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Expense Report Form Template

Chasing down expense reimbursements via email is a time sink for everyone. This expense report form gives employees a structured way to submit all their expenses in one place — itemized, categorized, and tied to a business purpose — so finance teams can approve quickly and employees get reimbursed without the back-and-forth.

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Free for non-commercial projects, with unlimited forms and responses.

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The starting point

About this template

Expense reimbursement processes break down in predictable ways: employees submit partial information, finance teams send it back for corrections, and the cycle repeats for two weeks before anyone gets paid. A structured expense report form eliminates this by capturing everything in the first submission — who is submitting, what period the expenses cover, each line item with date and amount, the total, and the business context.

More about this template

This template uses a guided long-text field for itemized expenses with a clear format shown in the placeholder ('Date | Description | Category | Amount'). This works better than separate fields for each expense line because expense reports vary wildly in length — a day trip might have 3 items, a week-long conference might have 20. The category checkboxes let finance quickly classify the report without reading every line.

For teams without accounting software, formformform handles the intake side cleanly — finance gets an instant email for each report, can view all submissions in the dashboard, and can export them for reconciliation. For teams that do use accounting software, this form works as the structured front end that collects complete, consistent submissions before they're entered into the system.

10 fields to make your own8 required in this starting form

Make it fit your workflow.

Use your own copy to change labels, remove questions and add the details you need. Try the preview alongside this guide to see what respondents will be asked.

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The questions, explained

Fields in this template

Review the starting questions and choices. You can change them in your own copy.

  • Short answerRequired

    Employee Name

    Jane Smith

  • Email addressRequired

    Work Email

    jane@company.com

  • Short answerRequired

    Department

    Sales

  • Short answerRequired

    Manager / Approver Name

    John Doe

  • Short answerRequired

    Expense Period

    e.g., March 1–31, 2025

  • Short answerRequired

    Business Purpose / Project

    e.g., Client meeting — Acme Corp, Sales conference

  • Long answerRequired

    Itemized Expenses

    List each expense on a new line: Date | Description | Category | Amount Example: 2025-03-05 | Uber to client site | Transport | $18.50 2025-03-05 | Client lunch | Meals | $74.20 2025-03-07 | Hotel (1 night) | Accommodation | $189.00

  • NumberRequired

    Total Amount Requested ($)

    0.00

  • Multiple choiceOptional

    Expense Categories Included (check all that apply)

    9 choices
    • Meals & Entertainment
    • Travel (flights, trains, rideshare)
    • Accommodation
    • Parking & Tolls
    • Office Supplies
    • Software / Subscriptions
    • Client Gifts
    • Conference / Event Fees
    • Other
  • Long answerOptional

    Additional Notes

    Any context, exceptions, or notes for the approver.

Where it fits

Who uses this template

Suggested uses, and why this starting point can help. Adapt the questions to your own process.

Finance and accounting teams

Collect the details needed to review a request consistently and identify missing information before the next step. Review “Department” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Operations managers

Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Expense Period” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Small business owners

Turn initial interest into information you can review. Use the answers to prepare a relevant follow-up and decide whether the opportunity fits your work. Review “Business Purpose / Project” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Office managers

Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Itemized Expenses” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Remote teams

Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Total Amount Requested ($)” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Sales teams

Turn initial interest into information you can review. Use the answers to prepare a relevant follow-up and decide whether the opportunity fits your work. Review “Expense Categories Included (check all that apply)” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Consultants and agencies

Get a useful brief before the first conversation. Written context helps you assess fit, prepare questions and decide what to discuss next. Review “Additional Notes” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

Nonprofits managing grant expenses

Give people a straightforward way to get involved, while collecting the context needed to coordinate the work and follow up. Review “Department” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.

What's included

Employee info and manager approval fields
Expense period and business purpose fields
Itemized expense list with guided format
Total amount field for quick review
Expense category checkboxes for classification
Notes field for exceptions or additional context
Instant notification to finance team on submission
Free with unlimited submissions

How to create an expense report form

  1. 1

    Click 'Use this template' to open the expense report form in formformform.

  2. 2

    Update the intro paragraph with your company's reimbursement policy — submission deadlines, what's covered, and the approval workflow.

  3. 3

    Customize the expense categories checkbox to match your chart of accounts or expense policy categories.

  4. 4

    Set your finance team's email as the notification recipient so every report arrives in the right inbox.

  5. 5

    Share the form link with employees via your company intranet, Slack, or HR onboarding documentation.

  6. 6

    Consider creating a recurring reminder (monthly or per pay cycle) pointing employees to the form submission link.

Best practices for your expense report form

Set a submission deadline

communicate clearly when expense reports must be submitted each period (e.g., 'by the 5th of the following month'). Late submissions create reconciliation headaches.

Specify the itemization format

the placeholder text shows a Date | Description | Category | Amount format, but reinforce this in your expense policy so submissions are consistent.

Require business purpose

every expense report should include the business justification. 'Client dinner' is not sufficient; 'Client dinner — Acme Corp proposal review' is. The Business Purpose field enforces this.

Set a receipt policy

decide upfront whether receipts are required for all expenses or only above a threshold (e.g., over $25). Include this in the form description.

Audit total amounts

the total field is self-reported. Build a review step into your workflow where the approver checks the total against the itemized list before approving.

Export monthly for reconciliation

formformform lets you export all submissions as a CSV. Running a monthly export aligns your expense report intake with your accounting close cycle.

Frequently asked questions

Is this expense report form template free?

Yes, completely free. You can collect unlimited expense report submissions with no subscription required.

Can employees attach receipts to this form?

Yes. Add an Upload field in the editor and receipts arrive attached to the claim rather than in a separate email — 2 MB per file covers a phone photo of a receipt comfortably. Each Upload field holds one file, so for a claim covering several purchases either add a field per receipt or ask for one combined PDF. The template does not arrive with the field placed; that is a limit of how templates are generated, not of the product.

How does my finance team get notified of new submissions?

Every submission triggers an instant email notification to the address you configure. You can also view and export all submissions from your formformform dashboard at any time.

Can I customize the expense categories?

Yes. The categories checkbox is fully editable — update it to match your company's actual expense policy categories or chart of accounts.

Can I add an approval workflow to this form?

The form captures the approver's name, and submissions go directly to your notification email. For a more formal approval workflow, you can use Zapier to route submissions to your accounting or approval platform automatically.

What currency does the form use?

The form is currency-agnostic — the total amount field accepts any number. Add your currency in the field label (e.g., 'Total Amount Requested (USD)') and in the itemization format instructions to make it explicit.

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