Additional Fields for Expense Capture

Overview

Some expenses require more context than just an amount and a category. Accounting, compliance, and audit teams often need details like business purpose, attendees, project codes, or internal references to properly review, approve, and reconcile transactions.

With Custom Fields for Expense Capture, Owners, Admins, and Bookkeepers can define and require custom fields that users must complete when managing their transactions. These fields appear directly on the transaction in Extend and are accessible through exports, ensuring your team always has the information needed for compliance and reconciliation.

You can also tailor what context you collect based on the type of spend by requiring fields for specific merchant categories. For example, require attendees on restaurant transactions, nights stayed on lodging, or seat class on airfare - so your team captures exactly the right details for each kind of purchase, and accounting isn't left chasing information.

Custom Fields for Expense Capture help your organization:

• Improve compliance and audit readiness by collecting required context at the time of spend
• Reduce back-and-forth between employees and accounting teams
• Ensure approvals have the right information to make decisions
• Tailor requirements to the type of spend you care about most

Follow the steps below to configure Additional Fields for your organization.

How to Set Up Custom Fields

1. Navigate to Org Settings > Expense Categories and select Custom Fields.
2. Select Create Field. Configure the Field Name (e.g., Business Purpose, Attendees, Seat Class).
   
3. Choose whether the field is Required and which spend types require this information. You can create a rule to require Custom Fields on specific transactions based on the transaction's merchant category.
   
   A few common examples:

• Restaurants → require attendees
• Lodging → require nights stayed
• Airline → require seat class
• Anything else → set rules to match your company's policies and workflows

You can set up rules for as many merchant categories as you need, and update them at any time.
 

Once created, the field will automatically appear on all applicable transactions. You can edit, disable, or change a field's required status at any time from this settings page.

How Users Complete Additional Fields on a Transaction

1. Custom fields appear in the Transaction Flyout.
2. Open a transaction from the Transaction List.
3. In the Custom Details section, users will see applicable values like:
   1. Notes (which may be required)
   2. Any custom fields your organization has created
4. Users can enter the required information. Entries save automatically.
5. If a field is marked Required, the transaction will display those empty fields with a red outline to highlight to the user that the value is required. 
   
    

Users are also notified directly in their Activity Feed when a transaction is missing a required field, so they can fix it right where they're working

By capturing important details directly on transactions, Additional Fields for Expense Capture help your organization maintain clean records, simplify approvals, and make reconciliation faster and more accurate.

FAQ

1. Who can create additional fields? Only Owners, Admins, and Bookkeepers can create and manage additional fields in Org Settings.
2. Can I require different fields for different types of spend? Yes. You can require notes and additional fields based on a transaction's merchant category, for example, requiring attendees on restaurant transactions but nights stayed on lodging.
3. Where do users see these fields? Users see them in the Transaction Flyout under Custom Details when viewing a transaction. They're also prompted in their Activity Feed when a required field is missing.
4. Can we edit or remove a field later? Yes. You can modify, disable, or update fields at any time from Custom Fields in Org Settings.
5. Are these fields visible to approvers? Yes. Approvers can see all additional field information when reviewing transactions.
6. What happens if a user doesn't fill out a required field? They will be prompted  in their Activity Feed  to add the details.