Reimbursements

Reimbursements handles money your people spend on the firm's behalf — a filing fee, travel to a client, a stamp duty payment. A claim is submitted, approved, paid, and where it was incurred for a client, billed on.

Before you start

• The module must be enabled for your firm.
• At least one category — travel, government fees, and so on. Set these up on the Categories tab first; a claim has to be filed under one.

Submit a claim

1. Open Reimbursements from the left menu.
2. Click Submit Reimbursement.
3. Pick the category and enter the amount and the date the money was spent.
4. Say whether it is billable — incurred for a client and to be recovered — or non-billable, a cost the firm carries. Billable claims need the client selected.
5. Attach the receipt. Some categories require one and refuse the claim without it. Images and PDFs only, up to 10 MB.
6. Submit. It is now pending.

Approve a claim

Approval runs in two steps, and they are done by different people:

1. Manager approved — the claimant's manager, or a firm administrator, confirms the expense was real and reasonable.
2. Approved — a firm administrator, or the employee's reporting partner, approves it for payment.

A rejected claim goes back to the employee with the reason, and only they can correct and resubmit it.

Mark it paid

Once the money has actually gone out, mark the claim paid. Only approved claims can be marked paid, so the record never shows money paid on something nobody approved.

Bill it to the client

An approved billable claim joins the client's billing queue and goes onto their next invoice. The Balance (Approved) counter at the top is what is approved and not yet paid.

What the system does on its own

• Chases unbilled costs. Once a week, approved billable claims sitting unbilled for more than a few days are flagged to that client's relationship manager — or the firm owner if none is set.
• Adds billable claims to the billing queue, so recovering a cost is not a separate memory exercise.
• Keeps the totals live at the top of the screen: pending, approved, paid, and the outstanding balance.

What you cannot do (and what to do instead)

• You cannot approve your own claim. It goes to your manager or a firm administrator.
• You cannot skip the manager step. A claim must be manager approved before final approval.
• You cannot mark an unapproved claim paid. Approve it first.
• You cannot reject a claim that has been paid. The money has gone — handle it outside the system.
• Only the employee can resubmit their own rejected claim. A manager cannot fix it for them.
• You cannot attach anything but an image or a PDF, up to 10 MB.

Common questions

Billable or non-billable?

Billable if the client is being asked to repay it. Non-billable is a cost the firm absorbs. Billable claims need the client named so they can reach the invoice.

My claim was rejected. Now what?

Read the reason, correct it, and resubmit. Only you can — it is your claim.

Why is a receipt required on some categories and not others?

Because your firm set it that way on the category. Change it on the Categories tab.