Ledger impact of Expense
Every Expense action, whether it posts to the ledger, and the exact debit and credit entries for each action that does.
Checked against the product 06 Oct 2026
In one minute
Expense posts to the ledger in a small number of places. Creating, editing, submitting and approving the paperwork does not post by itself. The ledger moves when a claim is approved (stage 1), when Finance pays a claim (stage 2), when Finance disburses an advance, when petty cash is replenished or corrected, and when cash from an advance is returned.
A few facts apply to every entry on this page:
- Winlium never reverses an Expense entry. There is no void. See the end of this page.
- Expense has no withholding tax. Winlium posts the tax amounts shown on the claim line and nothing else.
- Winlium does not convert currencies when posting. It posts the document's amount as it is, and it records the exchange rate beside the amount.
- Every posting action gets one audit number that starts with EXP, for example EXP-20261006-ab12-000001. Every line of that action shares it. It is also the reference you can search for in Accounting.
- The ledger entries use the claim number (EXP-001) or advance number (ADV-001) as their reference.
- You need the Chart of Accounts set up and the account names filled in under Expense Settings before anything posts. Expense Settings lists them.
Summary: does it post?
| Action | Screen | Posts | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create, edit, duplicate, delete a claim | My Expenses, New Expense | No | none |
| Submit a claim for approval | New Expense | No | none |
| Recall a claim | New Expense | No | none |
| Reject a claim | My Approvals | No | none |
| Approve a claim of type Claim (including a claim for an external payee) | My Approvals, or automatic below Auto-Approve Below | Yes | Stage 1 of 2 |
| Approve a claim of type Advance Clearance | My Approvals, or automatic | Yes | Final |
| Approve a claim of type Petty Cash | My Approvals, or automatic | Yes | Final |
| Approve a claim of type Corporate Card | My Approvals, or automatic | Yes | Final |
| Process Reimbursement | Process Expenses | Yes | Stage 2 of 2 |
| Create, edit, submit, approve or reject an advance request | New Advance, My Approvals | No | none |
| Disburse an advance | Disburse Advances | Yes | Single entry |
| Return unspent advance cash | No screen today | Yes | Single entry |
| Replenish a petty cash fund (including first funding) | Replenish Petty Cash | Yes | Single entry |
| Correct a petty cash fund balance | Petty Cash Funds, Adjust balance | Yes | Single entry |
| Create, edit or delete a petty cash fund | Petty Cash Funds | No | none |
| Categories, policies, external payees, Expense Settings | Configuration screens | No | none |
| Public submission: receive, match, attach an external payee, reject, convert | Review Public Submissions | No | none |
Converting a public submission only creates a Draft claim. The claim posts later, when it is approved.
Where each account comes from
| Account used in the entries | Where it is set |
|---|---|
| Category expense account | Expense Categories > Expense Account. Winlium uses the account the category had when the claim line was last saved. Changing the category later does not change a saved line. |
| Tax account | Accounting > Taxes. Winlium uses the tax's Purchase Account. If that is empty it uses the tax's Default Account. |
| Employee Payable | Expense Settings > Default GL Accounts > Employee Payable Account |
| Staff Advance | Expense Settings > Default GL Accounts > Staff Advance Account |
| Corporate Card Payable | Expense Settings > Default GL Accounts > Corporate Card Payable |
| Petty cash control account | The fund's Control Account on the claim's chosen fund. Only if the claim has no fund, Expense Settings > Default GL Accounts > Default Petty Cash Account. |
| External Payee Payable | Expense Settings > Public Submission > External Payee Payable Account |
| Bank or cash account | Chosen on the screen by the person who pays, disburses or replenishes (field Bank Account). Winlium does not check that it is a bank or cash account. |
Winlium reads the tax account from the tax each time it posts. It ignores any account saved on the claim line.
Stage 1: approval of a claim
Stage 1 posts when the last approver approves, or at once when the claim is at or below Auto-Approve Below. It posts line by line, in this order for each claim line: the expense debit, then one debit for each tax on that line, then the credit.
- The expense debit is the line amount before tax (quantity times unit price, or kilometres times rate).
