Reimbursements

The first step when using reimbursements is to add the reimbursement type, which contains a list of settings for how a reimbursement should be applied.

Once it's set up in your platform, your employees can submit reimbursements for approval.
 

To add or edit a reimbursement type:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Payroll Settings > Reimbursements.
2. Here, you'll see your existing reimbursements, which can be edited if required. Reimbursements will be ordered by ID number.
   
     Please note: You cannot delete or archive a reimbursement type. 
3. Select + Reimbursement type to create a new one, or select the pencil icon to the right to edit. 

4. Enter the following information:

   • Reimbursement name - The title of the reimbursement. This will be visible everywhere the reimbursement is, including payslips & invoices. (30 characters maximum).
   • Maximum amount - The maximum amount that can be submitted in a single reimbursement request. If set to 0, there will be no maximum amount. 
   • Billed to - Specifies whether the reimbursement can be added to invoices. This option only applies to your platform if you use invoicing.  
     • Employer - The reimbursement cannot be added to the invoice. 
     • Operation - The reimbursement can be added to the invoice. 
   • Add GST on Invoice - Specifies whether GST is added on top of the reimbursement on invoices. This option only applies to accounts using invoicing.  

     Please note: Billed to & Add GST on Invoice will only appear on platforms for labour-hire organisations.

5. Request a reimbursement comment -This option is enabled by default to allow employees to provide information on their reimbursement submissions through an optional comment field. Disable if preferred not to use. (250 characters maximum). 
6. Select Create or Save.

Your reimbursement is now configured and will be selectable to employees from the drop-down box in their Employee App.

If your business or specific employees regularly require reimbursements for expenses, the recommended best practice is to allow employees to submit their own reimbursements. Submitted reimbursements will appear on the Approve Shifts page, where they can be reviewed and approved by an admin user.

This process uses the Submit Shifts feature, which can be enabled per employee or in bulk from the People menus. 

  You can read more about enabling Submit Shifts in your platform, as well as enabling employees to submit reimbursements, in this helpful guide. 

As submitting reimbursements uses the Submit Shifts feature, there are some additional considerations for how employees can use it:

• Casual and permanent employees, in addition to submitting reimbursements, can also submit shift times and weekly allowances. 

• Salaried employees can only submit reimbursements and weekly allowances. Salaried employees cannot submit shift times, as their shifts do not go through the Approve Shifts workflow.

    Hot tip: Salaried employees will need to select a roster. It would be a good idea to discuss with them which roster they should select. As these employees are not necessarily rostered for their weekly work, having a conversation with them will make the experience smoother.  

• Employees can submit multiple reimbursements for the same date, including multiple reimbursements of the same type. Each reimbursement submission will appear separately for approval.

  For instructions on how your employees can submit reimbursements through the Employee App, please refer to our employee article Submit shifts - Add weekly reimbursements or allowances.

Reimbursements submitted by your employees will be available to manage in Approve Shifts. The requests will sit against the roster the employee selected. This allows the reimbursement to be costed to this roster unless overridden on the position.

  Hot tip: As an employee adds a reimbursement as a weekly item, it will be visible on all days of the week and can be managed from any day. You can use the calendar icon to see the date it was incurred by the employee.
 

To manage a reimbursement submission:

1. Navigate to Time & attendance > Approve Shifts.
2. Locate the reimbursement request under the roster that was selected by the employee. 
   
     Hot tip: Narrow down your view by selecting the 'Weekly Reimbursement' filter option to view only employees who have reimbursements submitted. 
3. Select the green tick to Approve, the red X to decline, or the pencil icon to edit. 
4. Before managing, under the Additional column, you can see icons to reveal:
   • The attached document.
   • The comment that was added by the employee.
   • The date the expense was incurred. 
5. If editing the request, you can change the reimbursement type, the amount, and the supporting documentation or edit and add additional text in the comment box.
6. Once approved, the reimbursement will be added to the employee's draft payslip for the relevant pay period. 

   Please note: Ensure that approval managers have access to the rosters to which their employees will be submitting reimbursements. This is especially important for salaried employees who are not necessarily rostered for their work hours. 

