--- title: "Expense Management Software for Claims and Travel | LekhaHR" description: "Expense management software for small teams: claims with receipts, category limits, quick approvals, travel advances, payouts with salary or in a batch." canonical: https://lekhahr.in/expense-management-software/ last_updated: 2026-09-30 --- Expense management software · 11:20 IST, a claim # Expenses that close **into payroll.** LekhaHR is expense management software for small teams. The employee types a claim once and attaches the receipt as proof. The policy check, the approval and the reimbursement follow, and each step is a line you can open later. [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) See the policy check Included in LekhaHR Business: ₹119 per employee per month on annual billing for the first 25, no minimum; GST extra. [See every band](https://lekhahr.in/pricing/) Cab trip receipt - **Trip**: Trip 7Q4-2291 - **Date**: 24 Sep 2026 · 10:42 - **From**: Koramangala - **To**: Whitefield - **Distance**: 17.8 km - **Fare**: ₹462.86 - **GST**: ₹23.14 Total **₹486.00** Operator GSTIN 29•••••••••1Z5 typed once by Rohan, with the receipt kept as proof - Date **Thu 24 Sep** - Amount **₹486** - Category **Local travel** ### Claim EX-0418 · Rohan Das Client visit, Whitefield · 3 lines - **24 Sep · Cab, Koramangala to Whitefield**: ₹486 because ₹998 of cab fares on 24 Sep is within the ₹1,500-a-day local travel limit - **24 Sep · Cab, Whitefield to Koramangala**: ₹512 because above ₹500 a receipt is required, and it is attached - **24 Sep · Lunch with the client's finance team, 3 people**: ₹1,840 because it is within ₹2,500 a meal - **Claim total**: ₹2,838 1. Submitted Fri 25 Sep · 18:10 IST 2. Approved by Priya Mon 28 Sep · 11:20 IST 3. Checked by Nandini Tue 29 Sep · 15:40 IST 4. Staged for October salary · paid Fri 30 Oct Approved by Priya Menon Mon 28 Sep · 11:20 IST Approved to payMon 28 Sep · 11:20 No. 02 Claim from the phone --- because a receipt that sits in a wallet for three weeks becomes a claim nobody files. ## How do employees file an expense claim? From the phone, starting with the receipt. Rohan takes a photo or picks a file, chooses the category, types the date, amount and merchant, and adds a line for each cab and meal on the visit. LekhaHR keeps the photo as proof and doesn't read numbers off it. The hours spent on the same client visit can sit beside its costs in [timesheet software](https://lekhahr.in/timesheet-software/). ### Several lines, one claim A client visit is one claim, with a line for each cab, meal or ticket. ### The rule before submit Each line shows its limit and receipt rule while it is typed, not after approval. ### Entered for someone HR can enter a claim for a person without a phone. The person stays the claimant, and both names are on the record. No. 03 Category policy --- because a rule nobody sees until month end is a rule nobody follows. ## How does expense management software check a claim against policy? Each category carries its limit, its receipt rule and its ledger code. A rule is either a warning or a block, and the employee sees it before submitting. Paiteq's sample policy blocks only two things: a missing receipt above ₹500, and a line above twice its limit. Everything else is a warning with a reason. **Paiteq's sample expense categories** | Category | Limit | Receipt | Ledger code | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Local travel | ₹1,500 a day | above ₹500 | 6120 · Conveyance | | Client meals | ₹2,500 a meal | always | 6310 · Business promotion | | Hotel | ₹4,000 a night | always | 6110 · Travel, domestic | | Mileage, four-wheeler | ₹11 a km | trip note, from and to | 6120 · Conveyance | | Internet and phone | ₹1,000 a month | above ₹500 | 6420 · Communication | Sample policy · every limit and code is yours to set because a per-km rate is a company setting. No law fixes one, so LekhaHR never presents it as a legal figure. No. 04 Approve in the inbox --- because in a small team the approver is a lead or the founder, between two other things. ## The approver decides from one card, with the bill in front of them. Priya got Rohan's claim in her inbox: three lines, the receipts a tap away and the policy check already done. In-policy claims up to ₹2,000 approve themselves and go straight to finance. ### Approve, query, return or reject A query keeps the claim open, a return sends it back for a fix, and a rejection needs a reason. ### Routing by amount Above ₹25,000, a claim goes on to Meenal Joshi after the manager. ### Nobody approves their own A claim from the approver goes one step up, and the claimant never checks it at finance. No. 05 Paid, with salary or in a batch --- because a claim approved after the cutoff waits for the next run, and says so on the claim. ## How are expense reimbursements paid? With the next salary or in a weekly batch, as your policy says. Paiteq pays approved claims with the next salary. September's inputs closed on Fri 25 Sep, before Priya approved, so EX-0418 is staged for October salary and paid on Fri 30 Oct. In a weekly batch Finance selects approved claims, makes one bank file with control totals, and marks the batch paid with the bank's reference. Downloading the file never changes a status. - **Paid from petty cash**: recorded with a reason because the ledger has to close even when no bank was involved - **A single urgent claim**: paid on its own because finance can mark it paid