Introduction to the Expense Register

You should use the Expense register to store each employee's expense claims. Typically, you will create a new record for each separate expense claim made by an employee (e.g. once a month per employee).

If you want to support an expense claim for mileage with details of the journeys you have made, you should first record the journey details in a new record in the Way List register. You can then quote the Way List record on flip D of the Expense record. The Total Cost from the Way List will be brought in to the Expense record automatically, and Account, VAT Code and Description details will be taken from the Way List Settings setting.

To open the register, ensure you are in the Expenses module and select 'Expenses' from the Registers menu, or click the [Expenses] button in the Master Control panel.

The 'Expenses: Browse' window is opened, showing any Expenses that have already been entered. Expenses that have been approved (posted to the Nominal Ledger) are shown with a tick in the OK column.

As in other browse windows you may sort the list by each column by clicking on the heading. To reverse any sort, simply click once again on the column heading. The heading of the column currently determining the sort order is coloured blue. You can also scroll through the list using the scroll bars. Finally, you can search for a record by entering a keyword in the field in the top right-hand corner. Hansa will search for the first occurrence of the keyword in the same column as the selected sorting order.

Entering an Expense Record

To enter a new record in the Expense register, first open the register as described here, then click [New] in the Button Bar or use the Ctrl-N (Windows and Linux) or ⌘-N (Macintosh) keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, select an Expense record similar to the one you want to enter and click [Duplicate] on the Button Bar.

The 'Expense: New' window is opened, empty if you clicked [New] or containing a duplicate of the highlighted Expense record.

Since the amount of information stored about each Expense record will not fit on a single screen, the Expense window has been divided into two cards. At the top of each is the header. This contains the Expense Number and the Person's Initials and Name. There are two named buttons ('tabs') in the header.

By clicking the tabs you can navigate between cards. The header is always visible, as a reminder of the Person and date of the Expense claim you are working with.

Entering an Expense Record - Header

No.
Paste Special    Select from another Number Series
The unique identifying number of the Expense record. When you enter a new record, Hansa will enter the next unused number from the first number sequence entered in the Number Series - Expenses setting. You may change this number, but not to one that has already been used. In multi-user systems, the next unused number will not be allocated until you save the Expense record for the first time.

Exp. Date
Paste Special    Choose date
The date of the employee's expense claim.

Trans. Date
Paste Special    Choose date
The date of the Expense claim: it will be the date used by the Nominal Ledger Transaction created from this record. The expense claim date above will be the default.

Person
Paste Special    Person register, System module
Default taken from    Current user
Enter a Person's initials or use the 'Paste Special' function. When you press Return, the Person's name will be entered to the field to the right.

Name
The Person's Name is entered after you have entered their initials.

Signer
This field records the initials of the Person that authorised this Expense record. If you are using the Signer Required option in the Expense Settings setting, this field must contain a value before the Expense record can be approved.

You cannot type an entry into this field. Instead, select 'Authorise' from the Operations menu to bring in the initials of the current user.

You can use the Access Groups setting in the System module to restrict the use of the 'Authorise' Operations menu function to certain members of staff.

Currency
Paste Special    Currency register, System Module
Default taken from    Default Base Currency
You can record an expense claim in any Currency, although you can only use one Currency in each Expense record. When you specify a Currency, the correct exchange rate for the Transaction Date will be shown on the 'Currency' card where you can modify it for the particular Expense record if necessary.

All figures shown in the Expense should be in Currency: when the Nominal Ledger Transaction is created, they will be converted to the home Currency.

Entering an Expense Record - Cost Card

Use the grid on the 'Cost' card to enter the details of the Expense claim. This is divided into four horizontal flips, each showing additional columns. When you click on a flip tab (marked A-D), the two or three right-hand columns are replaced.

To add rows to an Expense record, click in any field in the first blank row and enter appropriate text. To remove a row, click on the row number on the left of the row and press the Backspace key. To insert a row, click on the row number where the insertion is to be made and press Return.

Flip A

A/C
Paste Special    Account register, System module/Nominal Ledger
Enter the Cost Account to be debited in the Nominal Ledger Transaction created from the Expense record. After entering an Account number, the Account name will be brought in to the Description field. Use Paste Special to choose from the Chart of Accounts.

