Review expenses, budgets and approvals
Record supported spending and review approvals with a clear source trail.
Checked on 29 October 2026
Overview
Expenses distinguish bills committed from spending posted as paid. School thresholds and budget checks can route entries to approval before posting.
Get to know the screen
Practice example: all names, records and amounts are fictional. Options vary with your school’s curriculum, currency and access.
Phone example
Interface labels are shown in English. Follow the translated steps below to find each control. Follow the sequence, review the recorded information and choose the next step.
Who can use this feature
Use your own authorised school account. Live Finance requires the School Finance module and a finance officer, administrator, owner, co-owner, director or head-teacher role. Publishing fees and deciding money adjustments require an owner, co-owner or director; a person cannot approve their own adjustment request.
Before you start
Check the school, live or sample mode, currency and reporting period. Have approved source records ready and confirm who may save, approve or send this record. School subscription invoices belong to the separate Administration guide.
Have the approved bill or receipt, category, amount, dates and budget policy. Confirm the separate requester and authorised approver.
Required and optional fields
| Field | Requirement | Format or example | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense category, amount and date | Required in this form | Category is required, up to 120 characters; amount must be positive and expense date is required. Check due date for a bill. Description (up to 255 characters) and receipt URL (up to 500) are optional. | Approved school policy, source document and authorised responsibility. |
| Expense status and budget context | Required in this form | Choose the offered committed/bill-due or posted/paid state to match the source. Threshold and over-budget rules can require approval before posting. Review configured category budgets; a commitment is not a paid expense. | Approved school policy, source document and authorised responsibility. |
| Adjustment type, target, amount and reason | Required when applicable | Where the request control is offered, select the supported type and family, or expense for an expense request. A positive amount and reason up to 255 characters are required. Decision comments are optional; the approver must be authorised and different from the requester. | Approved school policy, source document and authorised responsibility. |
Picklist prerequisites
| Choice | Options come from | Earlier selection | If missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approval queue and categories | Saved requests, school rules, financial roles and configured budget categories. | Save or submit the originating record, then use the authorised reviewer account. | Check pending/needs-information status, filters and reviewer permissions; do not raise another request before checking history. |
Desktop walkthrough
Check the workspace and choose the required options.
Screen walkthrough · 0:45Download GIF ↓- Open Finance → Expenses and compare posted spending, commitments and configured category budgets. Read a missing-budget state before interpreting a balance.
- Choose Record expense. Enter category, positive amount and expense date; check due date, optional description and receipt URL.
- Choose the offered committed or posted status to match the evidence, review and Save expense. Inspect whether the saved record is pending approval rather than posted.
- Open Approvals with an authorised owner, co-owner or director. Review type, family/expense, amount, reason and history; the requester cannot approve their own request.
- Choose the appropriate approve, reject or request-information action and add a useful comment where needed. Reopen the expense/adjustment and inspect the final status and ledger; verify any external settlement separately.
Mobile walkthrough
Check the workspace and choose the required options.
Screen walkthrough · 0:45Download GIF ↓On a phone, open Finance and swipe the section tabs to find the named feature. Work through one panel at a time; scroll wide records or use landscape. Close the keyboard to reach the final controls.
Make prerequisite selections before later fields. Check the selected family and period again after changing filters. Use a larger screen for fee matrices and bulk billing; the written steps remain available.
Wait for confirmation, reopen the saved record and compare it with the source. If a request may have succeeded, inspect the receipt, run or history before retrying.
Save and verify
Saved status, approval event and source evidence agree. Pending approval and committed spending are kept distinct from paid expenses.
Troubleshooting
The expense remains pending or approval is denied
Check threshold, budget, reviewer role and whether the requester is also the approver. Do not create a second expense or bypass approval; ask an authorised different reviewer to check the request.
A record or choice is missing
Check live mode, school, permissions, year and filters. Complete the earlier family, fee-version or setup task first. An empty sample view or a loading error is not proof that a live record does not exist.
The action did not complete
Read the validation or access message. Check the saved state and any partial completion before retrying. Keep source references and ask the authorised finance lead to resolve a locked record or approval restriction.
