Expense Report Categories Form

Use the Expense Report Categories form to set up expense categories for employees who enter expense reports in Time & Expense.

Expense categories allow you to define the appropriate general ledger accounts for groups of expenses, such as hotel, meal, and airfare expenses. You enter a direct, indirect, and reimbursable account for each expense category. When employees enter an expense item on an expense report and they choose an expense category, the appropriate direct, indirect, or reimbursable general ledger account that is associated with the category prefills for the expense item based on the charge type (regular, overhead, or promotional) of the project and the billing status (billable or not billable) entered for the expense item. Expense categories also allow you to limit the accounts to which employees can charge expense items on expense reports.

You set up expense categories for groups of employees, so that only a certain set of expense categories are available to members of the group when they enter expense reports. You can also enter expense categories that are available to all employees, regardless of their group affiliation.

When you open the Expense Report Categories form, it displays the expense categories from the employee group that you selected the last time that you opened this form. You see the employee group name in the Group field on the form. To view or enter expense categories for a different group, or for all employee groups, make a selection in the Search field.

If this is the first time that you are setting up expense categories, you must use New > New Group Categories on the Expense Report Categories form toolbar and the Group field to select and set up expense categories for each employee group for the first time.

Additional fields for expense categories are provided on the Expense Categories dialog box that you open from the Expense Report Categories form by clicking the Edit icon on the grid toolbar. You enter default tax codes and distance and company paid override information on the dialog box.

If your firm uses the Multicompany feature, you must enter expense categories for each company in your enterprise.

Display the Expense Report Categories Form

You display the form in Configuration.

To display the form, complete the following step:

From the Vision Navigation menu, click Configuration > Time & Expense > Expense Categories.

Toolbar of the Expense Report Categories Form

Use toolbar options to create new expense report categories or to print a report that lists them.

Contents

Field	Description
Save	Click this option to save expense category entries and changes on this form.
New	After you click this option, select one of the following menu items: Click New Group Categories when you have entered a new employee group on the Employee Group tab in Configuration > Time & Expense > Company Expense, and this is the first time that you are adding expense categories for it. Also, use this option if you have deleted all the expense categories from a group and you want to add new expense categories. After you click New Group Categories, select the employee group from the drop-down list in the Group field. Enter and save at least one expense category for it in the grid. The next time that you open the Expense Report Categories form, the employee group displays on the Group Lookup available from the Search field. Click Copy Current Group Categories to copy expense categories from the currently selected employee group to a different employee group. Click Select Group Categories to Copy to open the Expense Category Lookup and select the employee group whose expense categories you want to copy.
Delete Group Categories	Click this option to delete all of the expense categories for the currently selected employee group that is entered in the Group field. To delete an individual expense category within a group, use the Delete option on the expense categories grid.
Print	Click this option to print the Expense Categories report. This report lists the configuration settings that you entered for the expense categories that you set up in Expense Categories Configuration. Print Current Group — The Expense Categories report includes the expense categories for only the employee group that is currently displayed on the Expense Report Categories form. Print All Groups — The Expense Categories report includes the expense categories for all employee groups that are entered in Expense Categories Configuration.
Help	Click this option to view help for the Expense Report Categories.

Contents of the Expense Report Categories Form

After you select an employee group, use the grid to set up expense report categories for that group.

Field	Description
Search	Click in the Search field to open the Group Lookup. Select an employee group to display that group's expense categories in the grid on the Expense Report Categories form. You can select [All Groups] to display expense categories that apply to all employees. You set up employee groups on the Employee Group tab in Configuration > Time & Expense > Company Expense. An employee group does not display on the Group Lookup (on the Expense Report Categories form) until after you click New > New Group Categories on the Expense Report Categories form toolbar, select the new group from the drop-down list in the Group field on the form, and then enter and save an expense category for the employee group. The next time that you open the Expense Report Categories form, the employee group displays on the Group Lookup.
Group	This field is active only after you click New > New Group Categories on the Expense Report Categories form toolbar. The drop-down list in this field displays only the employee groups for which you have not yet set up any expense categories. After you click New > New Group Categories on the toolbar, select a new employee group in the Group field, and then enter and save expense categories for it. The next time that you open the Expense Report Categories form, that employee group displays in the Group Lookup, available from the Search field. The employee group no longer displays in the Group field.

