How to Approve Expenses

Who can approve

Approval authority is configured per property under Settings → Expense Approval. Only users in the property's approval chain can approve expenses. The chain is sequential: each approver must act before the next is notified. Each approver is required once the expense's pre-tax amount reaches the floor set for them; a $0 floor means that approver is required on every expense.

The approval queue

1. Go to Accounting → Expenses.
2. Use the Status filter and select Pending Approval to see expenses waiting for your action.
3. Expenses where it is your turn to approve are highlighted. Expenses where another approver must act first are visible but not actionable.

Approving a single expense

1. Click any expense in the list to open the expense profile drawer.
2. Review the expense details: vendor, amount, line items, GL accounts, supporting receipts (visible in the Receipts tab), and the approval chain progress shown in the sidebar. Each approver in the sidebar shows their floor amount; an approver whose floor the expense didn't reach is dimmed and marked Not required.
3. Click Approve (the primary button).
4. If you are not the final approver, the expense advances to the next person in the chain. If you are the final approver, the expense moves to Approved status.

Rejecting an expense

1. Open the expense profile drawer.
2. From the overflow menu (three-dot icon at the top right), click Reject.
3. Enter a reason. The submitter is notified, and the expense moves to Rejected status.

The submitter can then edit the expense and resubmit.

Requesting more information

If you need clarification before approving:

1. Open the expense profile drawer.
2. From the overflow menu, click Request More Info.
3. Enter your question. The submitter is notified.

The expense stays in Pending Approval status until you take a final action.

When an expense needs a board decision first

Some draft expenses go to the board for a vote before they ever reach the regular approval chain. This happens when:

• A staff member turned on Require board decision while creating or editing the draft expense, or
• The expense's pre-tax amount already meets the property's board escalation floor, so it is sent to the board automatically on submit.

When either applies, submitting the expense sends it straight to Pending Board status, skipping the regular approval chain entirely:

1. Board members are notified and vote Approve or Reject, the same way as in Board approval below.
2. Board approves (YES): the expense is released into the property's normal approval chain, starting from the first required approver, exactly as if it had just been submitted.
3. Board rejects (NO): the expense moves to Rejected status. No journal entry is ever posted. The submitter is notified and can edit and resubmit, the same as any rejected expense.

See "How to Require a Board Decision on an Expense" for how to turn this on.

Board approval

If your property's board escalation setting is turned on, expenses whose pre-tax amount is at or above the board escalation floor (set in Property Settings → Accounting → Approval Chain) are automatically escalated to Pending Board status once they clear the regular approval chain above. Board escalation is off by default: a property administrator must turn it on and set the floor.

When an expense is in Pending Board status:

1. Board members receive a notification to cast their vote.
2. Click View Board Decision on the expense to open the board decision panel.
3. Each eligible board member votes Approve or Reject.
4. Once the board reaches a decision, the expense either moves to Approved or Rejected automatically.

Cancelling a board submission

If an expense is in Pending Board status and the submission should not continue:

1. Open the expense profile drawer.
2. From the overflow menu, click Cancel submission.
3. Read the confirmation, enter a reason, and confirm.

The cancellation is all or nothing. If URBI cannot void the related accounting entries and close the board decision together, the expense and board decision stay unchanged.

Batch approval

To approve multiple expenses at once:

1. On the Accounting → Expenses page, tick the checkboxes on the left of each expense you want to approve.
2. Click Approve Selected in the action bar that appears at the bottom of the page.
3. Confirm in the dialog. All selected expenses where it is your turn in the approval chain are approved in one action.

Withdrawing an approval request (as submitter)

If you submitted an expense and want to pull it back before it is fully approved:

1. Open the expense profile drawer.
2. From the overflow menu, click Withdraw Submission.
3. Read the confirmation and optionally add a reason.
4. Confirm. The expense returns to Draft status.

Approval history from earlier rounds is kept. Pending approvers are notified that the expense is no longer waiting on them. If you click Withdraw Submission again while the first request is still processing, URBI tells you the withdrawal is already processing.