In a small company, expenses are rarely a big topic until the end of the month. Then someone searches a jacket pocket for a receipt from three weeks ago, the accountant asks what a payment was for, and the owner cannot remember approving it.
A routine does not need software. It needs four decisions written on one page and a fixed day in the calendar.
Decide what is reimbursed
Start with a short list that anyone can read in a minute:
- Covered: travel tickets, accommodation on agreed trips, meals during a trip, small office supplies, parking, and software that was approved in advance.
- Not covered: personal purchases, fines, alcohol, and anything bought on a private card for convenience that could have been bought through the company.
- Limit without asking: choose an amount, for example the price of a modest lunch for small items and a higher figure for single purchases. Anything above it needs approval before the purchase, not after.
For software and equipment, a separate short request to the owner with the price and the reason is better than an expense claim afterwards.
The three-day photo rule
The receipt is easiest to handle on the day of the purchase. Ask everyone to follow one rule:
- Photograph the receipt within three days. Use the phone, with the whole page visible and readable.
- Send it to one place: a shared folder, a dedicated mailbox or the accounting app. Not private chats.
- Add three words: what it was, what it was for, and which project or client if any.
A file name such as 2026-10-14_train-ticket_client-visit.jpg already does most of the work. Keep paper originals only if your accountant or local rules require them.
One approver and a substitute
Name one person who approves claims, usually the owner or the manager. Name a substitute for holidays. The approver checks three things only:
- Does the receipt show a supplier, date and amount?
- Was the purchase within the rules?
- Is the purpose clear?
If the answer to any is no, the claim goes back with a one-line question. The approver should not approve their own expenses; the owner's claims can be checked by whoever prepares the payments.
The monthly close
Pick a fixed day, for example the third working day of the month, and run the same short routine:
- Collect all receipts and claims from the previous month.
- The approver goes through them and marks each as approved, returned or rejected.
- Approved claims are paid in one batch, so the employees know when to expect their money.
- The folder for the month is closed and passed to the accountant.
- Anything still missing after the close moves to the next month with a note, and the person is reminded.
The whole routine takes thirty to sixty minutes for a team of up to ten people. Compare that to a search for a receipt in December.
Typical mistakes
- Collecting everything at month-end. Receipts are lost and details forgotten. The three-day rule fixes this.
- Unreadable photos. A cut-off total or a blurred date makes the receipt useless for the accountant.
- Mixing private and company payments. Decide which card or account is used for what, and note exceptions.
- No purpose written. An amount without a reason is a question the accountant has to ask later.
- Different approvers every month. People do not know whom to ask and rules drift.
- Skipping the close when it is busy. One skipped month makes the next one twice as long.
A quarterly look
Once a quarter, spend ten minutes looking at the months together: which kinds of expenses repeat, which claims were returned most often, and whether the limit still fits. If the same item keeps appearing, it may be better to pay for it centrally, for example a standard travel booking or a company card for one subscription (see how to run a monthly review of software subscriptions).
Summary
Write down what is covered and the approval limit, ask for a receipt photo within three days, name one approver with a substitute, close the month on a fixed day and pay in one batch. Look at the pattern each quarter. It is a small routine, and it saves both the employees and the accountant from the end-of-month search.
Sources
- Common practice for small businesses, offered as a practical guide. No client results or market figures are claimed in this article. Limits, the three-day period and the closing day are examples; adjust them to your team and to the rules that apply to your accounting.
