Create an expense report

Operation ID: createExpenseReport

Group: Accounting › Expense Reports

Open in the interactive reference

POST /accounting/expense-reports

Retry-safe: A write that accepts Idempotency-Key: repeating a request with the same key replays the stored answer instead of executing twice.

Creates an expense report. The report is created with its expense items and starts in status 'pendingApproval'.

The response contains only the new report's id. Read the record with GET accounting/expense-reports/:id, where expenseNumber appears once it is assigned.

Parameters

Name In Type Required Description
Api-Version header string · v1 yes The API version this request targets, named by its public identifier. Required on every request; omitting it, or naming a version this company does not have, is answered with 400. This document describes version v1.
Idempotency-Key header string no An opaque caller-chosen string (1-255 characters) that makes this request safe to retry. Repeating the same key with an identical request body replays the original response instead of re-executing - but only once that original request succeeded; a failed attempt re-executes on retry. Repeating the key with a different body is answered with 422. A key still in flight is answered with 409 - as is a key whose original request was interrupted before it finished, for a few minutes afterwards, until that attempt is presumed dead. A completed response stays replayable for 24 hours. The key is scoped to the caller, not to the action: reusing it for a different action is answered with 409 or 422 rather than treated independently. On read actions this header is ignored. On write actions that cannot offer the guarantee it is answered with 400 IDEMPOTENCY_NOT_SUPPORTED rather than silently ignored.

Request body

Required, application/json: createExpenseReportInput.

