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Expenses approved by amount and charged to the right cost centre

We look at how your company’s expenses are requested, approved and claimed, and what to move into the system first.

Take the assessment (9 min)

34 questions, result at the end, free of charge.

5 dimensionsLevel, gaps and first step when you finish

Expense management system: definition and use

It manages employee expenses, travel allowances, petty cash and spending plans by cost centre, with approval by amount and validated receipts.

When it is well connected, the expense is recorded when it happens, approved in the system and reaches accounting with its cost centre, without re-keying.

Stack of invoices and receipts with a calculator

Signs your expenses need attention

  • Claims are handed in on paper with loose receipts
  • Employee advances are not settled on time
  • Expenses are charged to the wrong cost centres
  • A department’s spending is known only after it has exceeded the plan
  • Petty cash is reconciled in spreadsheets
  • There is no approval by amount or by line manager

Who it is for and when it does not fit

A good fit for

  • Companies with field staff, travel or petty cash
  • Administration teams that receive loose receipts and key them in
  • Teams with advances that are not settled on time
  • Managers who need spend by cost centre before the plan is exceeded

Not a fit when

  • Very few employee expenses a month: a form and a review are enough
  • You need corporate card control with the issuer: that is a job for a specialised spend platform
  • Travel allowance claims with complex tax rules: they are analysed and the chosen tool is integrated

Cost of checking paper expense claims

Checking receipts, chasing missing data and re-keying every claim adds hours every week. Work out the cost with your own figures.

Example: three administration staff at S/ 20 an hour. Replace the values with yours.

Hours a month52 h
Cost a monthS/ 1,039
Cost a yearS/ 12,470

The estimate shows what the manual task costs today. It is not a savings promise.

How it works in Odoo 20

Expense, approval and posting

In Odoo 20 every expense is its own record with an expense product, amount, employee, attached receipt and analytic distribution. The employee submits it; the manager approves or refuses it; accounting posts it and it stays In Payment until paid.

Expenses to Process groups what is waiting for review. The Paid By field shows whether the employee is reimbursed or the company paid.

Expense states

  1. Draft
  2. Submitted
  3. Approved
  4. Posted
  5. Paid
Odoo 20 expense form in Submitted status with the Approve and Refuse buttons and the status bar
Odoo 20 expense form in Submitted status with the Approve and Refuse buttons and the status bar
Odoo 20 expense form in Submitted status with the Approve and Refuse buttons and the status bar
Odoo 20 expense form in Submitted status with the Approve and Refuse buttons and the status bar
Odoo 20 expense form in Submitted status with the Approve and Refuse buttons and the status bar
Odoo 20 expense form in Submitted status with the Approve and Refuse buttons and the status bar
Submitted expense with approval buttons
  1. Approve or refuse
  2. Current status
Real screenshot of standard Odoo 20, demo instance with test data.
Odoo 20 Expenses to Process list with employee, product, analytic distribution, total and status
Odoo 20 Expenses to Process list with employee, product, analytic distribution, total and status
Odoo 20 Expenses to Process list with employee, product, analytic distribution, total and status
Odoo 20 Expenses to Process list with employee, product, analytic distribution, total and status
Odoo 20 Expenses to Process list with employee, product, analytic distribution, total and status
Odoo 20 Expenses to Process list with employee, product, analytic distribution, total and status
Expenses to Process
  1. Filter by status
  2. Status column
Real screenshot of standard Odoo 20, demo instance with test data.
DMG-RT method

The method applied to expenses and expense claims

Diego Muñoz leads every assessment: process and data first, then the tool, in short phases you approve.

  1. Following a claim

    We follow an expense from the moment it happens until it is reimbursed and posted, with who handles it at each step.

  2. Policy and approvals

    We write the expense policy and the approval matrix by amount and cost centre with you.

  3. Spending plan by department

    We define cost centres with owners and the spending plan each one will see in the system.

  4. Tool and phases

    We propose phases: first approval and the cost centre plan; then claim capture, comparing options before choosing.

See the full method

Deliverables

  • Written expense policy with amounts and valid receipts
  • Approval matrix by amount and cost centre
  • Spending plan per cost centre with owners
  • Comparison of options for claim capture

Prerequisites and outputs

Prerequisites

  • Expense products with their account and tax
  • Employees with a direct manager and bank account
  • Analytic plan of cost centres
  • Expense policy with limits by type
  • Employee expenses journal

Outputs: approved claims, entries and reimbursements

  • Entry per expense with the payable to the employee
  • Reimbursement included in Batch Payments
  • Expense analysis by employee, product and cost centre
  • Digital receipt attached to every record

Key settings

Standard Odoo 20 settings that change how the process behaves. They are set during the configuration phase, based on the assessment answers.

  1. Incoming emails

    Where Settings › Expenses › Incoming Emails

    Enables an email alias: the employee sends the receipt photo and the expense is created in their name. When switched on, Odoo asks for the alias domain if none exists yet.

  2. Journal and payment methods

    Where Settings › Expenses › Accounting

    Sets the journal for expenses paid by the employee and the methods the company uses to reimburse.

  3. Expense product with account and tax

    Where Expenses › Configuration › Expense Categories

    Local transport, meals or lodging carry their account, VAT and a fixed cost when it applies. The employee never picks accounts.

