Expense policy template built from your limits
Set your receipt threshold, spending limits and approvers. You get a written policy in plain English to send to your team the same day.
What the policy covers
- When a receipt is required
- Spending limits by category
- Who approves what
- The deadline to submit a claim
- What is never reimbursed
Build your expense policy
Your company
General rules
Per-category limits
Leave a limit empty for categories approved on the invoice rather than by a cap.
Your policy
# Acme Inc. expense policy _Effective October 30, 2026_ ## 1. Purpose This policy sets out what Acme Inc. will reimburse, the limits that apply, and how to submit a claim. It applies to every employee and contractor who incurs a business expense on the company's behalf. ## 2. Principles Spend company money as carefully as you would spend your own. An expense is reimbursable when it is necessary for your work, reasonable in amount, and within the limits below. When something falls outside this policy, ask before you spend rather than after. ## 3. Receipts An itemized receipt is required for every expense over CA$25. A card statement line is not a receipt: it shows the amount but not what was bought. Where a receipt is genuinely unavailable, submit a written explanation with the claim. The following categories require a receipt regardless of amount: meals and entertainment, airfare, lodging, software and subscriptions, office supplies, computers and equipment, advertising and marketing, professional fees, training and development, client gifts, team events, and other. ## 4. Limits by category The limits below are per transaction unless stated otherwise. - **Meals and entertainment**, CA$75 - **Airfare**, CA$1,200 - **Lodging**, CA$300 - **Ground transportation**, CA$100 - **Mileage**, No fixed limit (approved on the invoice) - **Software and subscriptions**, CA$500 - **Office supplies**, CA$250 - **Computers and equipment**, CA$2,500 - **Advertising and marketing**, No fixed limit (approved on the invoice) - **Professional fees**, No fixed limit (approved on the invoice) - **Training and development**, CA$1,500 - **Phone and internet**, CA$150 - **Client gifts**, CA$100 - **Team events**, CA$100 - **Bank and processing fees**, No fixed limit (approved on the invoice) - **Other**, CA$100 ## 5. Approval Expenses up to CA$500 are approved by your direct manager. Anything above CA$5,000 also needs finance approval before it is paid. Nobody approves their own expenses, and nobody approves an expense from which they personally benefit. ## 6. Submitting a claim Submit claims within 30 days of incurring the expense. Claims submitted after that may be refused, and claims from a closed financial year will be. Include the date, the merchant, the amount, the business purpose, and, for meals with others, who attended. ## 7. What is not reimbursable Personal expenses, fines and traffic tickets, in-flight upgrades not approved in advance, personal entertainment, and any expense already reimbursed by a client or another party. ## 8. Questions Direct anything this policy does not cover to the finance team before you commit the spend.
How to write an expense policy
A policy people actually follow is short, specific about amounts and clear about who approves what. Decide the four things below and the builder turns them into the full document.
Set the basics
Company name, currency and effective date. These appear throughout the document. What you send out reads like your own policy and not like a template someone forgot to fill in.
Pick a receipt threshold
This is the amount above which an itemized receipt is required. Most companies pick something between $25 and $75; a lower number catches more detail but means more time spent chasing people for receipts.
Set limits by category
Caps work well for everyday discretionary spending like meals and taxis. Leave professional fees and advertising uncapped, since those get approved invoice by invoice and a cap only tempts people to split one purchase into two.
Define who approves what
Set two thresholds: the amount where a manager has to sign off, and the amount where finance has to sign off as well. The policy states both, along with the rule that nobody approves their own expenses.
Frequently asked questions
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Limits checked when people spend
A written policy only works if people read it. Smartbills applies your limits at the moment of purchase. Out-of-policy spending is stopped when the card is used instead of turning up at month end.