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Reimbursement method selection

Recommendation​

Use Payment Journal if reimbursements are processed directly in Business Central. Use File Export if your organisation pays expense reimbursements through payroll. Use Vendor Export if employee expense payments must flow through Business Central's accounts payable.

Why​

The method determines where the payment transaction originates. Choosing the wrong method means either double-entering payments (once in Business Central, once in payroll) or breaking the payment audit trail. The method also affects which fields must be set on employee records (Alt. No. for file export, Vendor No. for vendor export).

How to apply​

Payment Journal - simplest option. After posting, finance runs a reimbursement batch in Business Central and the journal entries are created automatically. Suitable when expense payments are separated from payroll.

File Export - generates an export file in the configured format (Generic XML, or a payroll-specific format). Finance sends the file to the payroll provider. Configure the payroll code mapping per expense type. Requires Alt. No. For File Export to be set on each employee card if the payroll system uses a different identifier.

Vendor Export - requires each employee to have a Vendor No. set on their Employee Card. On reimbursement, TEM creates a vendor payment entry which finance processes through Business Central's standard vendor payment flow. Useful when expense reimbursements must go through accounts payable for internal control reasons.

Mix per transaction type - you can use different methods for Expenses, Mileage, and Per Diem. For example: regular expenses via File Export (processed in payroll), mileage via Vendor Export (through accounts payable), per diem via Payment Journal.

Detail level - for most organisations, Summarize (one payment per employee) is correct. Use One Each Line only when employees or auditors specifically need per-expense payment traceability in the bank statement.

Common mistakes​

Vendor Export without Vendor No. on employee cards - the reimbursement run will silently skip employees who are missing a Vendor No., or fail outright. Set Vendor No. on every affected Employee Card before running the first reimbursement.

File Export without Alt. No. for File Export - if your payroll system uses a different employee identifier than Business Central's employee number, the exported file will use Business Central numbers that the payroll system won't recognise. Set Alt. No. For File Export on every employee card before the first export run.

One Each Line when Summarize is expected - One Each Line creates one payment per individual expense, which generates high bank transaction volumes and makes reconciliation significantly harder. Use Summarize (one payment per employee per run) unless per-expense traceability in bank statements is a specific audit requirement.

Mismatched payroll codes - if the payroll code assigned to an expense type in the File Export configuration does not exist in the payroll system, the payroll import will reject those lines. Confirm payroll codes with the payroll team before go-live.

Mixing methods without setting the required fields - if you use different methods per transaction type (e.g. Vendor Export for mileage, File Export for expenses), each method's required fields must be set on the Employee Card. An employee missing Vendor No. will have their mileage blocked even if their expense reimbursement works fine.

When to deviate​

Mixed employee populations - organisations where some employees are reimbursed via payroll and others directly (e.g. permanent staff via File Export, contractors via Payment Journal) can handle this by configuring different reimbursement methods per transaction type. There is no single enforced method across all expense types, so a split configuration is supported without workarounds.

Transitioning between methods - if you change the reimbursement method mid-implementation (for example, switching from Payment Journal to File Export after go-live), existing posted but unreimbursed expenses will process through the new method on the next reimbursement run. Ensure employee records have the required fields set (Alt. No.) before switching, otherwise the first export run after the change will produce incomplete output.