with the transfer's reference - **Someone leaving**: goes into the F&F because approved claims not yet paid are money due on exit [How the F&F picks them up](https://lekhahr.in/employee-onboarding-software/#fnf) No. 06 Advances --- because an advance nobody settles turns into an awkward line at the F&F. ## A travel advance, settled against the claims it paid for. Rohan took ₹5,000 for a two-day visit to Mysuru. His claims settled ₹3,860 of it, and he paid back the ₹1,140 left over on Fri 11 Sep. ### Left over, recovered in parts If it isn't paid back, the rest is recovered from salary in instalments you cap, within the 50% limit on deductions (s.18), each one a line on the payslip. ### Spent more than the advance The extra becomes an ordinary reimbursement on the same claim. ### Leaving with one open Whatever is left becomes a recovery in the F&F, with the advance it came from. No. 07 For your accountant --- because the approval trail is the record an accountant asks for. ## Ledger codes, the tax on each bill, and a file your accountant can import. Every category carries a ledger code. At the finance check, the reviewer captures the vendor's GSTIN, the invoice number and the tax on the bill, so your accountant can check input credit against their own records. LekhaHR records what the bill says. It doesn't decide what is claimable. - **Month-end export**: CSV, or a file for Tally because each line carries its ledger code, its claim and who approved it - **Reports**: by person, category or project because the same ledger lines add up any way you cut them - **Advance ageing**: oldest first because an open advance is money someone still holds - **GST fields**: only if you turn them on because a company that isn't registered for GST has no use for them No. 08 An honest note --- because the right tool for your team matters more than one more sign-up. ## Who LekhaHR expenses are written for. Comparing tools? The [shortlist of HRMS software in India](https://lekhahr.in/best-hr-software-india/) shows the modules each plan lists and what it costs at your size. Written for you if ### Teams whose people spend a little and wait too long to get it back. - Claims arrive as photos on WhatsApp and a spreadsheet at month end. - Your people visit clients, and travel advances live in someone's head. - You want each reimbursement on the payslip or in one bank file, with the approval behind it. Talk to us first if ### Some spend setups need a conversation before an invite. - You need company cards with live transaction feeds. LekhaHR records claims and advances, and doesn't issue cards. - You want receipts read automatically. Employees type the amount, and the receipt is kept as proof. - You book flights and hotels through a travel desk and want the bookings inside the tool. No. 09 Questions --- Tax answers stay with your accountant. We say what LekhaHR records. ## What small teams ask before they move claims out of WhatsApp. ### What is expense management software? It takes a spend from the receipt to the repayment: the claim, the policy check, the approval, the finance check and the payout. In LekhaHR each claim is a set of ledger lines, and every line keeps its receipt, the rule it was checked against and the person who approved it. ### Does LekhaHR read the amount off a receipt? No. The employee types the date, amount and merchant, and the photo or file stays attached as the proof. The approver and the finance reviewer see the bill beside each line, so a typed figure that doesn't match its receipt is easy to spot before anyone pays it. ### How are reimbursements paid? Two ways, and you choose. Approved claims can go with the next salary, on their own reimbursement line apart from earnings and not counted as wages for PF or ESI, or finance can pay them in a weekly batch from one bank file. A claim paid from petty cash is recorded with a reason, so the ledger still closes. ### What does travel and expense management software cover? In LekhaHR it covers travel advances before a trip, claims against them after it, and whatever is left over returned or recovered. Local travel, hotels, client meals, mileage at your own per-km rates, and internet and phone bills each sit in a category with its own limit and ledger code. ### Does LekhaHR tell us how much GST input credit we can claim? No. At the finance check it captures the vendor's GSTIN, the invoice number and the tax on each bill, and marks the categories you set as blocked credit. Your accountant decides what is claimable against their own records. Nothing is filed or claimed from LekhaHR. ### What happens to open claims when someone leaves? Approved claims that are not yet paid go into the F&F as money due, and what is left of a travel advance goes in as a recovery. Both show on the settlement statement with the claim or advance they came from, and neither holds up the wages due on the exit. ### Can a claim be too late to file? A late claim is flagged, never dropped. In Paiteq's sample policy a claim older than 30 days shows a warning, and one older than 60 days needs a special approval. Both limits are yours to set in the policy, and the approver sees how late the claim is. No. 10 · By invitation ## Let the next receipt become a ledger line. because the bill is sized to the team you have. We reply to every request by email. [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) [Read about payroll](https://lekhahr.in/payroll-software/)