Grid Toolbar Options

Field	Description
Drop-Down	Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions: To print grid data, click Print. On the Print Preview form, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer. To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the grid data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally. To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into the field, in the sequence that you want them to display. Not all options are available on all grids.
Edit	Click this option to open the Expense Categories dialog box to view or edit information for the currently selected expense category. Fields from the Expense Report Categories form and additional fields, including default tax codes and distance and company paid override information, display on the dialog box.
Insert	Click this option to add a new expense category to the Expense Report Categories grid. When you click Insert, Vision inserts a blank row on the Expense Report Categories grid, directly below the currently selected row. Enter the new expense category information in this row, or click Edit to enter information using the Expense Categories dialog box.
Copy	Click this option to copy the currently selected expense category to a new row on the Expense Categories grid. When you click Copy, Vision inserts a new row on the Expense Report Categories grid (directly below the currently selected row) and copies the expense category information to the new row.
Delete	Click this option to delete the currently selected expense category from the Expense Report Categories grid.

Grid Fields

You can sort rows in the Expense Report Categories grid by any of the columns in the grid. To sort the rows, click the appropriate column heading in the grid. Click a column heading once to establish a sort order. Click the column heading again to reverse the sort order.

Field	Description
Category	Enter a unique name for this category.
Detail Type	The type of detail that you select determines which form is available to users when they enter an expense item for this category. Detail forms allow users to enter additional information about individual expense items on an expense report. General — The General Detail form allows users to enter a business reason for the expense item. Business Meals — The Business Meals Detail form allows users to enter a business reason for the expense item and the names of those persons whose meals are included as part of the expense item. Travel — The Travel Detail form allows users to enter a business reason for the expense item, departure and destination information, the distance traveled, and reimbursement amounts for the expense item. No Detail — If you select this option, no detail form is available when users enter an expense item for this category.
Bill by Default	Select this option to bill the client for any expense items in this category.
Billable Message	Use the drop-down list to select a message that displays when a user enters an expense item on an expense report and selects a billing status for the item that differs from the billing status set up for the associated expense category. Select from the following options: Warning — Displays a Warning message. The user can complete the expense report with the billing status selected, even though it differs from the default billing status set up for the expense category. Error — Displays an Error message. Vision automatically resets the billing status to the default billing status set up for the expense category. No Message — No message displays. The user can complete the expense report with the billing status selected, even though it differs from the default billing status set up for the expense category.
Reimbursable Account	Enter the reimbursable account to be debited when this expense category is entered for a billable expense item that is charged to a regular project on an expense report. Enter an account number directly in this field, use the Quick Find feature, or use the Account lookup. This reimbursable account prefills in the Account field in the expense item grid on the Expense Report form.
Direct Account	Enter the direct account to be debited when this expense category is entered for a non-billable expense item that is charged to a regular project on an expense report. Enter an account number directly in this field, use the Quick Find feature, or use the Account lookup. This direct account prefills in the Account field in the expense item grid on the Expense Report form.
Indirect Account	Enter the indirect account to be debited when this expense category is entered for an expense item that is charged to an overhead or promotional project on an expense report. The indirect account is also used when no project is selected for an expense item if you do not use organizations in Vision or have separate balance sheets. You can enter the following types of accounts in this field: indirect, asset, liability, other charges, or net worth. Enter an account number directly in this field, use the Quick Find feature, or use the Account lookup. This account prefills in the Account field in the expense item grid on the Expense Report form.
Account Editable	Select this option to allow users to modify the reimbursable, direct, or indirect account number when they enter an expense for this category on the Expense Report form. If you select this option, you do not have to enter default account numbers for this category on the Expense Report Categories form.