An Expense Authorization (E.A.) is a Buyout Commitment issued when a Project Manager delegates authority of expenditure for a project. This typically occurs on a situational basis. For instance, a P.M. may require the purchase of a few rolls of tape for the job site. An Expense Authorization could be issued for that purchase alone, or more broadly to cover any such unexpected quick purchases. This is distinctly different from a Purchase Order (P.O.) in which a document is created in advance for purchase of a product from a specific supplier; rather, in this case, the expense for the tape is authorized for immediate purchase by an employee on behalf of the company.
Expense Authorizations are used to assign, or authorize, a specific budget amount for expenditures on a project. Employees can then record expenses against the project as items are purchased with company credit cards or their own money. Project Managers can track the spent and remaining balances of that Expense Authorization by looking at the "Actual" and "Open" amounts in the Budget tab.
Once an Expense Authorization is created and Committed, the employee can begin recording actual expenses against the Authorization from the web (click name in top left corner -> Expenses tab) or from the RedTeam Flex mobile app. Once an expense has been created through RedTeam Flex web or RedTeam Flex mobile app, it can be routed for approval via RedTeam Flex web.
1. Create an Expense Authorization
The first step to managing employee expenses is to create an Expense Authorization in the Buyout tab of your project.
Just as you buy out your job by issuing subcontracts and purchase orders, you can "buy out" those miscellaneous expenses that will often be made by an employee or employees on behalf of the company. Some common examples of these expenses are fuel/gas, travel expenses, hardware store purchases, etc.
Creating and Committing an Expense Authorization creates an Open dollar amount on your Budget. As employees record their expenses against the Expense Authorizations, dollar amounts will automatically move from the Open to the Actual column of your Budget.
Steps:
From the Project's Home menu, click "+ Expense Authorization".
OR from the Project's Buyout tab, click the "+" Icon and scroll down to select "Expense Authorization"
Fill in the requested information in the template, being sure to fill in every field marked by an orange asterisk.
Under the field "Delegate To," select the authorized user to whom you are delegating this Expense Authorization.
Click "Add Item" to add expense items to this EA.
Enter a description, quantity, and unit price for the expense item.
Click "Add to Cart".
Continue adding items until you have everything you want to authorize at this time.
Click "Save".
The Authorization will be saved in Draft status, to Commit this Expense Authorization, click the Tools icon and select the "Commit" option.
2. Edit an Expense Authorization
Once an Expense Authorization has been created it will be in Draft status. While it is in Draft status, the Expense Authorization may be Edited to modify the information that has been entered.
If the Expense Authorization has been Committed, you will need to Uncommit in order to Edit it. If you do not have permission to Edit, contact your System Admin.
If you do have permission to Edit an Expense Authorization, but you cannot Uncommit, Expenses may have already been entered against it. You can check this by running the Actual Costs report in the Budget tab and/or checking the numbers in the Actuals column of the Budget.
Steps:
In the Buyout tab, locate the Expense Authorization you want to Edit.
Verify the Expense Authorization is in Draft status (check status column and color - Draft status appears green).
Click the Pencil icon to Edit.
Modify the necessary fields in the Expense Authorization.
Click "Save".
3. View an Expense Authorization
At any time, you may View an Expense Authorization on a Project to see details such as amount, cost code, authorized employee, etc.
Steps:
In the Buyout tab, locate the Expense Authorization you want to Edit
Click the Document icon to View the Expense Authorization.
4. Delete an Expense Authorization
Once an Expense Authorization has been created it will be in Draft status. While it is in Draft status, the Expense Authorization may be Deleted to remove the Authorization entirely.
If the Expense Authorization has been Committed, you will need to Uncommit in order to Delete it. If you do not have permission to Uncommit or Delete, contact your System Admin.
If you do have permission to Uncommit an Expense Authorization, but you cannot Uncommit, Expenses may have already been entered against it. You can check this by running the Actual Costs report in the Budget tab and/or checking the numbers in the Actuals column of the Budget.
Steps:
In the Buyout tab, locate the Expense Authorization you want to Delete.
Click the tools icon.
Click the "Delete" option from the Tools menu that appears.
5. Enter an Employee Expense
Once the Expense Authorization is created and Committed, an Open balance for the total expense amount will show in the "Open" column of the Budget. Amounts will move from "Open" to "Actual" as employees spend the money they have been authorized.
As employees make purchases, they will enter these expenses either from the web or the RedTeam Flex mobile app. These expenses, once approved (Committed), are recorded as Actual costs against the Project. Employees cannot exceed their authorized amount with purchases submitted as expenses.
When submitting an expense, the employee can indicate if the purchase was made with a company credit card or by the employee themselves. To display a company credit card as a Paid By option, the employee must have a credit card assigned to them under their profile.
Steps:
After logging in to RedTeam Flex from your web browser, click your name in the top right corner.