You can have an Account brought in by specifying an Account Short Code in the Short. field to the right.

You can also enter the Code of an Autotransaction to this field. Autotransactions allow you to automate the entry of frequently used Transactions, not only reducing labour but also ensuring the correct Accounts are used every time. An example Autotransaction might be one that distributes the cost of an Expense item across several Objects on a percentage basis.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Cost Account from the Item in the Way List Settings setting or, if that is blank, the Account in the Way List Settings setting will be copied here automatically.

Objects
Paste Special    Object register, Nominal Ledger/System module
You can assign up to 20 Objects, separated by commas, to this row. They will be transferred to the debit posting in the Nominal Ledger Transaction generated for this Expense claim, and can be used for your profit centre reports. You might define separate Objects to represent different departments, cost centres or product types. This provides a flexible method of analysis that can be used in Nominal Ledger reports.

Note that you can assign an Object to each member of personnel in the Person register. This Object will appear automatically in all credit postings in the Nominal Ledger Transaction generated for this Expense claim.

If you enter a Project on flip B and this Project has been given an Object, this Object will be copied here automatically. You can also have an Object brought in by specifying an Account Short Code in the field immediately to the right.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Objects from the Way List header will be copied here automatically.

Short.
Paste Special    Account Short Codes setting, Nominal Ledger
You can use Short Codes to help reduce errors when selecting Accounts and Objects. You can also use them if you do not want members of staff using Purchase Invoices and Expenses to have any access to the Account and Object registers (which means that they will not be able to use 'Paste Special' to choose Accounts and Objects). Enter a Short Code here to bring in the appropriate Account and Object(s).

Desc.
Default taken from    Account
The Account name will be entered here automatically when you specify an Account number. This text can be changed if necessary.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Description from the Way List Settings setting will be copied here automatically instead of the Account name.

Amount Incl VAT
Enter here the expense amount inclusive of VAT. If you have specified a Currency, this figure should be in that Currency.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Total, cost from the Way List footer will be copied here automatically.

VAT
VAT for this row is calculated from the Amount Incl. VAT and the VAT Code (below).

V-Cd
Paste Special    VAT Codes setting, Nominal Ledger
The VAT Code entered here refers to a VAT Code record entered using the VAT Codes setting in the Nominal Ledger. It determines the rate at which VAT will be charged on this Expense item and the VAT Account to be debited.

A default is offered, taken from the Account record or from the 'VAT' card of the Account Usage P/L setting. If you specify a Way List on flip D, the default will be the Domestic VAT Code from the Item in the Way List Settings setting.
Flip B
Item
Paste Special    Item register
You may enter the Item Number of the purchased Item here. If you have assigned this Expense row to a Project, this information will be used by the Job Costing module.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Item from the Way List Settings setting will be copied here automatically. This Item will determine the A/C and VAT Codes on flip A.

Qty
The quantity purchased can be entered here.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Total, km from the Way List footer will be copied here automatically.

Proj
Paste Special    Project register, Job Costing module (if installed)
A Project number to which the Expense row can be linked. When you approve the Expense record, a Project Transaction will be created for each row with a Project number, Item Number and Quantity. This ensures the value of the Expense row will be added to the cost of the Project, and that the Project Customer will be charged for the Expense row if this is demanded by the charging structure of the Project. Please click here for full details.

If the Project has been given an Object, this will be copied to the Objects field on flip A of the Expense.

If you specify a Way List on flip D, the Project from the Way List header will be copied here automatically.
Flip C
You can use the fields on flip C when Expense claims are accompanied by receipts or invoices. You can enter the invoice or receipt number in the Document Nr field, and you should record the Date and Supplier in the appropriate fields. A 'Paste Special' list is available from the Supplier field. The Supplier field is for information only: there are no consequences in the Purchase Ledger. The Date field can be important in the case of an Expense record in Currency. If the Exchange Rate changes between this Date and the Transaction Date in the header, and if you are using the Expense Date Rate for Cost Accounting option in the Expense Settings setting, the difference will be posted to the Rate Round Off Account on the 'Exch. Rate' card of the Account Usage S/L setting. Please refer to the Expenses in Currency page for more details and an example.

