You can submit an expense claim for approval in Dext in a few ways, depending on your account's approval settings. This article covers all 3.
Which process applies to you
Which submission process you see depends on whether your account has the new approval process enabled, and whether your claim matches an approval workflow.
If Enable new approval process is on, and your claim matches an active workflow, you'll see Request approval — the workflow decides who approves it.
If Enable new approval process is on and your claim doesn't match any workflow, you'll also see Request approval — but you choose the approver yourself.
If Enable new approval process is off, you'll see Submit for approval instead — the classic method, where you always choose the approver yourself.
Note: Enable new approval process is set by an Admin under Business settings > Approvals > Expense claims. For more on how this works, go to How to set up expense claim approval workflows in Dext.
Request approval (new approval process enabled)
With the new approval process enabled, requesting approval on a claim either routes it automatically through a matching workflow or lets you choose an approver manually.
From the Expense claims inbox:
Go to Costs > Expense claims.
Select Request approval in the toolbar or on the claim row.
From inside a claim:
Go to Costs > Expense claims and open the claim.
Select Request approval at the top of the page.
If the claim matches an active workflow, it's sent straight to that workflow's approver.
If it doesn't match a workflow, choose an approver in the Request approval window, then select Request approval to confirm.
Once submitted, the claim moves to the Approvals tab and its status changes to Pending. The assigned approver is notified by email.
If the workflow has Auto-publish once approved enabled, the claim publishes to your accounting software automatically once all approval stages are complete.
Otherwise, a Publish button appears on the claim once it's approved.
Note: If the workflow doesn't allow editing after submission, you won't be able to change the claim's items until it's approved or rejected. Rejected claims are returned to your Expense claims inbox.
Submit for approval (new approval process not enabled)
If your account doesn't have the new approval process enabled, submitting a claim for approval means choosing the approver yourself.
From the Expense claims inbox:
Go to Costs > Expense claims.
Select the checkbox next to the claim you want to submit.
Select Submit for approval in the toolbar.
In the Approver dropdown, select the person you want to approve the claim.
Select Submit.
From inside a claim:
Go to Costs > Expense claims and open the claim.
Select Submit for approval at the top of the page.
In the Approver dropdown, select the person you want to approve the claim.
Select Submit.
The approver receives an email notification and can approve the claim from inside it or from the Expense claims inbox. Once submitted, the claim shows a Waiting status in the Approval status column.
Note: Any Admin user, including accountants and bookkeepers with access to the account, can approve a submitted claim. Under this process, claims can still be published without approval.
What happens next
Once a claim is approved, it's ready to publish to your accounting software. For approving instructions, go to How to approve an expense claim.