Expense new features and test plans.

gistfile1.txt

**Claude finished @geastwood's task in 1m 5s** —— [View job](https://github.com/geastwood/workfold/actions/runs/22131991389)

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### What's New in Expenses — Feb 18, 2026

- [x] Understand request (rewrite with more visuals and user focus)
- [x] Produce updated summary and test plan

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Here's a friendly walkthrough of everything that landed in the Expenses module this week, written for testers who want to explore the new features hands-on.

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### 🆕 What's New at a Glance

| | Feature | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ | **Two-step approval** | Expenses now need a "Reviewed" checkpoint before they can be approved |
| 👁️ | **Off-Books visibility control** | Admins can decide who sees sensitive "off-books" expenses |
| 📥 | **Smarter Inbox → Expense** | Creating an expense from an uploaded document now behaves differently based on your role |
| 📋 | **Activity timeline** | Every expense now shows a full history of who did what and when |

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### 🔁 How the Approval Flow Works Now

Expenses move through a clear journey. Here's what it looks like:

```
You create it        Someone reviews it      A manager approves it     💰 Done!
────────────         ──────────────────      ─────────────────────     ────────
  DRAFT        →       SUBMITTED       →         REVIEWED         →   APPROVED
                                                                          ↓
                                                              REIMBURSED (your own card)
                                                              DONE       (company card)
```

> 💡 **What's new here:** There's now a **"Reviewed" step in the middle**. An expense can't be approved unless someone has reviewed it first. This prevents accidental approvals.

If an expense is **rejected**, it goes back to you so you can fix and resubmit:

```
SUBMITTED → REJECTED → (you fix it) → SUBMITTED again ✅
```

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### 👤 What You Can Do (Based on Your Role)

**If you're a regular team member:**

- ➕ Create your own expenses
- 📤 Submit them for review
- 🔄 Resubmit if rejected
- 👀 See only your own expenses

**If you're an Owner or Admin:**

- ✅ Everything above, plus...
- 🔍 Review expenses ("Geprüft")
- ✅ Approve expenses
- ❌ Reject expenses
- 💳 Mark as Reimbursed or Done
- 👁️ See everyone's expenses (depending on visibility settings)

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### 👁️ New: Off-Books Visibility Setting

Some expenses are sensitive and marked as "Off-Books." Admins can now control who sees them:

**Settings → Expenses → Off-Books Visibility**

| Setting | Who can see Off-Books expenses |
|---|---|
| 🔒 **Creator Only** *(default)* | Only the person who created it — nobody else |
| 👑 **Owners Only** | Owners see all; everyone else sees only their own |
| 🌍 **All Members** | Everyone in the workspace can see them |

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### 📥 New: Creating Expenses from Uploaded Documents

When you open a document in **Files → Inbox** and turn it into an expense, the system now automatically sets the right status:

| Who are you? | Payment type | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 👤 Member | Any | Creates a **Draft** — needs to go through approval |
| 👑 Owner | Company card | **Auto-approved** immediately — skips the queue |
| 👑 Owner | Your own card | Creates a **Draft** — still needs approval |

> 💡 Members only see "Create Draft Expense." Owners get an extra "Approve & Create" button for company-paid expenses.

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### 📋 New: Activity Timeline on Every Expense

Open any expense and scroll down — you'll see a new **Activity Log** that shows the full story:

```
✅ Created by Maria Chen          Feb 15 at 9:02 AM
📤 Submitted by Maria Chen        Feb 15 at 9:05 AM
🔍 Reviewed by James Park         Feb 16 at 2:30 PM
✅ Approved by James Park         Feb 16 at 2:31 PM
💰 Reimbursed by James Park       Feb 17 at 10:00 AM
```

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### 🧪 Test Plan — Try It Yourself

> **Before you start:**
> - You'll need **two accounts**: one regular Member and one Owner/Admin
> - Make sure Expenses is enabled under **Settings → Modules**

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#### Test 1 — Create & Submit an Expense (Member)

1. Log in as a **Member**
2. Go to **Expenses** → click **New Expense**
3. Fill in: date, amount, description (e.g. *"Team lunch"*), category
4. Hit **Save**

   > You should see the expense appear with a **DRAFT** badge

5. Open the expense → click **Submit**

   > Badge changes to **SUBMITTED** ✅

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#### Test 2 — Review & Approve (Owner)

1. Log in as an **Owner**
2. Find the submitted expense from Test 1
3. Click **Mark as Reviewed**

   > Badge changes to **REVIEWED** ✅

4. Now click **Approve**

   > Badge changes to **APPROVED** ✅

5. Click **Reimburse**

   > Badge changes to **REIMBURSED** ✅ — expense is complete!

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#### Test 3 — Try to Skip the Review Step (should fail)

1. As a **Member**, create and submit a new expense
2. As an **Owner**, open it — try to click **Approve** *without* clicking Reviewed first

   > ⛔ The Approve button should be greyed out or unavailable until you click Reviewed

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#### Test 4 — Reject & Resubmit

1. As a **Member**, create and submit an expense
2. As an **Owner**, click **Reject**

   > Badge becomes **REJECTED**

3. Log back in as the **Member** — open the rejected expense
4. Make a small edit, then click **Submit** again

   > Badge goes back to **SUBMITTED** ✅ — it's back in the queue

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#### Test 5 — Company Card Auto-Approve (Owner)

1. As an **Owner**, create a new expense
2. Set payment type to **Company Card**
3. Save the expense

   > ✅ It should immediately show as **APPROVED** — no review needed!

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#### Test 6 — Off-Books Visibility

1. As an **Owner**, go to **Settings → Expenses → Off-Books Visibility**
2. Note it's set to **Creator Only**
3. Create an expense and set its type to **Off-Books**
4. Log in as a **Member**

   > 🔒 The off-books expense should NOT appear in their list

5. Back as Owner, change setting to **All Members**
6. Refresh as the Member

   > 🌍 The expense should now be visible

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#### Test 7 — Inbox to Expense

1. Go to **Files → Inbox**
2. Open a document (upload a PDF receipt if needed)
3. As a **Member**: look for the "Create Draft Expense" button — use it

   > Created expense should be a **DRAFT**

4. As an **Owner** (different document): select **Company Card**, use "Approve & Create"

   > Created expense should be **APPROVED** immediately

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#### Test 8 — Activity Log

1. Take any expense that has gone through multiple steps (from the tests above)
2. Open the expense detail
3. Scroll down and expand **Activity Log**

   > ✅ You should see each step listed with the name of the person who did it and the time

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### 🚫 Not in This Release (Don't Test Yet)

These are coming in future updates:

- Recurring expenses
- Multi-level approval chains (e.g. manager → finance)
- Receipt scanning / AI extraction

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