Review Public Submissions

Check claims sent through the public claim link, match each to an employee or external payee, then convert it to a draft expense or reject it.

LimitedChecked against the product 06 Oct 2026

Goal

Decide what happens to each claim that an outsider sent through the public submission link: match it to a payee, then turn it into a draft expense or reject it.

Before you begin

The public link is switched on
For employee claims: the person exists as an employee in the HR records
For external payees: External Payee Payable Account in Expense Settings Needed later, when the claim is approved.
Expense categories allowed on the public form

Steps

Open Review Public Submissions
In the menu choose Expense, then Operations, then Review Public Submissions. The tab Awaiting Triage opens first. Use the search box for claimant name, phone number or reference code.
Screenshot pending
Review Public Submissions list with three tabs and one submission waiting for triage
1. 1The three tabs.
2. 2Review opens the submission.
Open a submission
Select Review on its row. The Review Public Expense Submission window opens. Check the summary: the reference, who sent it, the claim title and every line.
Match the claimant
For an employee, use the Match Employee tab. For a contractor or vendor, use the External Payee tab. Details are below.
Convert
Once matched, the window shows Convert to Draft Expense. Select it. Winlium creates the draft and opens it.
Or reject
If the claim is not valid, use the Reject tab instead of matching.

Match to an employee

Search
In the Match Employee tab type a name, phone number or staff ID in the search box (placeholder: Search by name, phone, or staff ID) and select Search, or press Enter. Rows read name, staff ID and phone. No results shows No matches.
Pick and match
Select the right row, then select Match to Selected Employee (Matching... while it works). The message Matched to employee appears.

Attach an external payee

Choose existing or new
In the External Payee tab choose Existing payee or Create new.
Fill in the payee
For an existing payee, pick it from the list (placeholder: Select an existing payee). For a new one, type Payee name (required), and optionally Phone, Email, Bank name, Account number and Account name. You enter bank details yourself; the public form never collects them.
Attach
Select Attach External Payee (Attaching... while it works). The message Attached to external payee appears.

Reject

Give a reason
In the Reject tab type the Reason. It is required.
Reject
Select Reject Submission (Rejecting... while it works). The message Submission rejected appears and the window closes. Winlium asks for no further confirmation, so check before you select it.

Field reference

The list:

Field	Type	Required	Details
Reference	Text	No	The code the claimant was given, prefix PUB.
Claimant	Text	No	The name the claimant typed. Search uses this column.
Type	Text	No	Employee (no login)External contractor/vendor Who the claimant said they are.
Claim	Text	No	The claim title.
Est. Amount	Number	No	A rough total, quantity times amount for each line. Mileage lines count as zero. No currency sign.
Submitted	Date	No	DD/MM/YYYY.
Status	Badge	No	The submission's status in capital letters, for example NEW or MATCHED EMPLOYEE.
Actions	Button	No	The Review button.

Tabs:

Field	Type	Required	Details
Awaiting Triage	Tab	No	New submissions that are not yet matched, converted or rejected.
Converted	Tab	No	Submissions turned into draft expenses.
Rejected	Tab	No	Submissions you rejected.

The empty text on every tab is No submissions here.

The window's inputs:

Field	Type	Required	Details
Payee name	Text	Required when you choose Create new	If empty: Payee name is required.
Phone	Text	No
Email	Text	No
Bank name	Text	No
Account number	Text	No
Account name	Text	No
Reason	Text area	Yes	If empty: A rejection reason is required.

The summary at the top of the window shows Reference:, Claimant: (name, phone, email), Claimed staff ID / vendor: (what the claimant typed), Claim: and Estimated total:. Each line shows its description, date, amount or kilometres, and the receipt's file name. You cannot open the receipt from here.

Statuses and what happens next

Status	Meaning
NEW	Just submitted. Shown in Awaiting Triage.
MATCHED EMPLOYEE	You matched it to an employee. Only Convert to Draft Expense is offered. Not listed on any tab.
MATCHED EXTERNAL PAYEE	You attached a payee. Same as above.
CONVERTED	A draft expense exists. Shown in Converted. The window shows View Expense.
REJECTED	Shown in Rejected, with your reason.

The labels UNDER REVIEW and SPAM exist, but Winlium never sets them.

When you convert, Winlium creates a Draft expense of type Claim for the matched employee or payee, with the same lines, the receipts, and your notes. For an employee, Winlium also finds the expense policy from the employee's department. The draft belongs to the matched person, not to you, so it does not appear in your own My Expenses. Open it from the window, which takes you there straight after converting. Then submit it for approval like any other claim. See New Expense.

You cannot undo a match from the window. A converted or rejected submission cannot be reviewed again.

Ledger impact

Ledger impact: Match, attach, reject or convert

Does not post to the ledger.

None of these actions writes to the ledger. Converting only creates a draft expense. The ledger is first touched when the claim is approved.

Approvals

Nothing here goes into approval until you convert it and submit the draft. External payee claims use the External-Payee Workflow set in Expense Settings. See Workflows and approvals.

Reverse or void

There is no undo. Rejecting asks for no confirmation. A matched submission cannot be rejected from the window; it can only be converted.

Who can do this

Each action has its own permission: expense:public-submissions:read to open the list, expense:public-submissions-employee-search:read to search employees, expense:public-submissions-match-employee:create, expense:public-submissions-attach-external-payee:create, expense:public-submissions-reject:create and expense:public-submissions-convert:create. Picking an existing payee also needs expense:external-payees:read. See Roles and permissions.

Nigerian notes

If something goes wrong

This submission must be matched to an employee or an external payee before it can be converted

Appears: Review window

Why it happens: You tried to convert a submission that has no match.
How to fix it: Match it first.

An expense policy is required — none matched this employee

Appears: Convert to Draft Expense

Why it happens: Expense Settings requires a policy and none applies to the employee's department.
How to fix it: Assign a policy to that department, see Policies, then convert again.

Select an existing payee, or switch to Create New

Appears: External Payee tab

Why it happens: Existing payee is chosen but none is picked.
How to fix it: Pick a payee or choose Create new.

Matched employee could not be found

Appears: Convert to Draft Expense

Why it happens: The employee record was removed after you matched it.
How to fix it: Ask HR to restore the record.

Public expense submission not found

Appears: Review window

Why it happens: The submission no longer exists.
How to fix it: Refresh the list.

More messages are on the Expense troubleshooting page.