> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Expense permissions > Who can submit, approve and invoice expenses in TimeTracker. The full role and capability matrix, plus the cost firewall that hides internal amounts. Expenses use four capabilities: `expense.submit`, `expense.approve`, `expenseCategory.manage` and `time.viewCost`. Each one answers a different question. | Capability | The question it answers | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | | `expense.submit` | May you record and file your own expenses? | | `expense.approve` | May you review other people's expenses? | | `expenseCategory.manage` | May you curate the category list? | | `time.viewCost` | May you see the internal amount someone actually paid? | ## The role matrix | Action | Owner | Admin | Project Manager | Finance | Member | Contractor | Client | | ---------------------------------------------- | ----- | ----- | --------------- | ------- | ------ | ---------- | ------ | | Create a draft expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Edit your own draft or rejected expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Submit your own expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Withdraw your own submitted expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Delete your own draft or rejected expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Upload and open a receipt | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | See the approval queue | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | | Approve an expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | | Reject an expense | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | | Withdraw an approval | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | | See the raw amount on someone else's expense | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | | Add, rename or archive a category | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | | Build a workspace-wide Expenses report | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | | Put an approved billable expense on an invoice | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ## The capabilities in detail ### `expense.submit` Held by every working role: Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance, Member and Contractor. Not held by Client. It covers your **own** expenses only: * create a draft * edit a draft or rejected expense * submit for approval * withdraw a submitted expense back to draft * delete a draft or rejected expense * upload a receipt, and open a receipt The breadth mirrors `time.submit`. Anyone who does client work can spend money on it, so anyone who does client work can file an expense. Holding `expense.submit` does not let you touch anyone else's expense. Every edit, withdraw and delete re-checks that you are the submitter. ### `expense.approve` Held by Owner, Admin, Project Manager and Finance. This is the review tier. It covers: * seeing the **Approvals → Expenses** queue and history * approving a submitted expense * rejecting a submitted expense with a reason * withdrawing an approval you gave * building a workspace-wide Expenses report That last one matters. `expense.approve` is the workspace-wide "see expenses that are not mine" capability. `expense.submit` is deliberately **not** enough to build an Expenses report – if it were, any Member could aggregate the whole company's spend. Approve and Reject additionally need the **Pro** plan. Withdrawing an approval does not. ### `expenseCategory.manage` Held by Owner, Admin and Finance. **Project Manager is deliberately excluded.** Categories are a finance taxonomy, not a delivery one. A PM approves expenses and manages budgets but does not shape the chart of accounts. It covers: * opening **Settings → Expense categories** * adding a category * renaming a category * archiving and restoring a category There is no inline-create path. The expense form only offers the managed active list, so every category change – including the very first one – needs this capability. ### `time.viewCost` Held by Owner and Admin only. It is not an expense capability as such. It is the cost firewall that decides whether you see the **raw amount** and **markup %** on someone else's expense. | You are looking at | You see the billable value | You see the raw amount | | --------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- | ---------------------- | | Your own expense | Yes | Yes, always | | Someone else's, as Owner or Admin | Yes | Yes | | Someone else's, as Project Manager or Finance | Yes | No | This is the same firewall that hides cost rates from a Project Manager. See [cost rates](/rates/cost-rates). The firewall also applies in reports. The **Expense cost** measure requires `time.viewCost`; the **Billable value** and **Expenses** count measures do not. ## Example Northwind Studio, with all seven roles in play. | Person | Role | What they can do with expenses | | ------------- | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Maya Ellis | Owner | Everything. Files her own, approves anyone's, sees every raw amount, manages categories. | | Tom Whitfield | Admin | The same, except deleting the workspace itself. | | Priya Raman | Project Manager | Files her own and approves the team's. Sees `$276.00` billable but never the `$240.00` Sarah paid. Cannot touch the category list. | | Daniel Okafor | Finance | Files his own, approves the team's, owns the category list. Also sees only the billable value on other people's expenses. | | Sarah Lin | Member | Files, edits, withdraws and deletes her own expenses. Sees her own amounts in full. No queue, no reports on others. | | Jonas Bergman | Member | Same as Sarah. | | Ana Ferreira | Contractor | Same as Sarah. Contractor is narrower elsewhere, but not for expenses. | | Ruth Castillo | Client | Nothing. A portal contact holds no internal capabilities. | ## App and plan gates Capabilities are only one of three gates. All three must pass. Expenses must be switched on in **Settings → Apps**. Off means hidden entirely – the sidebar item is gone and the URL is blocked. Expenses requires the Projects & tasks app. Your role, plus any custom role or per-person override your workspace has set. Recording an expense is free. Approving one needs Pro. | Gate | Off means | | ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | App switched off | Hidden. No sidebar item, no route. | | Capability missing | The control is hidden or the page shows a no-access panel. | | Plan does not include it | The control stays visible with a **Pro** badge and opens an upgrade dialog. | Never confuse "turned off" with "not on your plan". See [apps and modules](/concepts/apps-and-modules) and [plans and features](/concepts/plans-and-features). ## Custom roles and per-person overrides Your workspace can define custom roles with a different capability set, and can deny specific capabilities to individual people. Two rules to keep in mind: 1. **A capability is not a scope.** `expense.approve` says you **may** review expenses. Supervision scope decides **whose** expenses route to you. Both have to pass. See [supervision scope](/concepts/supervision-scope). 2. **Not every capability is freely movable.** Some are owner-exclusive and some are deny-only. Check the role editor before assuming a capability can be granted to any role. ## Common questions No. The Expenses page is pinned to the person viewing it. Workspace-wide visibility needs `expense.approve`. Categories are how spend is classified for the books. That is a finance concern. A PM's expense authority is reviewing amounts on their projects, not shaping the taxonomy. Only on their own expenses. Seeing another person's raw amount needs `time.viewCost`, which is Owner and Admin only. Yes. Contractor is the narrowest staff role, but it holds `expense.submit` in full. No. A Client role holds an empty internal capability set. A portal contact only sees what is explicitly shared with their client company. No. Recording is free on every plan, forever. Only approving is Pro. ## Troubleshooting | Problem | Cause and fix | | --------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Expenses** is missing from the sidebar | The app is switched off in **Settings → Apps**. | | The **Expenses** tab is missing from Approvals | You lack `expense.approve`. | | **Settings → Expense categories** shows a no-access panel | You lack `expenseCategory.manage`. Project Manager does not hold it. | | **Forbidden: expense.submit** | Your role or a per-person override does not allow submitting expenses. | | **Forbidden: expense.approve** | You are not on the review tier. | | Approve shows a **Pro** badge | Your plan does not include `approvals`. | | You see a billable value but no amount | Working as designed. You lack `time.viewCost`. | | The Expenses report source is not offered | It requires `expense.approve`. | ## Related guides The full permission model. The reviewer surface these capabilities unlock. Managed by the money tier only. The same cost firewall on people. The app gate that sits above every capability. Why approving is Pro and recording is free.