Open requests
Submitted and approved-but-unpaid requests, each with submitter, amount, category, project, and attached receipt.
Agency finance · Reimbursements
Keep staff reimbursement requests organized and trackable
When designers and account managers front their own money for client lunches, software, and travel, those reimbursement requests pile up in Slack and email until someone forgets who's owed what. Recording each request with its submitter, category, project, and status — and attaching the receipt and approval — turns a messy chase into a clean list. Cash Workspace gives you one place to record every reimbursement request and mark it approved and paid.
The problem
Why staff reimbursements get lost
Reimbursement requests arrive in different formats from different people, with receipts as photos and approvals buried in chat, so nothing has a single record.
- A team member's request sits unanswered because it's in a thread no one revisits.
- Receipts are phone photos that aren't attached to anything reviewable.
- You can't tell at a glance which requests are approved but not yet paid.
- The same expense gets submitted twice and almost gets paid twice.
- At month-end you can't see which project each reimbursement belongs to.
The workflow
Record and clear reimbursement requests
Give every request one record, move it through approval, and mark it paid so nothing is owed in the dark.
- 1
Capture the request
Record who submitted it, the date, amount, category, and which client project it relates to.
- 2
Attach the proof
Attach the employee's receipt and, once it's signed off, the approval note to the same record.
- 3
Set the status
Mark the request submitted, approved, rejected, or paid, and update it as it moves.
- 4
Group by status
Review the open list so approved-but-unpaid requests are easy to clear in the next run.
- 5
Reconcile monthly
Once a month, confirm every paid request has a receipt and project tag before close.
Record structure
What to record for each reimbursement request
A consistent record per request means no one is left wondering who's owed what.
- Submitter
- The team member who paid out of pocket and is owed the money.
- Date
- When the expense was incurred, so it lands in the right period.
- Amount
- What the employee spent and the currency, matched to the receipt.
- Category
- A product-defined category such as meals, travel, software, or supplies.
- Project or client
- Which engagement the expense relates to, or that it's internal.
- Status
- Submitted, approved, rejected, or paid.
- Receipt
- The employee's receipt attached to the record as proof of spend.
- Approval note
- Who approved it and when, attached or noted on the record.
Example setup
An example reimbursement setup
One way to structure staff reimbursement records inside your workspace.
Paid this month
Cleared reimbursements with the approval note and receipt attached, filed by month.
By project
Reimbursements tagged to each client project so billable out-of-pocket costs are easy to gather.
Internal expenses
Reimbursements not tied to a client, such as office supplies or team events.
Common mistakes
Mistakes to avoid
- Approving in chat with no record, so 'approved' and 'paid' get confused.
- Letting receipts stay as loose photos instead of attaching them to the request.
- Skipping the project tag, so billable out-of-pocket costs can't be recovered from clients.
- Not setting a status, so the same request gets paid twice or never.
- Clearing requests without a monthly check that each has its receipt.
How it helps
How Cash Workspace helps
One record per request
Record each reimbursement with submitter, amount, category, and project so nothing lives only in a chat thread.
Receipts and approvals attached
Attach the employee's receipt and the approval note to the same record so proof and sign-off stay together.
Clear statuses
Mark each request submitted, approved, rejected, or paid so you always know what's still owed.
Related
Related agency finance workflows
Subcontractor payments
Track what each contractor is owed and what's been paid.
Client expense reports
Package billable out-of-pocket costs for a client.
Monthly close checklist
Confirm reimbursements and records before month-end.
Expense categories
See how to categorize each expense consistently.
All finance workflows
Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.
FAQ
Reimbursement records FAQ
- Can Cash Workspace pay employees their reimbursement?
- No. Cash Workspace organizes the records — submitter, amount, receipt, and status. You pay the employee through your own method and then mark the record paid.
- How do I separate billable from internal reimbursements?
- Tag each request with its client project, or mark it internal. Reviewing the project tag lets you gather billable out-of-pocket costs for the client without mixing in office spend.
- Where do approval notes go?
- Attach the approval to the same reimbursement record, or note who signed off and when, so the sign-off lives with the receipt and amount.
Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance
Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.
Stop chasing reimbursement requests in chat
Start a free workspace and give every staff reimbursement one record with its receipt, approval, and status so you always know who's owed what.