Overview

Expense approvals help your business review spending before money is paid out or before an expense is marked as complete. In Slash, approvals can apply to workflows such as reimbursements, bills, and other expense-related tasks that require an admin, manager, or designated approver to review the details.

This guide explains what expense approvals are, what approvers review, how requests move through Slash, and what happens after an expense is approved or rejected.

What counts as an expense approval?

An expense approval is a review step that confirms whether a business expense should move forward. Depending on your account setup and permissions, approvals may appear for:

Reimbursement requests submitted by team members
Bills or vendor payments that need review before payment
Expenses with missing receipts, incomplete details, or other required follow-up
Other actions that your company routes through Slash for review

Approvals help ensure that spending is documented, reviewed by the right person, and connected to your company's records before payout, reconciliation, or completion.

Who can approve expenses?

Approval access depends on your role, entity access, and your company's permission settings in Slash. Account owners, admins, managers, or other designated approvers may be able to review and approve expense-related requests.

If you expect to approve an expense but do not see it in your dashboard, confirm that you are viewing the correct business entity and that your role includes the required approval permissions. An account admin can review and update your access if needed.

How the approval flow works

Most expense approvals follow the same basic flow:

A request is created. A team member submits a reimbursement, creates a bill, uploads an invoice, attaches a receipt, or completes another expense-related action.
Slash routes the request for review. If the request requires approval, it appears for the appropriate reviewer based on your company's permissions and workflow settings.
The approver reviews the details. The approver checks the amount, vendor or merchant, receipt, invoice, payment method, notes, and any other supporting information.
The approver approves, rejects, or requests more information. The decision determines what happens next in the workflow.
Slash updates the expense status. Approved items can move forward to payout, payment, reconciliation, or completion. Rejected or incomplete items may require follow-up from the requester.

Where to find pending approvals

Pending approvals may appear in the workflow where they were created, such as Reimbursements or Bill Pay. They may also appear in the Action Center, which centralizes tasks that need your attention.

To review pending approvals:

Sign in to your Slash dashboard.
Switch to the correct entity if you manage multiple businesses.
Open Action Center, Reimbursements, Bill Pay, or the relevant expense workflow.
Select the item you want to review.
Review the details and choose the available action, such as approve, reject, request more information, or add a note.

What approvers should review

Before approving an expense, check that the request is complete and matches your company's policy. Common review items include:

Requester, vendor, or merchant name
Amount, currency, and date
Receipt, invoice, or supporting document
Business purpose or description
Expense category, accounting fields, or line items if applicable
Payment destination, reimbursement bank account, or vendor details
Duplicate submissions or previously paid items

If anything is missing or unclear, request more information instead of approving the item immediately.

What happens when an expense is approved?

Approval moves the expense to the next step in its workflow. The exact result depends on the type of expense:

Reimbursements: Approval can trigger payout to the team member's linked personal bank account.
Bills: Approval can allow the bill to move forward for payment, depending on the selected payment method and your account settings.
Receipt or missing-information tasks: Approval or completion marks the expense record as reviewed or complete.

After approval, Slash updates the item status and keeps the supporting details attached to the related transaction, reimbursement, bill, or action record.

What happens when an expense is rejected?

Rejecting an expense stops it from moving forward in its current form. Depending on the workflow, the requester may be notified, the item may be marked as rejected, or the requester may need to submit a corrected version.

When rejecting an expense, include a short note explaining why. For example, you might note that the receipt is missing, the amount does not match the invoice, the expense is outside company policy, or the vendor details need correction.

Requesting more information

If an expense may be valid but needs clarification, request more information rather than approving or rejecting it. This is useful when:

The receipt or invoice is missing
The business purpose is unclear
The submitted amount does not match the receipt or invoice
The vendor, merchant, or payment destination needs verification
Additional accounting or category details are needed

Adding a clear note helps the requester understand what to fix and reduces back-and-forth.

Notifications and reminders

Slash may notify approvers or requesters when an expense needs attention, depending on your notification settings, role, and the workflow involved. If you are not receiving expected approval notifications, check your notification settings and confirm that you have the right permissions for the entity and workflow.

Best practices for expense approvals

Review approvals regularly. Open the Action Center or relevant expense page frequently so reimbursements and bills do not sit pending.
Require clear documentation. Receipts, invoices, and business-purpose notes make approvals faster and easier to audit later.
Leave notes when rejecting or requesting changes. A short explanation helps the requester fix the issue quickly.
Check for duplicates. Before approving, confirm the same receipt, invoice, or reimbursement was not already submitted or paid.
Confirm payment details before approval. For reimbursements and bills, make sure the bank account, vendor, or destination details are correct before money moves.

Need more help?

If you cannot see an approval, cannot approve or reject an item, or believe an expense was approved or rejected by mistake, contact an account admin first to confirm your permissions and entity access. If the issue still cannot be resolved, reach out through the in-app chat in your Slash dashboard or email support@slash.com.

How Expense Approvals Work in Slash