Leave and expense claims

A vacation balance works like a bank account measured in hours. Hours come in as the person accrues them; hours go out when leave is taken. BizBooks360 keeps every movement as a row in a leave ledger, the book of record of each balance, so any figure can be traced back to its rows.

A new book has three leave kinds that keep a balance: Vacation (VAC), Sick (SICK) and Floating holiday (FLOAT). Jury duty / bereavement is leave without a balance, typed on the timesheet. None accrues anything until a policy says how.

The task. The shop wants two weeks of paid vacation a year for everyone: 80 hours over 26 two-week periods is about 3.08 hours a period. Nobody may hold more than 120 hours, and at the year end up to 40 hours carry over.

1. 1

   Open the policies

   Settings → Timekeeping → Time types and leave policies → + New policy.

2. 2

   Fill in the policy and press Add policy

   The answer: Added the policy Shop vacation.

Alex had 24 hours of vacation left over from the paper records. That figure enters the ledger once, as an opening balance.

1. 1

   Run the accrual

   Timekeeping → Leave → Run accrual now, and confirm. It writes only what the policies say is due as of today. The policy was one day old, so nothing was due yet and both balances stayed at 0.00.

2. 2

   Set the opening balance

   On Alex's row, Set opening balance.... It offers only the kinds whose ledger has no row yet for the person. Kind Vacation, hours 24, on 10/31/2026, and a reason, which is required. The answer: Opening balance of Alex Morgan's Vacation set at 24.00 h.

The Payroll says column compares the ledger with the payroll's own figure. For a person with no paycheck it reads Payroll has no figure yet, as for both people in the picture, which was taken before the Payroll module was switched on. Since Casey's first paycheck (Chapter 11.2), Casey's row reads Payroll says 0.00 h (as of the last paycheck); Alex, who is not paid through payroll, still has no figure.

Alex wanted the whole week of November 9 off for a fishing trip.

1. 1

   Open the request

   Timekeeping → My Leave → Request leave (the same button sits under the leave balance in My Time).

2. 2

   Choose the kind, the days and the hours

   The dialog counts as you type: work days only, times the hours per day, against the balance.

The arithmetic. 5 days × 8 hours = 40 hours requested; 40 − 24 available = 16 hours short. The dialog warned but did not refuse: the decision belongs to the manager. Alex sent it anyway to see what happens, and the answer was Request sent for approval.

Requests wait on Timekeeping → Review, on the Leave tab, for the person's manager or anyone with Leave Management rights.

1. 1

   Deny, saying why

   A denial needs a note, which the person reads word for word. Alex wrote what to ask for instead.

1. 2

   Request what the balance allows

   Alex sent a new request for Thursday and Friday, Nov 12 - Nov 13: 2 work days x 8.00 = 16.00 h; 8.00 h will remain.

2. 3

   Approve

   On the Leave tab, Approve. The dialog says what approval does, and the note is optional.

Approval also wrote two VACATION entries of 8.00 hours onto Alex's timesheet for Nov 1 - Nov 14, on Nov 12 and Nov 13, each logged as Leave posted. Alex does not type them; they count as the entry for those work days.

When an employee pays for something the business uses (a parts run in their own car, a box of supplies on their own card), the business owes them the money back. Each person keeps one claim a month in Timekeeping → My Expenses. Lines are of three kinds:

Every line names a category, which decides the account it is booked to, and a business purpose, which is required. When the claim is approved it becomes a bill to the employee, paid with the other bills.

Settings → Timekeeping → Expense claims. A new book starts with a mileage rate of 0.70 a mile, per diem defaults, a $75.00 receipt limit, and seven categories with no accounts. A line on a category without an account cannot be submitted, so give every category you use an account. Alex set the mileage account to Car & Truck Expenses and the Supplies category to Supplies.

The task. On October 27 Alex drove to Bend Parts Supply and back, 42 miles in their own truck, and paid $86.50 on their personal card for zipper sliders, seam tape and buckles.

1. 1

   Start the month's claim

   My Expenses, choose October 2026 in Month, and start the claim. It opens as Claim 1, Draft.

2. 2

   Add the lines

   + Mileage: the date, category Mileage, charge code OH-GEN, from and to, the purpose, and 42 miles. + Receipt: the date, category Supplies, the vendor and invoice number, the purpose, and 86.50. Each line is saved as you leave it.

1. 3

   Attach the receipt

   Press Attach on the receipt line. A drop zone opens: Drop the receipt here, or click to choose a file. Alex dropped a photo of the receipt.²

1. 4

   Submit

   Press Submit claim. The claim turns Submitted: Claim sent. When it is approved it becomes a bill to you.

The arithmetic. 42 × 0.70 = 29.40; 29.40 + 86.50 = 115.90.

1. 1

   Open the claim

   Timekeeping → Expense claims lists the claims of the people you review, by status, month and person (Start a claim for someone is there too). Open shows each line with the account it books to and the receipt.

2. 2

   Approve

   Approve claim opens a short dialog with an optional note and, for the owner's own claim, the line Recorded as a sole-approver exception. Return for correction... sends it back with what to fix instead.

The bill books 29.40 to Car & Truck Expenses and 86.50 to Supplies, with 115.90 owed in accounts payable to Alex until paid.

• [x] Every balance-keeping leave kind has a policy that covers everyone it should.
• [x] Opening balances are entered once, with a reason.
• [x] Pending leave requests are decided; every denial carries a note.
• [x] Every expense category in use has an account.
• [x] Each claim line has a business purpose, and a receipt where the rule asks for one.
• [x] Approved claims' bills are paid with the bill run.