> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.dash.fi/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Submitting expenses

> How cardholders add receipts, memos, and spend categories to card transactions and submit them for approval in Dash.fi.

When Expense Management is enabled, each card transaction becomes an expense record assigned to the cardholder. Your job is to fill in the required details and submit it before your policy deadline.

## Finding your expenses

Go to **Expenses** in the left-hand navigation. The **Transactions** page lists all expenses assigned to you, grouped by status across six tabs:

| Tab               | What's shown                                               |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| **All**           | Every expense — pending, submitted, approved, and returned |
| **Draft**         | Started but not yet submitted                              |
| **Submitted**     | Sent for approval, awaiting review                         |
| **Needs Review**  | Returned by your approver — changes required               |
| **Approved**      | Approved by your approver                                  |
| **Out of Policy** | Flagged expenses (coming soon)                             |

Each tab shows a live count badge so you can see at a glance how many items need attention.

## Expense statuses

| Status            | Meaning                                                        |
| ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Needs coding**  | Transaction captured — no category, memo, or receipt yet       |
| **Draft**         | Expense started but not submitted                              |
| **Submitted**     | Sent for approval                                              |
| **Needs Review**  | Returned by your approver — open it to see what needs changing |
| **Approved**      | Approved by your approver                                      |
| **Ready to Sync** | Marked ready by your accounting team for GL sync               |
| **Synced**        | Successfully pushed to your connected accounting platform      |
| **Sync Failed**   | Sync attempt failed — contact your accounting team             |

## Filling in an expense

Click any expense row to open the expense sheet. The sheet has three tabs: **Overview**, **Notes**, and **Activity**.

### Spend category

Select a spend category from the dropdown. Dash.fi suggests one based on the merchant and transaction context. The suggestion appears with a sparkle icon at the top of the list, along with a brief explanation. Accept it or pick a different one.

Categories can also be set directly from the table without opening the sheet — click the category cell in any row.

### Memo

Type a description of what the purchase was for. The memo saves automatically as you type.

### Receipt

Attach the receipt using the receipt section:

* Click to open the file picker, or drag and drop a file onto the receipt area
* Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, PDF
* Maximum file size: 10 MB

After uploading, the filename is shown with a **View receipt** link (opens in a new tab) and a **Replace** button. To swap the receipt, click **Replace** and upload a new file.

Your company's policy determines whether a receipt is required before you can submit. If your policy sets a minimum amount, only expenses above that threshold require one.

## Bulk actions

To work through several expenses at once, select rows using the checkboxes on the left of the **Transactions** table. A bulk action bar appears at the top with the count of selected expenses and the actions below. Each action only runs on eligible rows. Anything that doesn't qualify — for example, an already-submitted expense — is skipped and called out in a toast.

| Action                    | What it does                                                                                                         | Eligible expenses                                                 |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Categorize**            | Opens a searchable category picker and applies the chosen spend category to every editable expense in the selection. | Status is **Needs coding**, **Draft**, or **Needs Review**.       |
| **Accept AI suggestions** | Confirms the pending AI-suggested category on each expense that has one but no committed category yet.               | Editable expenses with an unconfirmed AI suggestion.              |
| **Submit**                | Submits every eligible expense for approval in one click.                                                            | Expenses in **Draft** or **Needs Review** that are ready to send. |
| **Export**                | Exports the selected expenses using the standard export menu.                                                        | All selected rows.                                                |

The count next to each bulk button (for example, **Submit 8**) shows how many of your selected rows the action will touch. After the action runs, Dash.fi shows a toast summarising how many succeeded, failed, and were skipped.

Selection clears automatically when you switch tabs, so moving between **All**, **Draft**, **Submitted**, and the other tabs won't carry stale selections between them.

The **Merchant** column stays pinned to the left as you scroll horizontally, and any AI-suggested spend category you haven't accepted yet appears in italic, muted text in the category cell — click the cell to accept the suggestion or pick a different one.

Finance teams reviewing expenses from **Accounting → Card Transactions** have a similar bulk action bar with **Mark ready** and bulk export — see [Coding transactions for accounting](/spend-management/coding-transactions) for details.

## Submit for approval

Once you've filled in the required fields, click **Submit for Review** at the bottom of the sheet. The expense status moves to **Submitted** and your approver is notified.

## Approver review

Approvers receive the expense in their **Inbox**. Opening it shows the full expense details — merchant, amount, category, memo, and receipt — along with **Approve**, **Decline**, and **Return** actions.

* **Approve** — marks the expense as approved and moves it to the accounting sync queue
* **Decline** — rejects the expense; the cardholder can see the outcome in their **Approved** or **Needs Review** tab
* **Return** — sends the expense back to the cardholder with notes requesting changes

Approvers can also add notes to the expense directly from the approval view.

## If your expense is returned

When an approver sends an expense back, it moves to **Needs Review** status. Open the expense to see:

* A **Changes requested** banner at the top of the Overview tab
* Notes from your approver in the **Notes** tab explaining what to update

Make the requested changes and click **Resubmit for Review**.

## Notes

The **Notes** tab is a threaded conversation between you and your approver. Use it to add context, ask a question, or respond to feedback. Notes are visible to both parties and are timestamped.

Press Enter to post a note. Use Shift + Enter for a line break.

## Activity

The **Activity** tab shows a timeline of every event on the expense: when it was submitted, reviewed, approved, or returned, and by whom. Use it to understand the history of an expense or follow up with an approver.