# Customizing lines in claim expenses **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [July 20, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921 "2018-07-20T08:26:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/1 "2018-07-20T08:26:23Z")
Hi, I would like to know if there is a possibility to include to a new version of Manager (I use desktop edition) the option for customizing the lines to claim expenses form. I would like to create a travel expenses log on which the following line should be: Date, Description, Hotel, Transportation, Fuels, Meals, Phones, Etc Apart from the first 2 fields all other fields are costs thae should sum up to the end of the line. This would be very helpful for travel monitoring expenses, because at the time being I use your program (Extremely good job!) for all other actrivities of the company and I have to create a travel log outside the program only for the travels! Keep up the good work! ---
**Author:** ![Joe91](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/joe91/32/35781_2.png) [@Joe91](https://forum.manager.io/u/Joe91)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/2 "2018-07-20T13:05:29Z")
If you record a separate line for each expense, then the total will be on the expense claim form ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/3 "2018-07-20T13:28:59Z")
@Joe91’s approach is the only way. What you describe sounds more like an expense log sheet that employees fill out. You usually would not want them making accounting entries anyway. ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/4 "2018-07-20T15:37:54Z")
@Tut It is actually a log but it is connected to real expenses (with petty cash or with bank accounts). What I am trying to do is to change the fields of the claim expenses form, but I am not expert in html coding. The form iis very similar to the journal entry form meaning I want to sort each lline by date. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Joe91](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/joe91/32/35781_2.png) [@Joe91](https://forum.manager.io/u/Joe91)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/5 "2018-07-20T15:46:03Z")
Use Settings/Form Defaults/Expense Claim to set up the default expense claim form that you want ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/6 "2018-07-20T17:32:52Z")
You cannot change existing fields, no matter what your HTML skills. You can add custom fields, but they have no impact on financial accounting. You can add line items posted to accounts of your choosing. ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:56am UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/7 "2018-07-23T08:56:12Z")
I am familiar with the fact that I cannot change the existing fields, but I was wondering if we could have an option for line editing such as in invoices. Is there any posibillity? ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:56am UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/8 "2018-07-23T08:56:54Z")
You cannot change the fields though. ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/9 "2018-07-23T14:07:17Z")
You need to explain in more detail what you are trying to do. Expense claims already allow enormous flexibility, including the ability to rearrange lines by date if that is what you want. What are you trying to do that you cannot? ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/10 "2018-07-23T14:52:08Z")
See the attached image. ![travel_log_template](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/manager1/original/2X/5/5238447a7d22e8b142d7eb093a34a3ab1214babc.jpg) The actual format is in excel. If the line editing was enabled in settings I could add the column fields… ---
**Author:** ![Joe91](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/joe91/32/35781_2.png) [@Joe91](https://forum.manager.io/u/Joe91)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/11 "2018-07-23T15:09:24Z")
This format is not possible at all in Manager. My suggestion is to continue to use the Excel format and just enter the total(s) into an Expense Claim in Manager, attaching the Excel form if required. If you want to record the different type of expenses (Hotel, Transport, etc) separately in Manager then the totals from the green cells will have to be entered, but if not, just enter the Grand total. ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/12 "2018-07-23T15:17:36Z")
Your suggestion is what I am doing at the moment. I was hoping that if this module could be integrated somehow in Manager (in expenses clain in particular) it would be great, because this is the only procedure I execute outside the Manager… I know that you can add/or adjust line fields in invoices, so I figured that could be the same principle. ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/13 "2018-07-23T16:08:15Z")
