An expense report is paperwork that keeps track of money spent using company money.

This free, simple template saves your team a whole lot of work when it comes to submitting expense reports. It outlines exactly what’s needed to make sure your team is paid on time, and gives your finance team everything they need to know to approve the payment as quickly as possible.

How to use the expense report template

The pre-made expense report form is easy to use. To prevent payment delays, make sure you fill out the expense form in as much detail as possible. Here’s the entire breakdown of submitting an expense using this template:

• Fill in all the required company and employee details, including: name, address, department, VAT ID.
• Select reimbursement type from the dropdown menu (you can choose between a cash payment or bank transfer). 
• Fill in the required account details, including the account owner, sort code, account number, and bank name. 
• Enter the date of expense and the entire name of the establishment. 
• Select the description of expenses from the dropdown menu, for example: accommodation, marketing, or food & drink. 
• Attach an electronic Select the description of expenses from the dropdown menu, for example: accommodation, marketing, or food & drink of the receipt via the ‘receipt’ column. Then, upload the file from your computer.
• Enter the full amount of the expense, making sure to break up expenses if submitting for multiple expenses.

What your expense template should look like

Expenses come in all shapes and sizes, whether it’s a coffee at a client meeting or a pricey flight to HQ. Despite the versatility of the expenses your team submits, this business expense report template is a one-size-fits-all for the most common company spending. 

For speedy reimbursements and a happy finance team, an expense template should:

• Have the details of both the company and employee claiming the expense.
• Be accessible for everyone via desktop or mobile (especially for those last minute changes). 
• Include as much detail as possible for each claimed expense, including category, date, and receipt. 
• Allow for customisability so it’s tailored to your business’s policies, branding, and most claimed expense types. 
• Be intuitive to use. Outline everything that’s required to get paid on time, but also what’s needed so finance doesn't need to chase. 

The benefits of centralising business spend using expense report templates

Expenses quickly add up, especially for growing teams. By keeping track of all your employee’s spending in one place, you can better visualise what (and how much) your business is spending, otherwise the financial picture gets a little blurry.

Greater financial control 

When it comes to month-end, finance teams have a lot of their desks. With loose receipts and unexplained purchases, things can quickly get out of hand. Expense reports provide a clear overview of what teams are spending, giving finance full spending transparency and financial control.

Streamlined reimbursement process

Tracking and reporting expenses correctly means finance stays in control, and your team gets paid back on time (and with the correct amount). A pre-made expense template leaves minimal room for error which speeds up the entire reimbursement process, from filing the expense to receiving the amount back to their personal accounts. 

Leave expenses to Pleo

Believe it or not, there’s an (even) easier way to manage company spending. While templates can get you from A to B, Pleo can get you there a whole lot quicker, all while keeping finance in control. 

Remove manual admin with digital receipt capture

Keeping track of receipts is one of the hardest parts of manual expense reporting. We make it easy – just use the Pleo app to snap your receipt.

Every purchase categorised right before your eyes

The Pleo expense system categorises all purchases, making it easy for finance teams to track spending in real-time.

Save time, money, and a whole lot of work on every expense

Human error and delays make it hard to depend on manual expense reports. Just fixing those simple mistakes slows you – but Pleo’s automated expense reporting wins that time back.