How to Reimburse Employee Expenses in Odoo 18: Complete Guide

Efficient expense management is a cornerstone of healthy business operations. When employees incur costs on behalf of the company—such as travel expenses, accommodation, meals, or office supplies—it's essential to have a transparent and accountable reimbursement process. Odoo 18 Expenses provides a powerful tool to simplify and automate employee expense reimbursements from submission to payment.

Understanding the Expense Reimbursement Process

Imagine an employee has paid for hotel stay and meals out of their own pocket during a business trip. After returning, the expenses need to be recorded so the company can review and reimburse them. Odoo 18 offers two reimbursement methods: direct payment or through the next payslip.

Step 1: Recording the Expense

Navigate to the Expenses module. From the dashboard, create a new expense report by clicking New, or upload an expense by clicking Upload.

Expense Form Fields

Step 2: Create and Submit the Report

1. Upload a receipt (bill or invoice) as proof using Attach Receipt
2. Click Create Report to create the expense report
3. State changes from "To Report" to "To Submit"
4. Add more expenses using Add a line under the Expense tab
5. Select the Journal for payment and assign the Manager
6. Click Submit to Manager

Step 3: Manager Approval

Once submitted, the status changes to "Submitted". The manager can now:

Method 1: Direct Payment Reimbursement

1. After approval, click Post Journal Entries
2. Journal Entry smart tab is generated
3. State changes to "Posted"
4. Click Pay button to reimburse the employee
5. Payment popup appears with auto-filled fields:
   • Journal: Bank/Cash account for payment
   • Payment Method: Manual Payment
   • Recipient Bank Account: Employee's bank account
   • Amount: Total expense amount
   • Payment Date: Date of payment
   • Memo: Short description
6. Click Create Payment to register

Bank Reconciliation

1. Navigate to Accounting module
2. Click on Bank journal > Transactions
3. Click New to create bank statement
4. Add employee in Partner field
5. Add amount as negative (expense paid to employee)
6. Select corresponding journal entry and click Validate
7. Payment is marked as "Paid"

Method 2: Payslip Reimbursement

Enable Payslip Reimbursement

1. Go to Expenses > Configuration > Settings
2. Enable Reimburse in Payslip feature
3. Save the changes

Process Through Payslip

1. After expense approval, click Report in Next Payslip
2. Go to Payroll > Payslips > To Pay
3. Create new payslip for the employee
4. Employee's expense appears in Other Inputs section
5. Click Compute Sheet to calculate
6. View Expense Reimbursement in Salary Computation tab
7. Click Create Draft Entry
8. Post the journal entry
9. Click Pay or Mark as Paid

Conclusion

Reimbursing employee expenses in Odoo 18 is a smooth and organized process. Employees can submit claims with receipts, managers can review and approve them, and finance teams can record and reimburse amounts with just a few clicks. By consolidating all steps into a single system, Odoo helps companies save time, reduce errors, and maintain clear financial records.