This article is for: finance teams, HR teams and admins.
If you run payroll in Factorial, add approved expenses to the employee's payslip in a few clicks. The money is paid through payroll, in the period you choose, with no separate bank transfers to prepare, and employees can follow each expense from Approved to In payroll.
Add approved expenses to the payslip
Overview
Each expense appears on the payslip as a compensation, under its expense category.
Before you start
- Your company uses Factorial Payroll or Compensations, and your plan includes paying back expenses through payroll.
- You have the permissions Can reimburse expenses and Create supplements from expenses.
- The expenses are Approved and were paid by the employee (out-of-pocket, including mileage and per diem). Card expenses aren't paid back.
- The amount to pay back is in the same currency as the employee's salary.
- Every expense category has a compensation title, so it knows how to appear on the payslip.
How to use
- Go to Spending > Employee expenses and click the Approved tab (on a narrow screen it's under +2 More).
- Select the expenses you want to pay back. To pay back one expense, you can also open it and click Reimburse at the top.
- In the bar at the bottom, click Reimburse. The arrow next to it shows other ways to pay back, if your company has them.
- In Reimbursement via payslip, choose Current period ("The reimbursement will be included in the ongoing period.") or Next period ("The reimbursement will be included in the upcoming period.").
- Click Reimburse. The expenses change to In payroll and move to the Paid tab, and each one is added to the employee's payslip as a compensation.
Take an expense out of the payslip
How to use
Added an expense to the wrong period, or by mistake? Remove it while that payroll period is still open.
- In Spending > Employee expenses, click the Paid tab and find the expense In payroll.
- Select it and click Delete from payslip in the bar at the bottom. It's removed straight away, with no confirmation.
- The expense goes back to Approved, ready to be paid back again.
With One
Ask One, our AI assistant, for example "Add Ana's approved expenses to the next payslip". One adds the expenses, or a whole expense group, to the payslip. If you don't say Current period or Next period, One always asks. To undo, ask "Take the hotel expense out of Ana's payslip". One needs the same permissions and plan as the steps above: if you can't reimburse via payslip in Factorial, One can't either.
Tips and Best Practices
- Choose the period on purpose. Pick Current period while it's open, or Next period if it's closed or you want it paid later.
- Map your categories once. In the payslip window, Manage categories takes you to where each expense category gets its compensation title. See How do I set up how expenses appear on the payslip?.
- Other ways to pay back: if the employee isn't paid through Factorial payroll, or the expense is in another currency, use How do I pay back expenses with a SEPA file? (euros only) or How do I mark an expense as paid, or undo it?.
Related articles: How do I pay back expenses with a SEPA file? · How do I mark an expense as paid, or undo it? · How do I approve, reject or send back an expense? · Expenses in another currency
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
"Reimbursement via payslip unavailable" ("Assign a compensation title to all expense categories to enable reimbursement.")
At least one of the expenses has a category with no compensation title. Assign one, then try again.
"You can only reimburse expenses in the same currency as the employee's salary."
The amount to pay back is in a different currency from the employee's salary. Pay it back with a SEPA file (euros only) or set it as paid once you've paid it another way.
"You can’t add new compensations to the current period."
The current period is closed. Choose Next period.
"The policy period is closed" when removing an expense from the payslip.
That payroll period is closed, so the payslip line can't be changed. The expense stays In payroll. Ask your payroll team.
"Amount cannot be "0" for expense with id…".
An expense with a zero amount to pay back can't be added to the payslip. Check the reimbursable amount (or the amount, if no reimbursable amount is set). If nothing is owed to the employee, there's nothing to pay through payroll.
I don't see "Reimburse", or "Reimburse via payslip" in its menu.
Check that the expense is Approved and out-of-pocket, that your company uses Factorial Payroll or Compensations, and that you have Can reimburse expenses and Create supplements from expenses.
FAQ
1. Can I remove expenses from a payroll that's still open?
Yes. Delete from payslip deletes the compensation and the expense goes back to Approved. Once the payroll period is closed, it may be refused with "The policy period is closed" and the expense stays In payroll. You need the same permissions as for adding expenses to the payslip.
2. Which currency are expenses paid back in?
In the expense's reimbursable currency. By default it's the currency of the employee's legal entity (or of the expense group). To pay back through payroll, it must match the employee's salary currency. See Expenses in another currency.
3. Does "In payroll" change to "Paid" when the payroll is paid?
No. In payroll is the final status for expenses paid back through the payslip.
4. Do I need Factorial Payroll?
Yes, Factorial Payroll or Compensations. If you run payroll elsewhere, use a SEPA file or set the expense as paid.
5. What does the employee see when an expense is paid back through payroll?
The employee sees the status In payroll on their expense, and the amount on their payslip as a compensation under its expense category.