Field Type Required Description
employeeId string yes The employee the report belongs to. See id on GET people/person/:id. Example: "5f1b8c02-7d34-4e56-9a78-1b2c3d4e5f60".
entityId string yes The legal entity the report is posted under. See id on GET base/entities. Example: "8f2c1d40-5a6b-4c7d-9e80-1f2a3b4c5d6e".
reimbursementCurrency string yes The currency the employee is reimbursed in. Format ISO 4217, for example 'USD'. Individual items may be in other currencies. Example: "EUR".
submittedDate date yes The date the report is submitted. Use format YYYY-MM-DD. Example: "2026-08-27".
departmentId string no The department the report is charged to. See id on GET people/departments/:id.
offsetAccountId string no The GL offset account for the reimbursement. See id on GET accounting/accounts/:id.
externalExpenseReportId string no The identifier this report has in the upstream system that produced it. It is not unique.
externalUrl string no A link to the report in the upstream system that produced it.
origin string no The source system this report came from, as free-form text.
markAsPaid boolean no Whether to mark the report paid on creation. Defaults to false.
skipJournalEntry boolean no Whether to skip journal-entry creation for this report. Defaults to false.
expenseItems array<object> yes The expense items on the report, in the order they should appear. At least one is expected. Example: [{"amount":"48.90","currency":"EUR","billDate":"2026-08-20","merchant":"Deutsche Bahn","expenseType":"Pur"}].
expenseItems[].amount decimal yes The amount of the expense, as a decimal in this item's own currency.
expenseItems[].currency string yes The currency the expense was incurred in. Format ISO 4217, for example 'USD'. Governs this item's amount, and need not match the report's reimbursementCurrency.
expenseItems[].billDate date yes The date on the receipt. Use format YYYY-MM-DD.
expenseItems[].merchant string yes The merchant the expense was paid to, as printed on the receipt.
expenseItems[].expenseType string yes The kind of expense. Values include 'Pur' (purchase), 'Dis' (distance traveled) and 'PerDiem'.
expenseItems[].description string no A description of the expense.
expenseItems[].categoryId string no The expense category this item is booked under. See id on GET accounting/expense-categories/:id.
expenseItems[].accountId string no The general ledger account this item's journal entry uses. See id on GET accounting/accounts/:id. Omit to let the category decide.
expenseItems[].reimbursable boolean no Whether this item is reimbursed to the employee. Defaults to true.
expenseItems[].externalExpenseItemId string no The identifier this item has in the upstream system that produced it.
expenseItems[].origin string no The source system this item came from, as free-form text.
expenseItems[].attendees string no Who attended, when the item's category requires it. Free text.
expenseItems[].attachments array<object> no Receipts for this item, each naming an already-uploaded file by its id. Required when the category sets requireAttachment. On an existing item, omitting this leaves its attachments untouched, and an empty array clears them.
expenseItems[].attachments[].fileName string yes The display name of the attached file.
expenseItems[].attachments[].fileId string yes The identifier of the already-uploaded file. There is no endpoint for it.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules array<object> no The amortization schedules to defer this item over, one per accounting book. An expense item has no line type, so what makes it amortizable is its account: the category or account it books to must be a prepaid-expenses account. Each schedule starts out not started and begins recognizing once the report posts.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].bookId string no The accounting book this schedule posts into. See id on GET accounting/books/:id. Omit it on a single-book entity to use that entity's default transaction book; send one entry per book otherwise. Two entries for the same book are refused with DUPLICATE_AMORTIZATION_BOOK.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].deferredAccountId string no The general ledger account the deferred balance sits on until it is recognized. See id on GET accounting/accounts/:id. Defaults to the item's own accountId.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].recognitionAccountId string yes The general ledger account each installment recognizes the expense into. See id on GET accounting/accounts/:id.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].amortizationMethod string yes How the schedule spreads its total. Values include 'exactDays', 'pointInTime', 'straightLine', 'straightLineProRateFirstLast' and 'usageBased'.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].amortizationStartDate date yes The first day the schedule amortizes over. Format YYYY-MM-DD. It must not be after amortizationEndDate.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].amortizationEndDate date yes The last day the schedule amortizes over, inclusive. Format YYYY-MM-DD.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].term decimal yes The number of months the schedule spreads over. A count, not an amount, so it carries no currency. It is required here, because a schedule without one cannot be turned into installments when the report posts.
expenseItems[].amortizationSchedules[].description string no A note to record against the schedule. 
{
  "employeeId": "5f1b8c02-7d34-4e56-9a78-1b2c3d4e5f60",
  "entityId": "8f2c1d40-5a6b-4c7d-9e80-1f2a3b4c5d6e",
  "reimbursementCurrency": "EUR",
  "submittedDate": "2026-08-27",
  "departmentId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "offsetAccountId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "externalExpenseReportId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "externalUrl": "<externalUrl>",
  "origin": "<origin>",
  "markAsPaid": true,
  "skipJournalEntry": true,
  "expenseItems": [
    {
      "amount": "48.90",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "billDate": "2026-08-20",
      "merchant": "Deutsche Bahn",
      "expenseType": "Pur"
    }
  ]
}

Response

200 Success

Under data (createExpenseReportOutput):

Field Type Required Description
id string yes The unique identifier for the created expense report. Example: "c7d2e910-3b45-4f68-8a91-2d3e4f5a6b78". 
{
  "data": {
    "id": "c7d2e910-3b45-4f68-8a91-2d3e4f5a6b78"
  },
  "diagnostics": [
    {
      "code": "<code>",
      "message": "<message>",
      "severity": "error",
      "path": [
        "<path>"
      ],
      "details": "<details>"
    }
  ]
}

Response headers

Errors

Code Status
REFERENCE_NOT_FOUND 400
AMORTIZATION_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_LINE 400
AMORTIZATION_DATE_RANGE_INVALID 400
AMORTIZATION_BOOK_NOT_CONFIGURED 400
DUPLICATE_AMORTIZATION_BOOK 400
AMORTIZATION_TERM_MISMATCH 400
AMORTIZATION_METHOD_INVALID 400
AMORTIZATION_SCHEDULE_NOT_FOUND 400
AMORTIZATION_SCHEDULE_POSTED 400
TOO_MANY_LINES 400
CATEGORY_REQUIREMENT_UNMET 400
CATEGORY_INACTIVE 400
ITEM_NEEDS_CATEGORY_OR_ACCOUNT 400
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_CONFLICT 409
IDEMPOTENCY_PAYLOAD_MISMATCH 422

Statuses