This article is for: employees, approvers and admins.
Lost a receipt, or not sure you can send an expense without one? Regular expenses need a receipt by default, so a missing one slows down approval and leaves the books without proof. Factorial reminds people about card payments without one and helps reviewers send unclear ones back.
Add the missing receipt (employees)
Overview
You're reminded when a receipt is missing:
- After a Factorial card payment, a notification on your phone asks you to add the receipt.
- If you have draft expenses waiting, you get an Expenses in draft reminder.
- If you try to send without a required receipt, you'll see Review your expense details with Files as missing.
How to use
- Open the expense in My spending > My expenses.
- Add the receipt. If you already filled in the details, choose Upload so they aren't overwritten.
- Click Send for approval.
Review expenses without a proper receipt (approvers and finance)
How to use
When a receipt is missing, unreadable or not valid, open the expense from your approval request or from Spending > Employee expenses, and choose:
- Request changes, with a reason such as "Please attach the itemised invoice". The employee is notified and can fix it and send it again.
- Reject, with a reason, if the expense shouldn't be paid.
- Approve, if your company accepts other proof. Leave a comment explaining why, so finance can see it later.
Make the receipt required or optional (admins)
Overview
By default, regular expenses need a receipt: an employee can't send one without it. If your plan includes expense form customisation, an admin can make the receipt optional. Mileage and per diem expenses don't need a receipt.
How to use
- Go to Settings > Expenses, and under Configuration, click Expense form.
- Open Regular expense and scroll to the Document field. It shows Mandatory when a receipt is required.
- To change it, click the settings (gear) icon next to Document, turn the Mandatory switch on (receipt required) or off (optional), and click Accept.
Tips and Best Practices
- Keep the receipt mandatory unless you have a good reason. It's the simplest way to avoid exceptions.
- Write exceptions down in a comment on the expense. Comments stay on the expense.
- Digitally certified documents (Spain, France, Italy) sign or archive the digital copy of a receipt. Whether you still need the paper depends on your local rules: check with your tax adviser. See Digitally certified receipts: which countries and what it means.
- Go further with Expense checks. See FAQ 5 and How do I check expenses against my expense policy?.
- Related: How do I leave a comment on an expense? · Card expenses and manual expenses · How does Factorial catch duplicates and other mistakes automatically?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
An employee sent an expense without a receipt.
The receipt is optional in your expense form. Ask for it with Request changes, and consider making the Document field mandatory.
The employee says they attached it, but I can't see it.
They may have attached it after sending, which isn't possible while it's pending. Ask them to use Reset to draft, attach it and send again.
FAQ
1. Can I send an expense without a receipt?
Only if your company made the receipt optional. If you try to send without one and it's required, you'll see Review your expense details with Files as missing. Otherwise, attach one first.
2. Do mileage and per diem expenses need a receipt?
No. You can still attach supporting documents.
3. Do card expenses need a receipt?
Yes. The company paid, but the receipt is still needed for approval and the books.
4. I lost the receipt. What can I do?
Ask the merchant for a copy, or download the invoice from your booking or online account. If you can't get one, ask your finance team what proof they accept, for example a booking confirmation, and attach it.
5. Can One check receipts against our policy?
Yes, with Expense checks. The ready-made checks include receipt rules: every regular expense has a readable receipt or invoice, a card-terminal slip isn't enough, and the receipt lists what was bought. One checks these on each expense and tells the employee before they send. See How do I check expenses against my expense policy?.
6. Can every company make the receipt optional?
Making the receipt optional needs expense form customisation, which depends on your plan. Your Account Manager can confirm. Without it, regular expenses always need a receipt.