Fast-track your expense reports

Expense report management is an administrative process that involves various people in your team.

First of all, an employee must complete an expense report each time they return from a business trip. This is essential for getting reimbursed for any expenses incurred during their trip. To make this easier, we recommend that you use an expense report template (article in French).

Next, their manager must check the receipts and cost totals. The manager needs to ensure that the expenses claimed by employees are in fact business expenses and that they comply with company policy.

The company accountant then verifies that all receipts are attached to the expense report before preparing reimbursements. If not, they'll have to send requests to their colleagues to retrieve them.

The regulations are strict. An employer risks penalties if it can't provide the necessary supporting documents during an audit by URSSAF or the tax authorities.

The final step in expense report management requires the manager to approve any employee reimbursements.

Managing expense reports can involve rigorous and cumbersome processes for many companies. Using specialist software can therefore help you save time and gain more visibility over the process.

Here’s a rundown of the main software solutions on the market.

Qonto, the leading European business finance solution

Qonto is not just an expense management tool, but rather a complete solution for managing your business. In addition to a professional account, you can take full advantage of features such as:

• Digital invoicing
• Automatic VAT detection
• Custom labels to categorize your invoices
• Bank transaction exports to simplify your accounting processes
• Customizable dashboards to track your budgets efficiently

Qonto’s essential payment methods make life easier for your teams while allowing you to keep control over expenses:

• Virtual bank cards
• Temporary bank cards
• Company fuel cards

N2F, specialized software for managing expense reports

N2F is a professional expense management solution by OKTEO group, designed for both small and large companies.

On top of paperless invoicing and expense report management, N2F allows you to:

• Calculate mileage allowances
• Set up approval processes
• Manage mission orders and advances on its mobile application

Jenji, software for managing business expenses

Founded in 2016 and acquired in 2022 by Silae, the payroll management specialist, Jenji offers expense management software for medium-sized to large companies.

Similar to other expense management solutions, Jenji has the following features:

• Automatic processing of digital invoices
• Integration with other management solutions used by your company
• Provision of payment cards for online purchases and travel expenses

During a business trip, your employees may incur expenses on behalf of the company. As an employer, you’re obliged to reimburse these expenses but are free to define reimbursement conditions as part of your expenses policy.

The following list covers the main business expenses usually incurred by employees in the context of their trip.

Meal expenses

Meals are an essential expense (article in French) when an employee travels on business. In order to be reimbursed for meal expenses, your employee must keep their receipts and prepare an expense report.

If the business meal takes place with a client or partner, the receipts must include additional information to demonstrate the professional nature of the meal:

• Guests' names
• Job titles
• Company names

To save your employees from having to pay in advance for business-related meals, Qonto gives you the option of using virtual bank cards. These virtual cards allow you to customize:

• What types of expenses are authorized
• Daily, weekly or monthly spending limits

Accommodation expenses

If an assignment requires employees to travel away from their homes, they may have to stay overnight at a hotel. This will incur accommodation expenses.

Your company must reimburse these business expenses, provided the following conditions are met:

• Your employee travels more than 50 kilometers away from their home
• The journey cannot be completed in less than 90 minutes via public transport

If, for example, an employee travels to Lille on business - but lives near Paris Nord train station - they will not be eligible to get reimbursed for accommodation expenses.

Mileage expenses

During a business trip, your employees can request reimbursement on their mileage expenses. These are subject to the same conditions as their accommodation expenses.

Your company's expense policy will define what modes of transportation are eligible for reimbursement. For example, there’s no legal requirement to compensate for bicycle travel.

If a member of your team rents a car, they must be reimbursed for fuel and toll charges, in addition to any rental expenses.

Good to know: Qonto customers are entitled to a 12% discount for car and van rentals from Europcar - a great way to reduce travel costs for your employees.

When using a personal vehicle, an employee must provide the following information so that their employer can calculate their reimbursement, based on the mileage allowance scale (article in French):

• Vehicle license plate number
• Employee's travel destination
• Number of kilometers traveled
• Tax horsepower of the vehicle

Transportation Expenses

Your employees can also request reimbursement for transportation expenses.

To do so, they must specify the purpose of their business trip in their expense report and attach the relevant receipts (plane ticket, train ticket, etc.)

Note: An employee isn’t eligible to be reimbursed for expenses incurred during travel between their home and their workplace.

According to your company's business expense policy, your employees may request reimbursement for expenses other than those listed above.

As an employer, you have two options for reimbursing expenses incurred by your employees during business trips.

Reimbursement for actual expenses

If your company opts for this type of reimbursement, your employees will be compensated for the exact expenses that they paid.

However, this option requires a stricter process when it comes to managing expense reports:

• Employees must keep receipts for every expense they request to be reimbursed on
• The expense report must be carefully prepared
• The manager and accountant must approve the expense report

Reimbursement by flat-rate deduction

Reimbursement by flat-rate deduction can simplify how expense reports are processed and managed at your company. Your employees are no longer obliged to keep and provide receipts for expenses paid during their business trips.

The reimbursement method is set up according to the rates defined by URSSAF. In other words, the reimbursable amount is the same for every employee regardless of what they actually paid.

For example, an employer will reimburse its employee a fixed total of €19.40 if they have to eat in a restaurant, even if the cost of the meal is less than this amount.

A company isn’t obliged to reimburse employees for travel expenses that aren’t backed up by a receipt. If an employee loses a receipt, they need to ask for a duplicate from the store in which they made the purchase.

Alternatively, an employee can get reimbursed for business expenses without a receipt if they provide a sworn statement (article in French) about making the purchase. In this case, the company may require a copy of the employee’s bank statement to prove the amount and date of the expense.

However, it's possible to make an exception if:

• The expenses total is small
• The situation rarely occurs

Note: If any supporting documents are missing in the case of an URSSAF audit, these reimbursements may be reclassified as benefits in kind and subject to social security contributions.

With Qonto, processing receipts (even if they get lost) is no longer a hassle for your company and team. Employees can simply take a photo of their receipts with their smartphone and our expense management solution will:

• Automatically read the receipt's information (date, amount, VAT, supplier's name, etc.)
• Match the receipt to the relevant bank transaction
• Archive the receipt and send it to your accountant

Missing a receipt? Send a reminder to your employees with one tap from your mobile app.