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Step 05 - Expense categories

Purpose​

Expense Categories are what employees see and select when submitting an expense. They control which Posting Group is applied to the posting, whether guests must be recorded, whether a project is required, and which Additional Fields appear. Good category design reduces employee errors and automates GL mapping.

Before you start​

Steps​

Create the categories your employees will choose from, in Truvio Expense Management - Overview → Expense Categories → New. For the field-by-field walkthrough - general fields, posting setup lines, SmartExtract, and additional fields - follow Create a new expense category.

For the initial setup, the essentials are:

  • give each category a clear Code and Description the employee will recognize
  • add at least one Posting Setup line with a Use as Default, so every expense has a GL destination
  • use posting-setup criteria (Domestic, Region, With Guests, Has Project) or SmartExtract instead of creating many near-duplicate categories - see Designing expense categories

Decisions that matter here​

How many categories? - fewer categories with SmartExtract Classify is simpler for employees (one "Travel" category instead of seven). More categories gives finance more control without AI. See Designing expense categories.

Domestic vs international split - if domestic and international expenses post to different GL accounts, create two Posting Setup lines for the same category (one with Domestic checked, one without) rather than two separate categories.

Guest requirements - enabling Guests mandatory on entertainment categories supports compliance with local entertainment reporting rules. Combine with Require Company Name for Guests if your rules require it.

Validate​

Log in to the TEM web portal or mobile app as a test employee and confirm the categories you created appear in the expense entry form. Submit a test expense in each category and verify it posts to the correct GL account.

Next​

→ Step 06 - Employees

Field detail​