Your first claim

This tutorial follows one claim through the whole process, so you can see what each person does and what changes. It also works as a test script: each step says what you should see.

You need two people. If you run a one-person company, the same person can do every step, because the creator holds every role.

Person	Roles needed	What they do
The employee	Employee	Adds a claim and submits the sheet
The approver	Approver, assigned to the employee	Reviews and approves it
The processor	Manager	Processes it for payment

Before you begin

• The employee has a vehicle recorded with an engine size, and has verified their email address.
• The employee has an approver assigned. New people inherit the company’s default approver. See Choose approvers and managers.
• You are looking at the sheet for the current month. Open Sheets and choose Open on that month. It shows the status Draft.

1. The employee adds a journey

1. Open the sheet and choose the Mileage tab, then New.

2. Under Details, check Departure, Return and fill in Purpose. Reference is optional. Choose Next - Route.

3. Under Route, enter an Origin and a Destination, and pick each from the suggestions.

   A line appears on the map and the distance is shown, for example “13.3 km. The line is the driving route between these stops.”

4. Choose Finish.

   You return to the sheet’s Mileage tab with the message “Saved.” The journey is listed with its distance, rate and amount, and the Mileage total at the top has increased.

See Add a journey for the details and what can go wrong.

2. The employee submits the sheet

1. On the sheet, choose Submit.

2. Read the confirmation and choose the button to submit.

   The status changes from Draft to Submitted. The sheet can no longer be edited.

If the sheet shows a warning, you must explain it first. See Explain a warning. See Submit a sheet for the rule about earlier months.

3. The approver approves it

1. The approver receives an Approval Required notification and an email. Open Workflow and choose the Approval tab, or open the link in the email.

2. Open the sheet and review the claims, warnings and totals.

3. Choose Approve, read the confirmation, and choose Approve again.

   The status changes to Approved. The employee receives a Sheet Approved notification.

To send it back instead, choose Return and give a reason. See Approve or return a sheet.

4. The manager processes it

1. Open Workflow and choose the Processing tab (or Approved), then choose Process on the sheet.

2. Optionally enter a Reference, such as a payroll batch, and confirm.

   The status changes to Processed. The sheet is now locked. Processing records that the company has carried out its reimbursement process. It does not confirm that the employee has been paid.

See Process an approved sheet.

What happens next

Next month’s sheet can now be submitted. A sheet can only be submitted once every earlier sheet in the same company year is Processed, because the distance travelled so far in the year carries forward and decides the rate. See How mileage is calculated.

Related

• How a sheet moves
• Statuses
• Roles and permissions