In Dext, expenses refer to Expense claims and Mileage claims submitted by employees. With Dext Payments, you can manage these expenses from start to finish in one place.
Employees submit expense claims and mileage claims in Dext, managers review and approve them, and approved claims are paid using Dext Payments.
This uses the same approval and payment workflow as supplier invoices, giving you consistent controls, clear audit trails, and full visibility over all outgoing payments.
Important:
Dext Payments is only available for Xero-integrated UK clients.
Employee expense management is included in your Dext subscription at no additional cost.
Benefits of using Dext for employee expense payments
Managing expense claims and mileage claims in Dext gives you one reliable workflow from capture to payment.
Key benefits include:
One payment workflow – Pay employee expenses and supplier invoices in the same way
Grouped expense claims – Approve and pay multiple expenses together instead of one payment per receipt using the Expense claims feature in Dext
Consistent processing – Expense claims follow the same approval and payment flow as supplier invoices
Better financial control – Clear approvals and a full audit trail before payment
No additional tools – Manage expenses and payments in one system
How employee expense payments work in Dext
Expense claims and mileage claims follow a simple end-to-end flow:
Employees submit expenses or mileage claims and create Expense claims in Dext
Expenses are reviewed and approved as grouped Expense claims
Approved claims are published to Xero as bills
Bills are imported into Dext Payments and paid alongside supplier invoices
This ensures employee expenses move through the purchase ledger and are included in payment runs.
Submitting expense claims and mileage claims
Employees can create both expense and mileage claims directly in Dext. This includes adding receipts, documents, or mileage details and linking them to the correct employee.
To learn how employees submit expenses, see:
Reviewing and approving expense claims
Submitted expenses can be grouped into a single expense claim containing multiple items. This reflects how expense reporting typically works and avoids creating one payment per expense line.
Expense claims can be approved:
Before they are published to Xero using Expense claim approvals
After publication and before payment using Payment run approval workflows
This allows you to apply approvals at one or both stages, depending on how you want to control the process.
Approval workflows ensure expenses are reviewed and approved before payment, helping you stay compliant and in control.
Publishing Expense claims to Xero
Once published, Expense claims and Mileage claims are sent to Xero as bills. These bills appear in the purchase ledger like any other supplier invoice.
Important: Expenses created directly in Xero do not flow through the purchase ledger and cannot be imported into Dext Payments.
Paying expense claims with Dext Payments
Published expense claims can be:
Imported into Dext Payments
Included in payment runs
Paid alongside supplier invoices
From a payments perspective, employee expense claims and supplier bills are handled in exactly the same way, and you get a complete view of everything that is ready to be paid.
Important notes about employee expense payments
Only expense claims and mileage claims submitted and sent to Xero through Dext can be paid using Dext Payments
Expenses created directly in Xero Expenses cannot currently be imported and paid through Dext. This is due to how Xero Expenses are structured, not a limitation of Dext Payments
Best practices for managing employee expense payments
For the best experience:
Use Dext for all employee expense claims and mileage claims
Approve expenses as grouped claims rather than individual items
Pay employee expenses and supplier invoices together using Dext Payments
Avoid mixing Dext Expense claims with Xero Expenses