message text box.
Type in a message, tagging the proper people, and post it to the *chatter* by clicking
:guilabel:`Send` or :guilabel:`Log`, depending on the method of communication. The message is posted
in the chatter, and the tagged people are notified via email.
.. note::
The only people that can be tagged in a message are *followers* of the specific report. To see
who is a follower, click the :icon:`fa-user-o` :guilabel:`(Show Followers)` icon to display the
followers of the expense report.
.. image:: approve_expenses/chatter.png
:alt: Send messages in the chatter.
To refuse an expense report, click :guilabel:`Refuse`, and a :guilabel:`Refuse Expense` pop-up
window loads. Enter a brief explanation for the refusal on the :guilabel:`Reason` line, then click
:guilabel:`Refuse`.
.. image:: approve_expenses/refuse-expense.png
:alt: Send messages in the chatter.
Once the expense report is refused, the status changes to :guilabel:`Refused`, and the only button
that appears is :guilabel:`Reset to Draft`.