Admin users can process reimbursements for employees on their behalf. This can be done either in Approve Shifts or directly on the draft payslip. The steps below refer to the Approve Shifts method. 
 

To add a reimbursement in Approve shifts:

1. Navigate to Time and attendance > Approve Shifts. 
2. Use the filters to select the relevant week and operation. 
3. Select + Weekly item listed above the roster you'd like the reimbursement costed to and select Add reimbursement. 
4. Add the reimbursement details. 
   • Reimbursement Type - The title of the reimbursement. This will be displayed to the employee on their payslip. 
   • Reimbursement Date - The date the reimbursement refers to.
   • Amount - The value to be reimbursed. 
   • Roster - The roster to which the reimbursement is to be costed. This will be overridden in the case of position costing overrides. 
   • Position - The employee's position. 
   • Employee - The employee to receive the reimbursement. 
   • Documentation - The supporting documentation for the reimbursement. Typically, a tax receipt. 
   • Comment - Add a comment about this reimbursement.
5. Select Add reimbursement.

The reimbursement will now appear as a line under your selected roster for approval. Once approved, it will then be added to the employee's draft payslip for the relevant pay period.

If your business doesn't need or want your employees to use the Submit Shifts feature, or if you're looking for a way to add your weekly reimbursements all at once, then the import option might be a better choice.

With the reimbursement import feature, you can add and approve multiple reimbursements for your entire workforce in one go! Once imported, these reimbursements can be viewed in Approve shifts. 

Before using this feature to import reimbursements to the Approve Shifts page, please consider the following:

• Employees do not need to have a rostered shift to use the import. 
• Existing reimbursements cannot be edited using the import.
• You can only use this feature to import reimbursements in a pending or approved state.
• Comments, documentation (file uploads), or reimbursement dates can not be captured with the import. 
   

To import reimbursements:

1. Navigate to the main menu > Import/ Export > CSV Import.
2. From the dropdown menu, select Employee Reimbursements. 
3. For this import, you will require the following:
   • Employee ID - This information can be exported from People > Approved People > Bulk Actions. 
   • Reimbursement ID - Select View Reimbursements to navigate to the reimbursements page. 
   • Roster ID - This information can be exported from the Shifts CSV import > Export Rosters. 
   • Position/ Position Group ID - This information can be exported from the Shifts CSV import > Export Positions/ Position Groups. 
     
       Hot tip: You can use this import to assign specific cost codes or purchase orders to each reimbursement added. Before importing, check that the codes entered are already available in your library. This import will not create new codes; if a code is not found in your library, it will be treated as a once-off code for that import only.

4. Download a sample CSV file, and select Download Blank File. This document can be edited and used to import (and approve) weekly reimbursements. 
   
     Hot tip: The Get Field Definitions button is a helpful tool that provides a list of required formatting for each column in the CSV. Mandatory fields are marked with a (*).

   

5. Complete and Save your amended CSV document.
6. To upload your completed CSV, select the Choose file button and upload your CSV document.
7. Select Import CSV.

Once your CSV document has been uploaded, please wait for the bar to finish importing the details before navigating to another screen.

Data Validation

When importing data into foundU, the data must be provided in the correct format. Below, you will find all the information required about the columns included in this import and the formats accepted for editable data. 

  Please note: The bold rows in the table below denote mandatory columns in your export. 

When it comes to managing reimbursements, particularly if they are a regular part of your business practice, we recommend that they be submitted by employees for approval or added by admins through Approved Shifts. This ensures that once approved, the reimbursement will automatically be applied to the employee’s payslip.

However, reimbursements can also be added directly to a payslip by:

• Editing a draft payslip, or
• Creating an adjustment for a generated payslip

This is commonly used for one-off reimbursements, when submit shifts is not enabled for your platform or employee, or when making other payroll adjustments.

Reimbursements on a payslip will display in their own section and do not contribute to Gross or Net Pay, as they are not considered employee earnings.

As shown in the image above, the employee Ria has a reimbursement of $90. This is displayed as its own line item on the payslip and within the payslip summary.