Flip D

Way List
Paste Special    Way List register, Expenses module
Use this field when you need to support an expense claim for mileage with the details of the journeys you have made. First, enter the journey details in a new record in the Way List register. Then, enter the Way List Number here. The Total, Cost and Total, km from the Way List footer will be brought in to the Amount Incl VAT field on flip A and the Qty field on flip B respectively. The Object and Project from the Way List header will be brought in to the Object on flip A and the Project on flip B respectively of the Expense record. The VAT Code will be brought in from the Item specified in the Way List Settings setting. The A/C will be taken from that Item's Cost Account or from the Way List Settings setting. Finally, the Description will be brought in from the Way List Settings setting.

If the Amount Incl VAT, Qty, A/C, Object and Description fields remain empty after you have specified a Way List, the probable cause is that you have not entered an Item in the Way List Settings setting. You must specify such an Item if you want to link Expense records and Way Lists is this way.
Footer
OK
When you check this box and save the record by clicking [Save], the Expense is approved and a corresponding Transaction is created in the Nominal Ledger. Because of this, you will no longer be able to make changes to the Expense record.
References in these web pages to approved Expense records are to those whose OK check box has been switched on.

No. of Documents
Enter here the number of receipts or other documents that you have in support of this expense claim. This is for information only.

VAT
The VAT sum, calculated from the Expense rows.

TOTAL
The total amount to pay for this Expense claim, including any taxes and in Currency.

Entering an Expense Record - Currency Card

Currency
Paste Special    Currency register, System Module
Default taken from    Default Base Currency
You can record an expense claim in any Currency, although you can only use one Currency in each Expense record.

All figures recorded in the Expense should be in Currency: the resulting Nominal Ledger Transaction will show figures in both foreign and home Currencies (and in the second base Currency if appropriate).

Exchange Rates
Default taken from    Base Currency Rates setting and/or Exchange Rate register, System module
The exchange rates for the specified Currency for the Transaction Date of the Expense record will be entered by Hansa.

One of two conversion methods will be used. The Dual-Base system will be useful for companies that have offices in two countries that need to report in both Currencies, for companies operating in countries where there is a second Currency (usually the US Dollar or Euro) in common use in addition to the national one, and for companies in the Euro zone who retain their old national Currency for comparison purposes. The second method is a simple conversion from the foreign Currency to the home Currency, applicable to the majority of worldwide Currency transactions. These are described below.
Exchange Rates (Dual-Base System)
If the Dual-Base system is being used, the Base Currency 1 and 2 fields on the left show in the form of a ratio the exchange rate between the two base Currencies (taken from the latest record in the Base Currency Rates setting).

Note that European Monetary Union (EMU) regulations specify that the ratios must always show how many units of the home or foreign Currency can be bought with one Euro.

Exchange Rates (Simple Currency Conversion System)
In the case of a simple currency conversion system, the Rate and right-hand Base Currency 1 fields are used to show a simple exchange rate between the foreign and home Currencies.

Entering an Expense Record - Misc Card

This page describes the fields on the 'Misc' card of the Expense record. Please follow the links below for descriptions of the other cards:
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Approval Status
You can use the Approval Rules register in the Business Alerts module to configure an approval process that Expense records must pass through. For example, particular managers may need to check and approve every Expense record in which the TOTAL is greater than a certain value. If you are using such an approval process, this field will display the stage in the process that a particular Expense record has reached.

If an Expense record needs to pass through an approval process, the following functions will be disabled until the approval process has been completed:

In brief, the Approval Status of an Expense record can be any of the following:

Not Required
The Expense record does not need to pass through an approval process, so the functions listed above will be available immediately.

Not Requested
The Expense record does need to pass through an approval process, and you have not yet started that process. To start the process, save any changes and then choose 'Request Approval' from the Operations menu (Windows/Mac OS X) or Tools menu (iOS/Android).

Pending
The Expense record has been entered into the approval process, and is waiting to be approved or rejected. If you need to check the progress of the approval process, select Expense Status' from the Operations or Tools menu.

If the Status of the Expense record is Pending, you will usually not be able to modify it. If you need certain users to be able to modify Pending records, use Access Groups to grant them Full access to the 'Change Record Header when Approval Status is Pending' and/or 'Change Record Matrix when Approval Status is Pending' Actions.

