> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.smartbills.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Business Expenses

> Review and manage company-wide expenses in the shared inbox

## Introduction

The Business Expenses is a shared workspace where managers, accountants, and finance teams review all business expenses across the organization. Unlike the [Expenses](/guides/web-app/expenses/overview), which shows only your own expenses, the inbox aggregates expenses from every employee in your company into a single, filterable view.

Access the inbox by clicking **Expenses** in the sidebar or navigating to `/{slug}/expenses`.

<Note>
  The Business Expenses requires the that access permission. By default, this is granted to Owners, Admins, Managers, and Accountants. See [Roles & Permissions](/guides/concepts/roles-and-permissions) for details.
</Note>

## What You See

The inbox displays all company expenses in a table with the following columns:

| Column         | Description                                                         |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Employee**   | The team member who submitted the expense                           |
| **Merchant**   | The vendor or supplier name extracted from the receipt              |
| **Date**       | The date of the transaction                                         |
| **Amount**     | The expense total, including taxes and currency                     |
| **Category**   | The assigned expense category (e.g., Travel, Meals, Software)       |
| **Department** | The business unit or cost center the expense is allocated to        |
| **Status**     | The current state of the expense (Pending, Approved, Flagged, etc.) |

## Filtering and Search

The inbox provides several ways to narrow down the expense list:

* **Status filter**: Show only expenses that are Pending, Missing Info, Flagged, Approved, or Rejected
* **Category filter**: Filter by one or more expense categories
* **Department filter**: View expenses for a specific business unit
* **Date range**: Set a start and end date to focus on a specific period
* **Search bar**: Search by merchant name, employee name, or amount

Filters can be combined. For example, you can view all Pending expenses in the Travel category from the last 30 days.

## Bulk Actions

Select multiple expenses using the checkboxes on the left side of the table to perform bulk operations:

* **Bulk categorize**: Assign the same category to all selected expenses
* **Bulk assign department**: Set the department for multiple expenses at once
* **Bulk delete**: Remove selected expenses permanently
* **Export**: Download selected expenses as CSV or Excel

See [Manage Expenses](/guides/web-app/business-expenses/manage-expenses) for a detailed walkthrough of bulk operations.

## Expenses vs. Business Expenses

| Feature        | Expenses                            | Business Expenses                                     |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| **Route**      | `/{slug}/receipts`                  | `/{slug}/expenses`                                    |
| **Visibility** | Only your own expenses              | All employees' expenses                               |
| **Permission** | that access                         | that access                                           |
| **Purpose**    | Upload and manage personal receipts | Review, categorize, and approve company-wide expenses |
| **Used By**    | All employees                       | Managers, accountants, finance teams                  |

## What's Next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Review Expenses" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/guides/web-app/business-expenses/review-expenses">
    Step-by-step guide to reviewing incoming expenses
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manage Expenses" icon="list-check" href="/guides/web-app/business-expenses/manage-expenses">
    Bulk actions, filtering, and exporting company expenses
  </Card>

  <Card title="Inbox Settings" icon="gear" href="/guides/web-app/business-expenses/settings">
    Configure auto-approval rules, duplicate detection, and more
  </Card>

  <Card title="Expense Reports" icon="file-invoice" href="/guides/web-app/reports/overview">
    Learn how expenses flow into reports for approval
  </Card>
</CardGroup>