Expenses are amounts owed to an employee on top of their hours: parking, tolls, meals, supplies, and travel. They attach to a timesheet, are approved separately from hours, and appear on Timesheet Reports and payroll exports.

Expense types

Timesheets → Expense Types defines the categories.

Setting What it does
Name, Color How the type appears.
Default Cost Pre-fills the cost when the type is chosen. Useful for fixed allowances such as a per diem.
Taxable, Tax Rate Marks the type as taxable income and the rate to apply, for payroll exports.
Initial Type Selected first when adding a new expense.

Two types come built in: Transportation, and Travel, which is protected because Airstudio fills it automatically (below).

Adding an expense

Open the timesheet, expand Expenses, and click New Expense. Choose the type, enter the cost, add a note, and attach the receipt under Files. Employees can add expenses to their own timesheets; managers can add to any. Expenses also appear studio-wide on Timesheets → Expenses, filterable by employee, team, and approval.

Approving expenses

Each expense has its own approval, separate from the timesheet's hours. Approve from the timesheet, or select expenses on the Expenses tab and click Approve Expenses. The report's Approved Expenses filter and Total Expenses use only approved amounts.

Mileage

When Timesheet Travel Reimbursement Per Mile is set in Studio Details, Airstudio calculates travel automatically:

  1. Each clock event captures the device's location when the employee allows it.
  2. The distance between consecutive geolocated events on the timesheet is summed.
  3. If the total is at least one mile, a Travel expense is created or updated on the timesheet: miles × the per-mile rate.

The Movement map on the timesheet shows the events and the path between them, so a manager can see what the figure is based on. The Travel expense is approved like any other.

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Mileage depends on location being captured at clock in and clock out. Ask field staff to allow location access in their browser or the mobile app; a timesheet with no geolocated events produces no Travel expense.

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