Approved
The approval process has been completed and the Expense record has been approved. The functions listed above will be available.

Rejected
The approval process has been completed and the Expense record has been rejected.

Please refer here for full details.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Inspecting and Approving Expenses

If you did not approve the Expense record when you first entered it, you must return to it to approve it in order for the Nominal Ledger Transaction to be generated. The approval also causes the Expense record to be locked, so that it cannot be altered after this point.

There are two ways to approve an Expense record:

  1. When viewing an Expense record, click the OK check box; or

  2. Highlight one or more Expense records in the 'Expenses: Browse' window and select 'OK' from the Operations menu.
An example Nominal Ledger Transaction created from an Expense record is shown below. In normal circumstances, the Debit Account(s) will be as specified in the Account field in the Expense row(s). The Credit Account will be taken from the 'Bonus' card of the Person record of the member of personnel in question.

Objects on the debit side are those entered to the appropriate row of the Expense record, while those on the credit side are taken from the 'Bonus' card of the Person record.

Once the Transaction has been generated, you can look at it straight away using the 'Open NL Transaction' function on the Operations menu.

Expenses in Currency

When you enter Expenses in Currency, the Currency and Exchange Rate are applied to all rows of the Expense record. Separate Expense records should therefore be used for each Currency and Exchange Rate.

For example, an employee submits an expense claim dated Jan 31. The claim includes a receipt for JPY100000 (Japanese Yen) dated Jan 7, when JPY192.867 buys one GBP (Base Currency 1). So, the receipt was worth GBP518.49 when it was issued. However, on Jan 31 (the date of the expense claim), one GBP buys JPY193.374, so JPY100000 will then convert to GBP517.13.

The Expense record is entered as shown below. The date of the expense claim (Jan 31) is entered in the header, and JPY is entered as the Currency:

On flip C, the date of the receipt (Jan 7) is entered:

Also shown in the illustration above is the Exchange Rate on the 'Currency' card. This is the Exchange Rate for Jan 31. In this example, the Expense and Transaction Dates are the same. Where they differ, the Transaction Date will determine the Exchange Rate.

When the Expense record is approved and saved, the appearance of the Nominal Ledger Transaction will depend on the Expense Date Rate for Cost Accounting option in the Expense Settings setting. If this option is on, the liability to the employee (Account 826 in the example) will be calculated using the Exchange Rate for the date of the expense claim (Jan 31), while the amount posted to the Cost Account (320 in the example) will be calculated using the Exchange Rate for the date of the receipt (Jan 7). The difference will be posted to the Rate Round Off Account from the 'Exch. Rate' card of the Account Usage S/L setting:

If the Expense Date Rate for Cost Accounting option is off, the liability to the employee and the amount posted to the Cost Account will both be calculated using the Exchange Rate for the date of the expense claim (Jan 31):

Error Messages

When you approve Expenses, Nominal Ledger Transactions are automatically generated and put in your Nominal Ledger journal.

An error message will appear if an Account or other setting is incorrect. All Accounts used in the Expense record must exist in the Account register in the System module. The VAT Codes used must be defined. A valid Account must be specified on the 'Bonus' card of the Person record of the member of personnel submitting the Expense claim. This Account will be credited in the Nominal Ledger Transaction.

While the Expense record is on screen, you can correct the error, by adding the missing Account(s) to the Accounts register in the System module or by changing the settings accordingly.

The program cannot post to non-existent Accounts, to prevent accounting errors.

Invalidating Expenses

In some circumstances it can be appropriate to invalidate an Expense record using the 'Invalidate' command on the Record menu of the 'Expense: Inspect' window. This function will remove the Expense record from all reports; any associated Nominal Ledger Transaction will be removed from the Nominal Ledger as well. An invalidated Expense record is easily distinguished because all fields have red lines drawn through them. These red lines are also shown in the 'Expenses: Browse' window.

You cannot invalidate an Expense record if it has not yet been approved, or if its Transaction Date is earlier than the Lock Others date specified in the Locking setting in the System module.