  For the full instructions on adding a reimbursement to a payslip, please refer to our article Edits, adjustments and overpayments. 

Approved and paid reimbursements can be reported via the Reimbursements report. Any information employees or admins include when a reimbursement is submitted will appear in this report, including the submission date, comments, and attachments.
 

To run a reimbursement report:

1. Navigate to Reports > Financial and select the Reimbursements Report.
2. Select your Duration or Custom date range.
3. Select your groupings (i.e. columns to display). The available options are:
   • Employee ID
   • Operation ID
   • Office code ID
   • Cost code ID
   • Reimbursement
   • Pay period
   • Batch ID
4. Optionally, use additional filters to narrow down your returned results. 
   • Employee - Specify particular employees to report on. 
   • Operations - Specify reimbursements costed under specific operations. 
   • Office Codes - The office code that paid the employee for the reimbursement. 
   • Reimbursement Types - Specify reimbursement types to report on. 
   • Reimbursement Status - Approved or Paid.
5. Optionally, enable the checkbox Split reimbursements and show details. This will ungroup reimbursements into the individual requests and show more detail, including:
   • All Statuses - Approved or Paid.
   • Submitted Date - Date employee selected in the Employee App.
   • Pay Date - The date reimbursement was paid to the employee.
   • Pay Period - Relevant pay period.
   • Attachment - File uploaded by the employee.
   • Comments - Comment made in the Employee App or in Approve shifts.
6. Submit the report and view the details. You can also export the results to CSV, PDF and print as needed.

  Hot tip: You can use the Advanced Payroll Activity Report to track reimbursements paid during a specific time period. This report offers a lot of customisation options, including grouping and filtering. Keep in mind that this report only includes reimbursements that have been paid, not those that are still pending approval.

Why can't my employee submit a reimbursement from their Employee App?

The employee will need to have the 'Submit shifts' toggle on in their Employee profile in order to access the + Weekly reimbursement option under the Times menu in their Employee App.

Employees do not need to submit a shift to use the weekly reimbursement option.

Can salaried employees also submit reimbursements from the Employee App, even though they may not have 'shifts' or specific days of work?

All employees can submit reimbursements through the Employee App, casuals, permanent and salaried alike!

The reimbursement does not need to be attached to a shift; as long as the employee can access the + Weekly reimbursement option under the Times menu, they can submit the reimbursement request. 

Can an employee add a reimbursement for a specific day or shift? I would like to know the date that the expense is relevant to my business's reporting.

When an employee submits a reimbursement they will select the relevant date that the business expense applies to. This date can be in the present day, or a date in the past. For example, a parking expense from last Tuesday, 08/08/24.

As the employee will select the 'roster' that they worked on, you'll be able to see the shift it relates to (where applicable) in Approve shifts. However, reimbursements can be submitted on days without any shifts as well.

This 'reimbursement submitted' date can be viewed under the Additional column in Approve Shifts, as well as via the Reimbursement report.

When I review my employee's payslip, I notice that the reimbursement is not included in the employee's net pay. Is this correct?

The total amount of the reimbursement will not contribute to the employee's net pay being that a reimbursement is technically not part of any wages, and therefore is not reported to the ATO.

You will however see the reimbursement total as part of the Total Pay figure on the top-right of the employee's payslip.

The relevant ABA file will include the amount of reimbursements paid as these funds are part of the total pay paid to the employee and therefore need to be transferred in the ABA file

Is there a way I can download all the reimbursements for a specific period to provide them to an external accounts person?

To see a list of reimbursements and export these, you can navigate to Reports > Financial > Reimbursements Report > Filter by the relevant date range > Submit > export.

One of my managers cannot see the employee reimbursement in Approve shifts that they are trying to approve.

There are a few things you'll want to check here in order to find the related issue. Please ensure that the manager in question:

• Has the permission 'Authorise reimbursement requests' which gives them access to approve such requests in Approve shifts.
• Has access to the roster (within their roster search restrictions) that the employee has submitted the reimbursement to.
• Has access to the employee as part of (within their employee search restrictions) so that they can Approve this person's reimbursement.