Expense Reports and Audits in Bear Trax

Bear Trax provides a comprehensive system for managing employee expenses, generating detailed reports, and conducting audits to ensure transparency and compliance. The Expense Reports and Audits feature helps both employees and administrators track and validate expenses, offering a clear view of how company funds are spent and ensuring proper approval workflows are followed.

Key Features of Expense Reports:

1. Expense Report Generation:

   • Report Creation: Employees and managers can generate expense reports for specific periods or projects, ensuring that all incurred costs during the selected timeframe are accounted for.
   • Customizable Fields: Reports can include key details such as:
     • Date range (e.g., last 30 days)
     • Expense categories (e.g., Travel, Meals, Office Supplies)
     • Total amounts spent
     • Approval status (pending, approved, rejected)
   • Export Options: Users can export reports in multiple formats, such as CSV, PDF, or Excel, making it easy to share and archive expense details.

2. Report Filters:

   • Users can filter reports by categories (e.g., Travel, Lodging, Meals), employee name, project, department, or date range. This helps managers quickly find relevant expenses and track spending for specific projects or team members.
   • Departmental or Team Reports: Managers can generate reports specific to their team or department to keep track of their spending and ensure budgets are being followed.

3. Summarized and Detailed Views:

   • Reports include both summarized views, showing overall totals by category or employee, and detailed views, showing each individual expense along with receipt images, descriptions, and dates.
   • Line Item Breakdown: For detailed reports, individual expenses are broken down by line items, including taxes, subtotals, and any split costs.

Auditing Features:

1. Audit Trail for Expense Entries:

   • Every expense entered into Bear Trax includes an audit trail, capturing:
     • The date and time the expense was created or edited.
     • The person who submitted the expense.
     • Any changes or adjustments made during the approval process (e.g., edits to amounts, corrections to categories).
     • Comments from approvers or employees regarding the expense.
   • Receipt Uploads: All uploaded receipts are logged with timestamps, ensuring that all documentation is attached to the correct expense.

2. Approval Logs:

   • Bear Trax records every action taken in the approval workflow:
     • Submission date of the expense.
     • Name and role of the approver or rejector.
     • Date and time of approval or rejection.
     • Reasons for rejection, if applicable.
   • This detailed tracking allows managers and auditors to verify that all expenses were processed according to the company's policies.

3. Flags and Policy Violations:

   • The system automatically flags expenses that violate preset company policies (e.g., exceeding allowed limits, unauthorized categories).
   • Expense Flags: Specific flags include:
     • Exceeded Amount: When an expense goes beyond a set limit.
     • Unauthorized Category: When an expense is submitted for a category not allowed for that employee.
     • Duplicate Submission: Alerts when the same receipt or similar expense is submitted more than once.
   • These flags are visible in reports and can trigger notifications for review by finance or management teams.

4. Expense Audit History:

   • Managers and auditors can review the entire audit historyof an employee’s expenses, including:
     • All actions taken on each expense (e.g., edits, approvals, rejections).
     • Comments or feedback from approvers.
     • Any flagged violations or discrepancies.
   • Audit Log Reports: Audit logs can be generated for specific employees, departments, or time periods, providing transparency for internal and external auditing purposes.

Summary:

The Expense Reports and Audits feature in Bear Trax provides a robust system for tracking, reporting, and auditing employee expenses. By offering detailed expense logs, customizable reports, and comprehensive audit trails, Bear Trax ensures that all financial transactions are transparent, properly documented, and in compliance with company policies. This helps streamline financial oversight, reduce errors, and maintain accountability across the organization.