If a Project Transaction has been created from the Expense record, it will be deleted when you invalidate the Expense record. You will not be able to invalidate the Expense record if the Project Transaction has already been invoiced.

Registering Expenses Using Purchase Invoices

If an employee pays and claims an expense that should be assigned to a Supplier, you can process it in two ways:
  1. You can record the expense in an Expense record and specify the Supplier and Invoice Number on flip C (use the Document No. field for the Invoice Number).

  2. You can record the expense in a Purchase Invoice.
The second method will ensure the expense will be added to the Supplier's account. It will also help with the requirement in some countries (e.g. Italy) that all purchases, whether recorded as Purchases Invoices or Expenses, should be registered using a single number series. Follow these steps:
  1. Create a Payment Term in which the Type is "Employee":

  2. Enter a new Purchase Invoice and specify the Supplier and cost in the usual way.

  3. Specify the Payment Term from step (i). A row will be added to the Purchase Invoice where you can enter the Signature of the Person who paid the Invoice:

  4. When you mark the Purchase Invoice as OK and save, the resulting Nominal Ledger Transaction will credit the Account from the relevant Person record ('Accounts' card). The Person's Tag/Object will be assigned to the credit posting(s).

  5. As suggested by the Nominal Ledger Transaction, the Purchase Invoice will immediately be treated as paid so in that respect it is similar to a Cash Note.

  6. The Purchase Invoice will be included in the Periodic Personnel Statement for the Person (marked as "P/INV") and in the Periodic Supplier Statement for the Suppler (marked as "CASH"). It will also be included in Purchase Ledger VAT reports.
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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Operations Menu

The Operations menus for Expenses are shown above. The first illustration shows the Operations menu for the 'Expenses: Browse' window: highlight one or more Expense records (hold down the Shift key while clicking) in the list before selecting the function. The second illustration shows the Operations menu for the 'Expense: New' and 'Expense: Inspect' windows.

Operations Menu - OK

This command is available on the Operations menu only from the 'Expenses: Browse' window. It permits the approving of Expense records and is therefore the equivalent of checking the OK box in an Expense record. Remember that this action causes Nominal Ledger Transactions to be created for each Expense record in the selection and that therefore once it has been carried out you will no longer be able to modify those Expense records.

Operations Menu - Open NL Transaction

Once an Expense record has been approved and saved, if so defined in the Sub Systems setting in the System module, a Nominal Ledger Transaction is created. This function allows you to view that Transaction.

When you select the function, the Transaction will be opened in a new window.

Operations Menu - Authorise

Once you have entered an Expense record, you can authorise it before approving it. If you are using the Signer Required box in the Expense Settings setting, you must authorise Expense records before you can approve them. To do this, select 'Authorise' from the Operations menu. Your initials will be entered to the Signer field in the header. Then, check the OK box and save by clicking the [Save] button in the Button Bar.

You can use the Access Groups setting in the System module to restrict the use of the 'Authorise' function to certain members of staff. To do this, first move to the System module using the Modules menu and then open a record in the Access Groups setting. If the Access Group starts from the No Access position, you should use the grid to allow members of that Access Group to use particular features:

In this illustration, members of the "ADMIN" Access Group are allowed full access to the Expenses module so that they can enter their own Expenses. But, they have explicitly been prevented access to the 'Authorise' Operations menu function.

If the Access Group starts from the Full Access position, you should use the grid to prevent members of that Access Group from using particular features:

In both cases, if the 'Authorise Expenses' Operations Menu function is not listed in the grid, access to it will depend on the chosen Start From option. If this is No Access, members of the Access Group will not be able to authorise Expense records. If it is Full Access, they will be able to make such changes.

Operations Menu - Expense - Expense Status

This page describes the 'Expense Status' function on the Operations menu in the Expense record window. If you are using iOS or Android, the 'Expense Status' function is on the Tools menu (with 'wrench' icon).