> [@nathan.kor](#): > > so I figured that could be the same principle. It is not, because each line item must first allow selection of an item (if applicable), then be posted to an appropriate expense account, allow for the possibility of discounts, tax codes, and tracking codes. What you are proposing is really to select posting accounts based on columns and would require subtotals within the main table of the expense claim. And it eliminates items, discounts, tax codes, and tracking codes. While that might work for you, it does not work in general. But with the exception of your category subtotals, all the same information is there in the existing expense claim form, plus customer information. (Destination and purpose can go in the summary-level `Description` field.) It is just arranged differently. There is something else to consider. The expense claim works as a complete travel claim only if all expenses are paid by the traveler and none from company accounts or with company credit cards. If you mix sources, such as having a company travel agent who books flight reservations and is paid by the company while the traveler buys meals and is reimbursed, you need multiple accounting transactions anyway. Long experience has taught me that a customized spreadsheet form is the best way to record all travel expenses in one place. This document is suitable for sharing with a customer, while an expense claim with all its detail usually is not. A typical trip then involves several accounting transactions, all supported by the travel report: - Bank transactions for items charged on company credit cards (a combined entry might be suitable under some circumstances) - Expense claims for mileage and per diem allowances, where no money actually changed hands but the expense is deductible for the business and/or reimbursable to the employee - Expense claims for actual expenses charged on employees’ personal credit cards or paid from personal funds - Cash transactions for out-of-pocket expenses covered by advances or reimbursements from the company’s petty cash - Cash transactions for return of unused advances - Journal entries (in some situations and depending on your account structure and expense claims payer setup) to clear expense claims to appropriate equity or liability accounts - Bank transactions to reimburse travelers for their expense claims In short, a travel expense report is fairly straightforward. All the accounting it generates can get complex. The thing you have to remember is that an expense claim is just a claim for expenses someone besides the company paid. It doesn’t, by itself, record everything that happens to settle it. ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/14 "2018-07-23T17:29:29Z")
Thanks for the detailed description. The travel log is as exaclty you’ve described… a mess! (from accounting point of view). I could do the grant total to claim expenses, but due to the different sources of payment it is not applicable. Only I wanted was a date sorted log, but the journal entry does not either helps… What do you suggest for the report? a custom form of the claim expenses or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/15 "2018-07-23T19:41:29Z")
> [@nathan.kor](#): > > What do you suggest for the report? It looks to me like you already have a custom spreadsheet. As long as the categories you use for the column headings match the expense accounts you are posting expenses to, it seems what you have is as good as anything. It is very similar to the one I use. As a matter of convenience, you should be sure the accounts you are posting to match any requirements for tax filing so you don’t have to sort again. ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 9:04am UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/16 "2018-07-24T09:04:38Z")
The custom spreadsheet is outside Manager. In the claim expenses form I can only insert the total amount of the expenses… Anyway, thanks for the effort… ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/17 "2018-07-24T13:34:08Z")
> [@nathan.kor](#): > > The custom spreadsheet is outside Manager. I understood this from the first moment you showed it. > [@nathan.kor](#): > > In the claim expenses form I can only insert the total amount of the expenses… This is not correct. You can add as many lines as you want and separately record every individual charge, posting to whichever expense accounts you wish. So a week-long trip might have dozens of line items. Or, you can aggregate charges by account, so there is one line for motor vehicle charges, one for hotel, one for the total of meals, and so forth. Or, if you are not separating all these charges to separate expense account, you could enter only a single line item including all travel. The flexibility is there to be as detailed or as simple as fits your needs. ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/18 "2018-07-24T13:51:18Z")
I believe I’ve understood the principle. The only thing is that the particular travel log is date-oriented. This is the reason that I wanted to add at least a field with Date in the row of the claim expenses form. ---
**Author:** ![Tut](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.manager.io/tut/32/3286_2.png) [@Tut](https://forum.manager.io/u/Tut)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/19 "2018-07-24T14:06:15Z")
You will have to put that information in the `Description` field. From an accounting perspective, the date on every line item is the date of the expense claim. Let me also suggest, if your travel is billable to customers, that you explore Billable Expenses. (Perhaps you already have.) When you create a sales invoice from billable expenses, the dates of individual expenses are automatically filled. See [Manager Cloud](https://guides.manager.io/5503). ---
**Author:** ![nathan.kor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@nathan.kor](https://forum.manager.io/u/nathan.kor)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921/20 "2018-07-24T14:17:13Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. I have seen the billable form, but it’s not applicable to my case since the travel expenses are from company’s staff. [Next page](https://forum.manager.io/t/customizing-lines-in-claim-expenses/16921.md?page=2)