Expense reports people actually file
The template's secret is the tax column: GST/HST split from the total on every line is what makes the input credits claimable without archaeology.
What it must contain
- Employee and period
- Date, vendor, purpose per line
- Category (maps to your chart)
- GST/HST shown separately
- Receipt attached (numbered)
- Approval signature
Categories should mirror your chart of accounts — the report is a journal entry waiting to happen.
The mistakes that cost money
Missing tax detail. If you are registered, the GST/HST on a business expense is reclaimable — but only if it was recorded. Reports capturing a gross total and no tax breakdown quietly forfeit input tax credits, month after month.
The other is no receipt reference. An expense with no supporting document is the first thing a reviewer questions, and 'I remember what it was for' is not an answer that survives.
When a template stops being enough
Expense reports are a workflow rather than a document: submitted, reviewed, approved, paid, and posted to the right account. A form covers the first step and leaves the other four to email and memory.
The approval step is the one that matters. Without it recorded, nobody can answer who authorized a spend — and that question always arrives eventually.
Templates are training wheels. The software is the bicycle.
Free to start, on Windows, Mac, iPad and Android. No credit card.