Approving and reimbursing expense reports

Expense report validation is the responsibility of the ACCOUNTANT or ADMIN. This workflow ensures that every expense is justified, correctly categorized, and tracked accounting-wise before reimbursement.

Who can approve an expense report?

Role	Can approve	Can reimburse
ADMIN	Yes	Yes
ACCOUNTANT	Yes	Yes
COLLABORATOR	No	No
EMPLOYEE	No (submit only)	No

Accessing the approval queue

Main menu → Purchases → Expense reports → Awaiting approval tab.

You see all reports submitted by employees with:

• Employee name and 421xxx account
• Period and report purpose
• Total amount
• Number of lines and receipts

Approving an expense report

1. Open the expense report

   Click the report to process. You access the full detail.

2. Review each line

   For each expense line, verify:

   Check	Verification
   Receipt present	Click the attachment and verify its readability
   Consistent amount	Does the entered amount match the receipt?
   Correct date	Is the expense within the declared period?
   Appropriate category	Is the SYSCOHADA account correct for this type of expense?
   Professional nature	Is the expense clearly related to business activity?

   Tip

   If unsure about the category, check the SYSCOHADA chart of accounts. For example: a meal with a client = 625100 (entertainment expenses); a meal alone while travelling = 625100 as well, but the cap may differ based on your HR policy.

3. Approve or reject — two actions available at the top of the report:

   • Approve: SynkriaOps automatically creates the accounting entry, moves the report to APPROVED status and notifies the employee by email.
   • Reject: a mandatory reason field appears. Enter a precise reason (illegible receipt, policy cap exceeded, personal expense). The report moves to REJECTED status with a notification sent to the employee.

4. Record the reimbursement

   After approval, open the approved report and click Record reimbursement:

   Field	Description
   Reimbursement date	Date of bank transfer or cash withdrawal
   Payment account	Bank account (52xxx) or cash (57xxx)
   Amount	Total report amount (pre-filled)
   Reference	Bank transfer reference (optional)

   Confirm. The reimbursement entry is created:

   Account	Description	Debit	Credit
   421001	Employee Mr. Ntangue Jean (reimbursement)	125,500 XAF
   521000	Main bank account		125,500 XAF

   The balance of account 421001 returns to zero — the liability to the employee is settled.

Verifying the 421xxx balance

After reimbursement, verify the employee account is fully settled:

1. Menu → Accounting → General ledger 2. Filter by the employee’s 421xxx account 3. The balance should be 0.00 XAF if all reimbursements are complete

Caution

A debit balance on a 421xxx account means the company owes money to the employee (reimbursement pending). A credit balance means the employee received an advance that hasn’t been justified — check with them.

Managing rejections

When a report is rejected, the employee must:

1. Correct the problematic lines 2. Replace missing or illegible receipts 3. Resubmit the corrected report

You will receive a notification again to reprocess the report.

Archiving reimbursed reports

Reports at REIMBURSED status are automatically archived after 90 days. They remain accessible via search or the Archived filter.

Common errors

Error	Cause	Solution
”421xxx account does not exist”	Employee without created sub-account	Create the 421xxx sub-account in the chart of accounts
”Payment account not selected”	No bank/cash account chosen	Select the reimbursement account
”421 balance non-zero after reimbursement”	Partial reimbursement or missing line	Check and record missing amounts

Further reading

• Creating an expense report — submission process from the employee’s perspective
• Importing a bank statement — verify the reimbursement transfer appears correctly