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The 'Expense Status' command will be useful when an Expense record needs to go through an approval process before you can mark it as OK or print it. If you need to monitor the approval process for a particular Expense record, open the Expense record in a record window and then select 'Expense Status' from the Operations menu (Windows/Mac OS X) or Tools menu (iOS/Android). A report will be printed to screen, listing any Approval Request Activities that have been created from the Expense record and the status of each one. Please refer to the description of the Approval Status field on the 'Misc' card of the Expense window for brief details about the approval process and here for full details.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Operations Menu - Expense - Connect to Personnel Payment

This page describes the 'Connect to Personnel Payment' function on the Operations menu in the Expense record window. If you are using iOS or Android, the 'Connect to Personnel Payment' function is on the Tools menu (with 'wrench' icon).

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If you have used a Personnel Payment to issue a payment to an employee before receiving their expense claim, you can use the 'Connect to Personnel Payment' function to connect the Personnel Payment and the expense claim. Follow these steps:

  1. Enter the Personnel Payment in the usual way, mark it as Ordered and OK and save.

  2. Enter the Expense record, again in the usual way, ensuring you specify a Person in the header.

  3. When the Expense record is complete (i.e. when you have added every row and amount), select 'Connect to Personnel Payment' from the Operations menu (Windows/Mac OS X) or Tools menu.

  4. The Expense record will be saved, and a new row will be added, containing the phrase "Pers. Pay. No.":

    From the field to the right of this phrase, use 'Paste Special' to bring up a list of open Personnel Payments issued to the Person in the Expense record. An open Personnel Payment is one that has not yet been fully allocated to an Expense. If a Personnel Payment record contains more than one payment to the Person, the payments will be listed individually in the 'Paste Special' window.

  5. Select a Personnel Payment from the list. The Personnel Payment Number will be added to the special Personnel Payment row, as will the open value of the Personnel Payment or the TOTAL from the Expense footer, whichever is the lower:

  6. Note that if a Personnel Payment record contains more than one payment to the Person, you will only have connected to one of those payments i.e. you will have connected to one row in the Personnel Payment. Repeat steps 4-5 if you want to connect to a second row in the Personnel Payment, or if you want to connect to a row in a second, different, Personnel Payment.

  7. After saving the Expense record again, it will no longer be possible to change the Person in the header. This will ensure the Expense record and the connected Personnel Payment remain related to the same Person.

  8. When you mark the Expense record as OK and save, the open value of the Personnel Payment will be reduced by the value in the special Personnel Payment row.

    Note that it is important to ensure that the Expense record is complete before selecting the 'Connect to Personnel Payment' function. If the Expense record is incomplete when you select the function to the extent that the TOTAL is not the full value, this will be the amount that will be placed in the special Personnel Payment row. When you mark the Expense record as OK and save it, the open value of the Personnel Payment will be reduced by this value.

    If you select 'Connect to Personnel Payment' before the Expense is complete (it may be that a late change is required) you can either change the amount shown in the special Personnel Payment row or you can delete the special Personnel Payment row and use 'Connect to Personnel Payment' once again. If you choose the former option, you will be prevented from entering an amount that is greater than the open value of the Personnel Payment, or greater than the TOTAL of the Expense record.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Operations Menu - Expense - Request Approval

This page describes the 'Request Approval' function on the Operations menu in the Expense record window. If you are using iOS or Android, the 'Request Approval' function is on the Tools menu (with 'wrench' icon).

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If an Expense record has to pass through an approval process before you can mark it as OK or print it, use this function to begin that approval process. Please refer to the description of the Approval Status field on the 'Misc' card of the Expense window for brief details about the approval process and here for full details.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Operations Menu - Expense - Cancel Approval Request

This page describes the 'Cancel Approval Request' function on the Operations menu in the Expense record window. If you are using iOS or Android, the 'Cancel Approval Request' function is on the Tools menu (with 'wrench' icon).

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If an Expense record needs to go through an approval process before you can mark it as OK or print it and you have started that approval process by selecting 'Request Approval' from the Operations menu (Windows/Mac OS X) or Tools menu (iOS/Android), you will no longer be able to modify the Expense record. So, if you realise the Expense record contains an error, you must cancel the approval process before you can correct the error. To do this, open the Expense record and choose 'Cancel Approval Request' from the Operations or Tools menu. You will now be able to amend the Expense record and then restart the approval process by once again choosing 'Request Approval'.

