What it does
The Expense Tracker in Nautis is where you log every business expense, attach the receipt, sort by category, and watch spend against budgets. You can scan a receipt with the camera and let AI fill the form for you, set up recurring expenses for monthly subscriptions, route submissions through an approval chain, and produce reports to share with your accountant or board.
Who can use it
Anyone with read access to the Expenses module.
Creating expenses needs create permission.
Approval rules, policy rules, and category management need admin permission.
The Expenses module must be enabled on your plan.
How to get here
From the sidebar, open Finance and click Expenses.
Step-by-step: log an expense manually
Click Add Expense → Add Manually.
Fill in: Amount, Currency, Date, Category, Description, Merchant, Payment Method, Vendor.
Drop a receipt or pick a file.
Click Save Expense.
Step-by-step: scan a receipt
Click Add Expense → Scan a Bill.
Upload photo/PDF or use camera.
AI extracts amount, currency, date, vendor, category.
Review and click Save.
Step-by-step: categorize expenses
Sidebar → Categories.
Click Add Category.
Set Name, Colour, save.
Step-by-step: attach a receipt
Receipt area accepts: photos (JPG, PNG, HEIC), PDFs. Drag-and-drop or click-to-upload. After saving, shown as a thumbnail; click for lightbox.
Step-by-step: edit, submit, approve, or delete
All Expenses in sidebar.
Click an expense row.
Edit, Delete, or Submit for Approval.
Approval Chain Status shows current approver.
Approvers can Approve, Reject (with reason), or push back. Bulk actions via checkboxes.
Step-by-step: set up a recurring expense
Sidebar → Recurring.
Click Add Recurring Expense.
Set Amount, Currency, Category, Merchant, Payment Method, Description, frequency, start date, end date.
Save. Nautis creates expenses automatically each cycle.
Step-by-step: track against a budget
Sidebar → Budgets.
Click Create Budget.
Pick Category (or all), Period, Amount.
Save. Page shows budget vs actual.
Step-by-step: configure approval rules (admins)
Sidebar → Approval Rules.
Click Create Approval Rule.
Pick conditions (e.g., Amount over $500) and approvers.
Save.
Step-by-step: configure policy rules (admins)
Sidebar → Policy Rules.
Create rules that warn or block policy violations.
Step-by-step: log mileage or per-diem
Sidebar → Mileage & Per-Diem.
Add Mileage (distance, rate, date) or Per-Diem (daily rate, trip dates).
Save.
Step-by-step: view analytics and export reports
Sidebar → Analytics.
KPI cards plus charts: spending trend, category breakdown, status mix, payment methods split, merchant ranking.
Filters at the top: date range, category, merchant, status.
Export from All Expenses → set filters → Export → CSV.
Step-by-step: manage merchants
Sidebar → Merchants.
Add a merchant with Name, optional description, contact info, address.
Tips & limits
Use Scan a Bill at the moment of purchase.
Keep Categories small and stable for meaningful analytics.
Refresh reloads when collaborators add entries.
Attached receipts count against your storage quota.
FAQ
What happens after I submit for approval?
Goes to the first approver in the matching rule. They approve, reject with a reason, or push back.
Can I create an expense for a teammate?
Each expense belongs to its creator. Managers can add on behalf only if your organization has set that up.
Does Nautis detect duplicate receipts?
Yes — flagged so you can decide whether to keep both.
Can I export receipts with the CSV?
CSV contains expense data with receipt URLs. Bulk receipt export depends on your plan.
What's the difference between Categories and Merchants?
Categories = what you bought. Merchants = who you paid.