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Expenses

Expense management software for small businesses

Record what the business spends in seconds, and let staff claim, managers approve and accounts reimburse, with every amount landing in the right ledger account.

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In short

SimpleERP is expense management software for small businesses. Record a business expense with a receipt photo from your phone, and run employee claims from submit to approve to reimburse, each step posting its own journal.

Illustration of an expense claim on a phone with a receipt photo and Approve and Reject buttons.

The daily job: capture the spend before the receipt is lost

Small spends add up and receipts go missing. SimpleERP makes recording an expense faster than putting the slip in a drawer, and keeps claims out of WhatsApp.

  • Record a courier or diesel bill in 20 seconds, photo included
  • Let staff file claims from a self-service login on their phone
  • Approve and reimburse with the ledger updated each time

Record

Record a business expense from your phone

The amount field comes first with the number pad open. Pick a category and the cash or bank account it was paid from, snap the receipt and press Save and post. The whole form fits one phone screen, so it can be done at the counter before the receipt is lost. Someone without posting rights saves a draft for the accountant instead.

  • Courier $40 paid in cash, categorised and posted in one screen
  • Turn on Amount includes tax and the tax is worked out backwards from the total
  • Optional supplier, reference number and a description that shows in the ledger
  • Camera capture on phones; images or PDFs up to 4 MB
  • The paid-from account defaults to the one you used last

Claims

Claims go from submit to approve to reimburse

Employees file claims from self-service, one line per receipt. Each step is recorded with who and when, and the claimant sees the status change. A submitted claim can be withdrawn to fix a line before anyone approves it.

  1. Submit

    Maria Lopez claims $160 for a site visit: taxis $124, lunch with a client $36, receipts attached.

  2. Approve

    Her manager approves all or part of it, or rejects it with a reason. Approval books the expense and a payable to Maria, so the cost lands in the month it was spent.

  3. Reimburse

    Accounts pays from bank or cash with a bank or cheque reference, which clears the payable. Maria sees the claim marked reimbursed.

Approvals

An approvals inbox that clears in minutes

Submitted claims queue oldest first with receipt previews beside each line, and the inbox count shows on the dashboard. On a keyboard, J and K move between claims, A approves and R rejects. On a phone, each claim opens full screen with the buttons at the bottom.

  • Approve a smaller amount than claimed when a line is not allowed
  • Nobody can approve their own claim
  • Reimburse all approved claims for one employee in one go
  • Every rejection carries a reason, kept on the claim

Books

Every amount lands in the right ledger account

Categories map to expense accounts, and ten common ones are set up for you, from rent and utilities to travel, repairs and bank charges. Add your own or archive the ones you never use. Posting an expense debits the category account and any reclaimable tax, and credits the account it was paid from. Cancelling reverses the journal; nothing is deleted.

  • Expenses paid to a supplier never create a payable; unpaid supplier invoices belong in purchase bills
  • Posting is refused on or before the lock date
  • Receipts stay attached even after a cancellation
StepDebitCredit
Business expense postedCategory account, reclaimable taxCash or bank
Claim approvedCategory account per lineExpense claims payable
Claim reimbursedExpense claims payableCash or bank

Reports

See where the money goes

Expenses by category and by month, top merchants and claims by employee and status sit in the report catalogue, each with filters, white A4 print and CSV export. The same expenses show in the P&L under their accounts.

  • Expenses by category and by month
  • Top merchants by spend
  • Claims by employee and status

Illustration of a profit and loss statement for Jan–Jun 2026 with net profit of 4,691, a tax summary and the lock date.

Expenses flow into the P&L for the first half of the year.

One system

What it connects to

Expenses post to the ledger, and claims belong to employees in HR.

Honest limits

Not included yet

  • Spending limits per category or receipt rules by amount
  • Mileage and daily allowance calculators
  • Card feeds or bank feeds
  • Multi-level approvals: one approver per claim
  • Reading receipts automatically from the photo

FAQ

Questions, answered

When should I use an expense instead of a purchase bill?

Use an expense for something already paid, such as courier, fuel or a repair. Use a purchase bill when a supplier gives you credit or you are buying stock, so the payable and stock are tracked.

Do employees need full access to file claims?

No. The Employee role gives self-service only: their own profile, attendance, leave, payslips and claims. Their login must be linked to their employee record.

Can I reclaim the tax on expenses?

Pick the tax rate on the expense and, where your country lets you reclaim it, the input tax is posted to the input tax account for that rate, so it shows in the tax summary. Where it cannot be reclaimed, as with US sales tax, it stays part of the expense.

Can a manager approve part of a claim?

Yes. Enter the approved amount; the difference is shown as not reimbursed, and the approved amount is spread across the lines in proportion.

Is there a petty cash register?

Pay expenses from your cash account and its register in accounting shows every movement with a running balance.

Related

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