Before
Odoo 20 Expenses incoming email setting switched off
Odoo 20 Expenses incoming email setting switched off
After
Incoming email setting switched on, with the link to set up the alias domain
Incoming email setting switched on, with the link to set up the alias domain
Before
Odoo 20 Expenses incoming email setting switched off
Odoo 20 Expenses incoming email setting switched off
After
Incoming email setting switched on, with the link to set up the alias domain
Incoming email setting switched on, with the link to set up the alias domain
Before
Odoo 20 Expenses incoming email setting switched off
Odoo 20 Expenses incoming email setting switched off
After
Incoming email setting switched on, with the link to set up the alias domain
Incoming email setting switched on, with the link to set up the alias domain
Incoming emails: off versus onReal screenshots of standard Odoo 20 in the demo instance. The setting was not saved.

What almost nobody uses

Standard features that come installed and are rarely configured. Each one shows where it sits in the menu and in the source code.

  • Product code in the email subject

    Where Email to the expense alias, first word of the subject

    If the subject starts with the product’s internal reference, such as MOV, the expense is created with that category and the amount in the subject.

    Code hr_expense/​models/​hr_expense.py:1068

  • Expense without reimbursement

    Where Expense › Reimbursement › None (Paid by Company)

    For corporate card purchases: the expense is approved and posted but creates no reimbursement to the employee.

    Code hr_expense/​models/​hr_expense.py:287

  • Analytic distribution per expense

    Where Expense › Analytic Distribution

    One expense can be split by percentage across projects or cost centres, and the expense report groups it that way.

    Code hr_expense/​models/​hr_expense.py

Online assessment

Assessment dimensions

This analysis reviews how your staff's per diems, advances and petty cash are issued, reported and settled. The questions describe observable situations, from the receipt in an envelope to the entry by cost center.

What you receive

When you finish, you receive your level in five expense control dimensions and the gaps ranked by weight. Each gap comes with a first action your team can verify.

17 scored questions and 12 context questions (type of operation, size, current system). Context questions are not scored: they let us read the result against similar operations.

Take the assessment (9 min)
Paper spreadsheet with handwritten corrections
  1. Travel and expense policyLooks at whether limits per expense type, valid receipts and approval levels are written down and applied at entry.
  2. Tax support of receiptsLooks at whether each submitted receipt or invoice is validated against SUNAT, duplicates are detected and expenses without receipts have their travel log.
  3. Advances and petty cashLooks at whether each advance, per diem or petty cash fund has an owner, a settlement deadline and a visible open balance per person.
  4. Cost center allocationLooks at whether the expense lands on the right operation, contract or cost center, reaches the journal entry without rekeying and is compared with the area's spending plan.
  5. Review and segregation of dutiesLooks at who approves, who reviews and who pays each report, and whether the system prevents one person from holding two of those roles.

Market options

Spending control by cost centre usually lives in the ERP. Mobile claim capture can be handled in the ERP or with a specialist app.

Odoo

Odoo with analytic budgets by cost centre and approvals by amount. Odoo also has an expenses app, assessed alongside the other options.

Odoo 20 technical modules

  • hr_expense
  • analytic
  • approvals

We implement it.

Other options

Expense and travel apps with mobile receipt capture and corporate cards, integrated with the ERP.

  • SAP Concur
  • Expensify
  • Navan
  • Rydoo
  • Coupa Expenses

Spend platforms and ERP modules; in no order of preference.

Selection criteria

  • Receipt photo from the phone with voucher reading
  • Advance settlement with balance either way
  • Mandatory cost centre before approval
  • RUC validation on the voucher

Limits of the standard product

  • Settling advances and travel allowances with a balance to return

    How it is handled

    It is not complete in the standard product: it is analysed and handled with configuration, an integrated tool or a clean add-on

  • Petty cash with cash count

    How it is handled

    It is kept as a cash journal with a statement; the count is a procedure

  • Approval by amount levels

    How it is handled

    Covered by the employee’s manager and with Approvals for large amounts

Peruvian localisation

  • Expense voucher with RUC, series and number
  • Expense supported by receipt or invoice for tax credit
  • Local transport with the mobility sheet
  • Travel allowances within income tax limits

From assessment to implementation

01

Expense assessment

Walk-through of claims, advances and petty cash, with times and controls.

02

Spending plan and approvals in Odoo

Cost centres, departmental spending plans and approval by amount, configured and tested.

03

Selection for expense claims

Comparison of options for mobile claim capture, Odoo included.

04

Integration with accounting

Connection of the chosen tool to accounting and the payment batch.

Diego Muñoz, process and technology consultant
Scope, in Diego’s words

I implement spending plans by cost centre and approvals by amount with Odoo. For employee expense claims captured on mobile, I assess the process and compare options, Odoo included, before recommending one.

Systems that connect with expenses and expense claims

The expense takes the employee and manager from the HR system, is charged to the cost centre and is paid by treasury. The links lead to each system’s assessment.

Spend and expense management

Before you start

Only to record their expense, ideally from their phone. Review and posting are done by administration.

Yes. It is the phase that shows results fastest: each owner sees their spending against plan.

They are photographed when the expense is recorded. The original is kept according to company policy and SUNAT requirements.

The online assessment and the 30-minute review are free. Later work is quoted by phase.

Only Diego Muñoz, to prepare the review. They are not shared with third parties.

Start with the online assessment

At the end you see your level and where to start. If you like, we review it in a 30-minute video call with Diego Muñoz.

Take the assessment (9 min)Message on WhatsAppBook 30 minutes

WhatsApp +51 919 488 260 · damunoz@dmunozgroup.com