- Each tax debit is the tax amount shown on the line. Winlium does not recalculate it. Tax entries of zero are not posted.
- The credit is the line amount plus its tax amounts, to the account for the claim type.
- Each line posts on its own date, into the accounting period that holds that date. One claim can therefore post into several periods.
- Department and branch come from the line. Project comes from the line.
Ledger impact: Approval of a claim of type Claim (employee payee)
Stage 1 of 2| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Category expense account (one entry per line) | Expense Categories > Expense Account, as saved on the line | Line amount before tax |
| Dr | Tax account (one entry per tax on the line) | Tax Purchase Account, or its Default Account if empty | The tax amount on the line |
| Cr | Employee Payable | Expense Settings > Employee Payable Account | Line amount plus the tax amounts on that line |
Ledger impact: Approval of a claim of type Claim for an external payee
Stage 1 of 2| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Category expense account (one entry per line) | Expense Categories > Expense Account, as saved on the line | Line amount before tax |
| Dr | Tax account (one entry per tax on the line) | Tax Purchase Account, or its Default Account if empty | The tax amount on the line |
| Cr | External Payee Payable | Expense Settings > External Payee Payable Account | Line amount plus the tax amounts on that line |
Ledger impact: Approval of a claim of type Advance Clearance
Final: no stage 2| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Category expense account (one entry per line) | Expense Categories > Expense Account, as saved on the line | Line amount before tax |
| Dr | Tax account (one entry per tax on the line) | Tax Purchase Account, or its Default Account if empty | The tax amount on the line |
| Cr | Staff Advance | Expense Settings > Staff Advance Account | Line amount plus the tax amounts on that line |
Ledger impact: Approval of a claim of type Petty Cash
Final: no stage 2| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Category expense account (one entry per line) | Expense Categories > Expense Account, as saved on the line | Line amount before tax |
| Dr | Tax account (one entry per tax on the line) | Tax Purchase Account, or its Default Account if empty | The tax amount on the line |
| Cr | Petty cash control account | The chosen fund's Control Account, or Default Petty Cash Account if the claim has no fund | Line amount plus the tax amounts on that line |
Ledger impact: Approval of a claim of type Corporate Card
Final: no stage 2| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Category expense account (one entry per line) | Expense Categories > Expense Account, as saved on the line | Line amount before tax |
| Dr | Tax account (one entry per tax on the line) | Tax Purchase Account, or its Default Account if empty | The tax amount on the line |
| Cr | Corporate Card Payable | Expense Settings > Corporate Card Payable | Line amount plus the tax amounts on that line |
Errors at approval
A posting stops with one of these messages when a setting, an account or a period is missing.
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| Employee Payable account is not configured in Expense Settings | Employee Payable Account is empty. |
| Staff Advance account is not configured in Expense Settings | Staff Advance Account is empty. |
| Corporate Card Payable account is not configured in Expense Settings | Corporate Card Payable is empty. |
| External Payee Payable account is not configured in Expense Settings | External Payee Payable Account is empty. |
| Expense line (id) has no category expense account configured | The category had no Expense Account when the line was saved. |
| Tax "(name)" on line (id) has no posting account configured | The tax has neither a Purchase Account nor a Default Account. |
| No active financial period found for date: (date) | No accounting period covers the line's date. |
| Financial period for date (date) is blocked for transactions | The period or its financial year is blocked. |
| Failed to post GL (entry) entry — check transaction-service logs for [GL_ERROR] | The ledger refused the entry. Ask your administrator. |
Stage 2: payment of a claim
Finance selects Process Reimbursement on an Approved claim of type Claim. Payment methods are Cash, Bank Transfer and Salary Deduction. The entry is the same for every method. Salary Deduction does not pass anything to payroll.
