Reimbursements

Manage employee reimbursements in your platform

Employee reimbursements refer to the process of an employer reimbursing an employee for costs incurred while at work, such as food expenses while travelling or personal mobile phone usage. These expenses have already been incurred by the employee and need to be repaid, usually after being submitted with a receipt.

Reimbursements can be processed for your employees in foundU by the below methods:

• Allow employees to submit reimbursement requests that will undergo an approval process.
• Submitted by admin users via Approve shifts or by a payslip edit.

In this article, we will cover:

• Setting up reimbursement types for use in your platform
• How employees can submit reimbursement requests
• Approving employee reimbursement requests
• Adding reimbursements on behalf of employees
• Reporting on reimbursements

There are two permissions related to Reimbursements. The permission that you have enabled will determine which functionality you can interact with.

  Please note: Users will need the permission 'Manage reimbursements' to configure reimbursement types and to interact directly with reimbursements on a payslip. Users will need 'Authorise reimbursement requests' to add reimbursements in Approve shifts for employees and to approve employee-submitted reimbursement requests.

Setting up Reimbursements

Add or edit a reimbursement type

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 is added to invoices. This option only applies to your platform if you use invoicing.  
     • Employer - The reimbursement will not be added to the invoice. 
     • Operation - The reimbursement will 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.

Employee submitted Reimbursements

Employee applies for a reimbursement

If you want employees to submit reimbursements through their Employee App, this option can be enabled on a per-employee basis or for employees in bulk. This functionality is achieved through the use of Submit Shifts.

  You can read more about enabling submit shifts in your platform & enabling employees (single or in bulk) to Submit reimbursements in this helpful guide. 

The process your employees will go through to submit their reimbursements is as follows:

1. In the Employee app, the employee will select the Times icon (bottom-right) > Weekly reimbursement.
2. They will select from the available reimbursement types and add all relevant information including their supporting documentation. 
3. The relevant admin will then receive a notification via email or SMS.
4. The request will then be ready to manage in Time & attendance > Approve Shifts.

  Hot tip: Employees can submit multiple reimbursements for the same date. This includes reimbursements of the same type. Each reimbursement will come through for a separate approval.

   Please note: If you have salaried staff who will be submitting reimbursements, it would be a good idea to discuss with them what roster they should select. As these employees are not necessarily rostered for their weekly work, having a conversation with them will make for a smoother experience.  

Approving a reimbursement submission

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. 
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 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. 

Submitting a Reimbursement for an employee

Adding reimbursements in Approve Shifts

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 the reimbursement is to be costed to. 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.

Importing reimbursements to Approve Shifts

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. 

How 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. 
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. 

Column Name	Column definition	Editable	Accepted format
Employee ID	Unique identifier for the employee.	Y	Numerical
Employee Name	Employee's full name.	Y	N/A
Week end	Date of the week ending that reimbursement falls in.	Y	dd/mm/yyyy
Reimbursement  ID	Unique identifier for the reimbursement.	Y	Numerical
Reimbursement type	Name of the reimbursement.	Y	N/A
Amount	Value of the reimbursement. You are only able to import values that are within the set maximum limit.	Y	0, 0.00 $ is not required.
Roster ID	Unique identifier for the roster.	Y	Numerical
Roster Name	Name of the roster.	Y	N/A
Position ID	Unique identifier for the employee's position. This is required only if position groups are not used for the applicable rosters.	Y	Numerical
Position Group ID	Unique identifier for a position group. This is required only when position groups are in use for the relevant roster.	Y	Numerical
Position Name	Name of the position or position group.	Y	N/A
Status	Reimbursement status.	Y	Approved, Pending, or leave blank.

Adding reimbursements to payslips

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 draft payslip method. 

To add a reimbursement to a payslip:

1. Navigate to Payroll > Pay.
2. Locate the employee's payslip > select the down arrow next to the payslip ID > Edit.
3. In the reimbursement section, select Add Reimbursement and enter the details.
   • Type - The reimbursement type. 
   • Amount - The value to be reimbursed. 
   • Cost Code / Purchase Order - Where the reimbursement should be costed. 
4. Update payslip. Enter a reason for the manual edit then save changes. 

Once the payslip has been generated, reimbursements will appear in the relevant section on the employee's payslip, each appearing as a separate line. 

The image below highlights that the reimbursement amount does not contribute to the employee's Gross or Net Pay as it is not technically a part of wages. 

Reporting & FAQs

Reimbursements Report

Approved and paid reimbursements can be reported via the Reimbursements report. Any information employees or admins include when a reimbursement is submitted will flow through to 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.

FAQs

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.