OR to add an expense for another employee, click on the "Employees" menu and click on the name of the employee from the list shown.
Click the Expenses tab.
Click the New (+) icon.
Select the type of Expense you are entering (Project or Overhead).
Select the Expense Authorization you are recording this expense against (users with permission may have a "No Expense Authorization" option).
Fill in the required fields with information about your purchase and upload the receipt as an Attachment.
Click "Save".
6. Commit an Employee Expense
Employee Expenses can be entered in RedTeam Flex from a web browser or the RedTeam Flex mobile app. These Expenses can be found in the Employees menu under the Expenses tab (for the whole company) or on the Employee's profile under the Expenses tab (for that employee only).
In the case of employee Expenses, Committing the Expense is how you approve it. Once Committed, the total will automatically be transferred from the "Open" column to the "Actual" column on the project Budget. If your company connects to QuickBooks Online, the Expense will automatically be sent to QuickBooks Online when Committed.
If you are approving several Expenses at once, for instance at the end of the week or pay period, you can use the checkboxes to the right of each expense listed to select multiple Expenses and Commit them all at once (the Commit button appears when more than one Draft Expense is selected using checkboxes).
Steps:
Go to the Expenses tab in the Employees Menu or the employee's individual profile and locate the expense you want to Commit
Click the tools icon.
Click "Commit"
OR, Commit multiple Expenses at once by clicking the checkboxes for multiple Draft Expenses and clicking "Commit".
7. Routing Employee Expenses for Approval
Once an Employee Expense has been entered into RedTeam Flex (via the RedTeam Flex mobile app or RedTeam Flex web), that Expense can be routed through for approval. The approval workflow will have the expense approved by users with the appropriate authority and permissions, defined by role or supervisor relationship. In order for the approvals process to begin, the expense must first be routed for approval. Any user with appropriate permissions can route for approval within RedTeam Flex web, in the Employees Menu by individual employee or mass route.
Project expenses will use the company division assigned to the customer facility to determine which approval workflow will be used.
Overhead expenses will use the company division assigned in the payroll section of the employee’s profile to determine which approval workflow will be used.
Steps to mass route:
Go to the Employees Menu.
Click on the Expenses Tab.
Add checkmarks next to the Expenses to be routed.
Click Route in the top right corner.
Steps to route by individual employee:
Go to the Employees Menu.
Select an individual employee.
Click the Expenses Tab.
Find the Expense in question, click the Toolbox icon, and click Route.
(Optional) Multiple Expenses can be routed at the same time. This is done by selecting the checkboxes for the Expenses to route and then clicking Route in the top right corner.
8. Approving Employee Expenses
When an Employee Expense has been routed for approval, it will go through the approvals process dictated in the Approvals Workflow within Configurations. Employee expenses may include approval steps based on relations, such as supervisor or next level supervisor, as well as assigned roles such as Project Accountant or Operations Manager. When an available user at a particular step completes their approval, it will be routed to the next level. If the reviewer rejects the expense, it will be sent down to the previous level for review.
Users with pending approvals for invoices or employee expenses will see a number next to the Inbox icon in the Action Bar on the upper right side of the screen.
The details of approvals workflows are controlled within Configuration Menu > Approvals Workflow.
Steps:
Click on the approvals inbox in the Action Bar at the top of RedTeam Flex.
Click the Expenses tab to see employee expenses needing review.
Click the Review button on the left side of an expense entry.
Review the details of the Expense.
Proceed to Step 2 to approve or reject the expense.
If “Execute this Expense upon Approval” is available to you and checked, approval will finalize the expense and change to executed status.
9. Assign a Company Credit Card to an Employee
In order for Employees to enter and log Expenses that were made using a Company Credit Card, they must first be authorized to use the Credit Card that is set up in RedTeam Flex. To authorize an Employee to use a Company Credit Card, you must add the Card to their Employee Profile.
Once the card is set up, add it to the Employee's profile.
Steps:
From the Employee's profile, click "Edit".
Scroll down to the heading: Company Credit Cards.
Click the dropdown ("Select Credit Card...").
Select the Card you want to assign, and click "Add".
Scroll up to the top of the page and click "Save".
10. Employee Expenses Metadata
Employee Expenses Metadata allows users to view the logs of who changed the status to created, committed, uncommitted, routed, approved, executed, and closed on an expense. Each entry will include the user that made the change, time, date, and what status was changed. The logs are viewed by either hovering your cursor over the blue "Log" icon for a partial list of recent entries or clicking on the "Log" icon will open a popup with all the log entries for the selected expense.
Steps:
Find the Log icon in the Log column to the right of the page.
Hovering your mouse cursor over the Log icon will display a tooltip showing a potentially partial list of recent entries.
Clicking on the Log icon will open a popup window that will list all entries for the expense.