Ledger impact: Process Reimbursement
Stage 2 of 2| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Employee Payable, or External Payee Payable for an external-payee claim | Expense Settings, the same account that stage 1 credited | The whole approved total: line amounts plus tax |
| Cr | Bank or cash account | Bank Account chosen in the Process Reimbursement window | The same total |
Advances
Ledger impact: Disburse
| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Staff Advance | Expense Settings > Staff Advance Account | The approved amount of the advance |
| Cr | Bank or cash account | Bank Account chosen in the Disburse Advance window. For Cash with no account chosen, Default Petty Cash Account. | The same amount |
Ledger impact: Return unspent advance cash (no screen today)
| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Bank or cash account | The account supplied with the return | The amount returned |
| Cr | Staff Advance | Expense Settings > Staff Advance Account | The same amount |
The three entries together close an advance: the disbursement debits Staff Advance, an approved Advance Clearance claim credits it, and a cash return credits it for whatever is left.
Petty cash
Ledger impact: Replenish Petty Cash
| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Petty cash control account | The fund's Control Account, read when you replenish | The amount replenished. Default: imprest amount minus current balance. |
| Cr | Bank account | Bank Account chosen in the Replenish window | The same amount |
Ledger impact: Confirm Correction (increase the fund balance)
| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Petty cash control account | The fund's Control Account | New balance minus current balance |
| Cr | Bank account | Bank Account chosen in the correction window | The same amount |
Ledger impact: Confirm Correction (decrease the fund balance)
| Side | Account | Where the account comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr | Bank account | Bank Account chosen in the correction window | Current balance minus new balance |
| Cr | Petty cash control account | The fund's Control Account | The same amount |
Actions that do not post
Ledger impact: Create, edit, duplicate or delete a claim
Does not post to the ledger.
A claim is only a request until it is approved.
Ledger impact: Submit for Approval
Does not post to the ledger.
Submitting only starts the approval. The exception is a claim at or below Auto-Approve Below, which is approved by the same click and posts as in Stage 1.
Ledger impact: Recall
Does not post to the ledger.
Recall returns the claim to Draft. It is only possible before an approver has acted, so nothing has posted yet.
Ledger impact: Reject
Does not post to the ledger.
A rejected claim has not posted. A claim that has already been approved and posted is not reversed by a later rejection.
Ledger impact: Advance request: create, submit, approve, reject
Does not post to the ledger.
Approving an advance does not move money. The ledger moves only when Finance disburses it.
Ledger impact: Petty cash fund: create, edit, delete
Does not post to the ledger.
A new fund starts at zero. It is filled by Replenish Petty Cash.
Ledger impact: Review Public Submissions: match, attach external payee, reject, convert
Does not post to the ledger.
Convert creates a Draft claim. It posts only when that claim is approved.
Ledger impact: Categories, policies, external payees and Expense Settings
Does not post to the ledger.
These are setup records.
Worked example (an example, not real data)
An employee claims a hotel night of ₦200,000.00 with VAT of 7.5% (₦15,000.00) shown on the line. The account numbers are made up.
Stage 1, on approval (the claim becomes Approved)
| Side | Account | Amount (₦) |
|---|---|---|
| Dr | 6101 Travel Expense (category expense account) | 200,000.00 |
| Dr | 1403 VAT Input (the tax's Purchase Account) | 15,000.00 |
| Cr | 2101 Employee Payable | 215,000.00 |
| Total debits 215,000.00 equals total credits 215,000.00 |
Stage 2, when Finance pays from 1002 Bank (the claim becomes Paid)
| Side | Account | Amount (₦) |
|---|---|---|
| Dr | 2101 Employee Payable | 215,000.00 |
| Cr | 1002 Bank | 215,000.00 |
| Total debits 215,000.00 equals total credits 215,000.00 |
After both stages Employee Payable is nil. Travel Expense carries ₦200,000.00, VAT Input carries ₦15,000.00 and Bank is down ₦215,000.00.
Check it in Accounting
After approval or payment, ask your accountant to look in Accounting for:
- The general ledger or account transactions for the account in question (for example Employee Payable). Search for the claim number, such as EXP-001, or the audit number that begins EXP.
- The trial balance. Employee Payable should fall back to nil once every approved claim is paid. Staff Advance should fall as advances are cleared.
- The periods. Each claim line posts in the period of its own date. Payment, disbursement, replenishment and correction post in the period of the day they are done.
No reversal
Expense does not post reversing entries. This is stated here once for every action:
- A paid claim, a disbursed advance, a replenishment and a correction cannot be undone from Expense.
- Rejecting or recalling never reverses an entry.