You can put a monthly and a yearly spending limit per department on expense types. When a group being sent goes over the department's limit of that type, the employee is asked (or sending is blocked) and the approver sees the overrun with the amounts. A user with Expense Manager Permission sets the limits; the usage is followed on the Department limits dashboard.
Before you start
To set limits you have Expense Manager Permission.
The expense type has a Currency. Limits are in the type's currency; without one the warning "Choose a currency for the expense type to set department limits." appears.
Departments exist and employees belong to one.
Step by step
Setting the limits
Open the Configuration > Expenses > Expense types page (Settings in the header of the Expenses screen opens it too).
Choose Edit from the Actions button on the type's row (for a new type, Add expense type).
Set the Allow going over the limit switch in the Limit and currency section. When it is on: "A group over the department limit can be sent if the employee confirms; approvers see a warning."; when it is off: "A group over the department limit cannot be sent."
In the Department limits section click Add department.
On the row choose the Department and enter a Monthly limit and/or a Yearly limit. Every row needs at least one of them; the monthly limit cannot be higher than the yearly limit, and a department can be in the list only once. Remove a row with the bin icon (Remove row). The description under the section title shows the currency of the limits, e.g. "Limits are in TRY."; without rows it shows "No department limits yet.".
Click Update (Save for a new type).
The Limit per receipt applies as well: a single receipt can never go over it (Expense types).
How usage is counted
A department's usage of a type is the total amount of the receipts of that type in groups that are In approval, Awaiting payment or Paid. Draft, In revision and Rejected groups do not count.
The month and year come from the receipt date.
The department of a group is its owner's department at the moment the group is sent. If the employee changes department later, past usage does not move.
What the employee and the approver see
While adding a receipt, the employee sees "Department limit left this month: … / …" at the bottom of the Receipt details section. When sending the group with Send for approval goes over the limit, they confirm "The department limit has been exceeded. Are you sure you want to send it?" in the Department limit exceeded window with Yes, send; if the type does not allow it, the This group cannot be sent window appears (Sending for approval). A group sent after confirming carries the Over limit badge; in the group window the approver sees a box titled Department limit exceeded, within the per-receipt limit with Limit, Used before, This group, Including this group and Over by for each type and period. The e-mail to the approver also carries a limit overrun warning.
The Department limits dashboard
Open the Department limits card on Expense Management. Users with Expense Manager Permission, View all expenses (including those in approval) or View my department's expenses see the card.
Choose the month in the period picker. Managers and users who can see all expenses can also pick a department from All departments; a user who can see their department's expenses only sees their own department.
Read the table: every row is a department and expense type. The Monthly usage and Yearly usage columns show used / limit, the percentage and Remaining (or "… over" when the limit is exceeded). The bar turns yellow at 80% and red when the limit is exceeded. Overruns is the number of groups sent over the limit in the selected year; Last overrun is the date of the latest one. A type that does not allow going over the limit shows "Going over the limit is not allowed". The summary on top gives the "… limits", "… near the limit" and "… over the limit" counts.
Result
Limits are used on the receipt form, when sending and on the dashboard from the moment they are saved. Groups sent earlier do not change; the over limit badge reflects the situation at the time of sending.
A group sent over the limit moves through the approval process as usual; the approver can still reject it or send it for revision.
Common issues
Symptom: Saving shows "The expense type was saved but its department limits were not. Please try again.".
Cause: The type was saved, the limit rows could not be written.
Solution: Open the type with Edit again and save the limits once more.
Symptom: A row shows "Enter at least a monthly or a yearly limit.", "The monthly limit cannot be higher than the yearly limit." or "This department is already in the list.".
Cause: The row does not follow the rules.
Solution: Correct or remove the row.
Symptom: The dashboard says "No department limits for this period".
Cause: The selected department has no limit on any type.
Solution: Set department limits on the expense types.
Symptom: The receipt form does not show the limit left.
Cause: The type you chose has no limit for your department.
Solution: No action needed; without a limit nothing is shown.