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To approve an expense, go to Approvals → Expenses → Awaiting, open the row’s three-dot menu and choose Approve. To send it back, choose Reject… and give a reason. A reason is required.

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Where the queue lives

The reviewer queue is on the consolidated Approvals screen, not on the Expenses page. The Expenses page in the sidebar shows only your own expenses. Approvals is the workspace-wide reviewer surface.

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Before you start

You need:
  • the expense.approve capability – Owner, Admin, Project Manager or Finance
  • the Expenses app switched on
  • the Pro plan – approving is a resolution action, so it is a paid feature
On Free, submitted expenses still arrive and still queue. Approve and Reject show a Pro badge and open an upgrade dialog. Nothing is lost – the whole backlog clears the day the workspace upgrades.

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How to approve an expense

1

Open the queue

Go to Approvals, then the Expenses tab, then the Awaiting sub-tab.
2

Check the receipt

Click View in the Receipt column. The receipt opens in a new tab. A dash means no receipt was attached.
3

Check the billable value and flag

The Billable value column shows what the client is charged. The Billable column shows a green Billable or Billable +15% chip, or a neutral Internal chip.
4

Approve it

Open the row’s three-dot menu and click Approve. A toast confirms Expense approved.

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How to reject an expense

1

Open the row menu

Click the three-dot menu and choose Reject….
2

Write the reason

The Reject this expense? dialog opens. It tells you the submitter will be notified and can resubmit.
3

Fill in Reason for rejection

This field is required. The Reject button stays disabled until you type something.
4

Confirm

Click Reject. A toast confirms Expense rejected.
The reason travels with the notification, so the submitter sees exactly what to fix.

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Example

Sarah Lin submits a $240 stock photo licence for the Bluebird Coffee Website Redesign, billable with a 15% markup. Daniel Okafor, Finance, opens Approvals → Expenses → Awaiting and sees: Daniel clicks View, confirms the receipt matches, and approves. Sarah gets a notification. The expense is now available in the invoice builder for Bluebird Coffee. If the receipt had been for a different client, Daniel would reject with the reason “This receipt is for Harbor Logistics, not Bluebird. Please refile against the right client.”

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The cost firewall

The approval queue shows the billable value – what the client is charged – to every reviewer. The raw amount and markup % are the business’s internal cost. They are only shown to someone who also holds time.viewCost, which is Owner and Admin only. This is the same firewall that hides cost rates. A Project Manager can approve the client-facing value without seeing what Northwind actually paid. See cost rates.
You always see the full amount on your own expenses, whatever your role. The firewall only applies to other people’s.

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Withdraw an approval

If you approve something by mistake, you can reverse it – as long as it has not been invoiced.
1

Open the History sub-tab

Go to Approvals → Expenses → History.
2

Find the approved expense

Only rows with an Approved status show an action menu. Rejected and invoiced rows have none.
3

Choose Withdraw approval

A confirmation dialog explains the expense returns to the awaiting queue for re-review.
4

Confirm

Click Withdraw approval. A toast confirms Approval withdrawn.
Withdrawing an approval is safe because no money moves on approval. Only invoicing commits the amount. Once an expense is invoiced it cannot move at all. The submitter is notified that their expense needs clarification.

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The queue columns

The search box filters the loaded rows. The empty state reads Nothing waiting for review – submitted expenses will appear here. The History tab replaces the Receipt column with a Status column showing the expense’s status chip.

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What happens next

After you approve:
  1. The expense moves to approved and leaves the awaiting queue.
  2. The submitter gets an in-app notification and an email.
  3. A billable approved expense becomes available in the invoice builder for its client.
  4. A non-billable approved expense is recorded – it never reaches an invoice.
  5. The row appears in the History sub-tab.
After you reject:
  1. The expense moves to rejected with your reason attached.
  2. The submitter gets a notification carrying the reason.
  3. The submitter edits it, which returns it to draft, then resubmits.

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Escalation

A submitted expense does not sit unnoticed. These are high-priority notifications sent in-app and by email.

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Permissions

Member and Contractor cannot approve. Client portal contacts see none of this.
Do not confuse a capability with a scope. expense.approve says you may review expenses. Which submitters route to you is a separate question, handled by supervision scope. See supervision scope.

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Common questions

You will not see it in your own queue as something to act on in the normal flow, because you are excluded as the actor from your own submission notification. Approving your own spend is a control your workspace should decide on – route it to another reviewer where you can.
No. Each expense is approved from its own row menu. This keeps every decision an explicit, audited act on a specific amount.
No. Only rejection requires a reason, because the submitter needs to know what to fix.
No. A reviewer never edits someone else’s expense. Reject it with a clear reason and let the submitter correct their own record. That keeps the audit trail honest.
You cannot change it. invoiced is a terminal status. Handle the correction on the invoice instead.
Your workspace is on Free. Recording expenses is free; resolving them is Pro. Submitted expenses queue safely and all clear at once when you upgrade.

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Troubleshooting

Expense statuses

Every status and who moves each transition.

Submit an expense

What the submitter did before it reached you.

Billable expenses

Getting an approved expense onto an invoice.

Expense permissions

The full capability and role matrix.

Cost rates

The same cost firewall applied to people.

Plans and features

Why approving is a Pro feature.