If you cannot cancel the approval process, the probable reasons are:

Please refer to the description of the Approval Status field on the 'Misc' card of the Expense window for brief details of the approval process and here for full details.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Create Menu - Expenses

The Create menus for Expenses are shown above. On the left is the Create menu for the 'Expenses: Browse' window. On the right is the Create menu for the 'Expense: New' and 'Expense: Inspect' windows. If you are using iOS or Android, you can access the Create menu functions through the + menu.

'New' and 'Duplicate' are standard functions that are provided on every Create and + menu. Use these functions to create new records, in this case in the Expense register. Please follow the links below for details about the other functions:

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Create Menu - Expense - Workflow Activity

This page describes the 'Workflow Activity' function on the Create menu in the Expense record window. If you are using iOS or Android, the 'Workflow Activity' function is on the + menu.

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Creating an Activity from an Expense record can be useful when you need to schedule a follow-up task related to that record.

You can create an Activity from an Expense record using the following methods:

  1. Open the Expense record in a record window and select 'Workflow Activity' from the Create or + menu. Save any changes you have made to the Expense record before selecting the function.

  2. Open the Expense record in a record window and then open the 'Workflow Manager' window. Click or tap the [+] button in this window to create a new Activity.
In all cases, the new Activity will be opened automatically for checking and approval:

The new record will be opened in a window entitled 'Activity: Inspect'. This means that it has already been saved and is being opened for checking.
The new Activity will contain the following information:
After amendment if necessary, save the record in the Activity register by clicking the [Save] button (Windows/Mac OS X) or tapping √ (iOS/Android). You can then close it using the close box (Windows/Mac OS X) or by tapping < (iOS/Android). Alternatively, if you no longer require the Activity, remove it using the 'Delete' function on the Record menu (which has a 'cog' icon if you are using iOS or Android). In either case, you will be returned to the Expense window.

The Expense record and the Activity will be connected to each other through the Link Manager and Workflow Manager. When reviewing the Activity, you can return to the Expense record quickly and easily using the Link Manager in the Activity, while you can open the Activity from the Expense record using the Workflow Manager.

You must save an Expense record at least once before you can create an Activity from it. This is to ensure that the links mentioned in the previous paragraph can be established.

The 'Activity: Inspect' window is fully described here.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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Create Menu - Expense - Email

This page describes the 'Email' function on the Create menu in the Expense record window. If you are using iOS or Android, the 'Email' function is on the + menu.

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The 'Email' function allows you to create a Mail from an Expense record.

To create a Mail from an Expense record, first open the Expense record in a record window and then select 'Email' from the Create menu (Windows/Mac OS X) or + menu (iOS/Android). The following window will appear, where you can create a new Mail:

The new record will be opened in a window entitled 'Mail: Inspect'. This means that it has already been saved and is being opened for checking. The details in the Mail will be as follows:
You can reformat the main body of the Mail to suit your requirements, and add a recipient. If you are then ready to send the Mail, tick the Sent box. Finally, save the Mail by clicking the [Save] button (Windows/Mac OS X) or tapping √ (iOS/Android). If you are using the Lock and Send emails Automatically option in the Mail and Conference Settings setting in the Email and Conferences module and the Mail contains an external email address (i.e. one with the @ sign), it will now be sent automatically. If you are not using this option, select 'Send email' from the Mail's Operations or Tools menu after you have saved the Mail. Finally, close the Mail using the close box (Windows/Mac OS X) or by tapping < (iOS/Android). You will be returned to the Expense window.

If the function does not create a Mail, the probable causes are:

  1. The current user does not have a Mailbox.

  2. The Expense record has not been saved.

  3. The Approval Status of the Expense record does not allow a Mail to be created from it. If you need Expense records to pass through an approval process before you can create Mails from them, you can configure such a process using the Approval Rules register in the Business Alerts module. Please refer to the description of the Approval Status field on the 'Misc' card of the Expense record for brief details about the approval process and here for full details.
To be able to use this function, the Email and Conferences option in the Configuration setting in the System module must be ticked. If you wish to use this function to send Mails to other members of staff, the intended recipients must have Mailboxes. If you need to send Mails to Customers, you must be using the External Gateway module, and you must have configured the Email SMTP Server setting. Please refer here for full details about the mailing facilities in Standard ERP.

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The Expense register in Standard ERP:

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