For reimbursement
Employees pay out of pocket, then submit an expense report so finance can repay approved work costs.
Free templates · What to include · How to write
Expense report: Free templates and how-to guide
An expense report is a business document that tracks work expenses for reimbursement—usually a spreadsheet that itemizes dates, vendors, amounts, and receipts. Below: what to include, how to write one, free editable templates, then a WPS path to finish receipt PDFs.
Definition
What is an expense report?
An expense report is a business document that tracks personal spending made for work—meals, travel, lodging, supplies—and requests reimbursement or cards reconciliation. It is usually a spreadsheet that itemizes each justifiable expense with dates, vendors, amounts, and proof.
For card / policy checks
Company-card trips still need a clear report so managers can match charges to business purpose and policy limits.
For audit trails
A complete report plus receipt PDFs gives accounting a clean pack for month-end, tax, and internal audits.
Must-have fields
What to include in an expense report
Finance should understand every line without follow-up emails. Cover these elements before you submit—whether you start from a blank sheet or a free expense report template.
Employee & trip header
Full name, department, manager, employee ID, and contact. Add trip destination or project code if your policy asks for it.
Reporting period
The date range the claim covers (trip dates or weekly/monthly cutoff)—not only the day you fill the form.
Line-item details
For each expense: date incurred, vendor, category (meals, lodging, transport…), amount, currency, and tax if required.
Business purpose
A specific why—“dinner with Acme VP to discuss Q3 renewal,” not just “client meal.” Vague purpose is a common rejection reason.
Payment method
Personal card, company card, cash, or advance. This drives reimbursement vs. reconciliation.
Receipts & proof
Itemized receipts or reference numbers for each line. Keep attachments in the same order as your spreadsheet rows.
Totals by category
Subtotals and the final reimbursement amount. Category totals help finance post to the right accounts.
Approval signature
Manager (and sometimes employee) sign-off before payment. A signed PDF pack closes the loop for archives.
How to write one
How to write an expense report (step by step)
Use this sequence for any trip claim. Later on this page, free templates and a WPS receipt workflow help you finish attachments faster—but the writing logic stays the same.
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1
Gather receipts while details are fresh
Photograph or save every slip the same day. Note attendees, client names, and business purpose before you forget.
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2
Open a template (don’t invent columns)
Start from your company form or a free editable expense report template with date, vendor, category, amount, and purpose fields already laid out.
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3
Fill the header and reporting period
Add your identity, manager, department, and the exact trip or claim date range your policy uses.
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4
Enter every line completely
One row per expense: date, merchant, specific purpose, category, payment method, and amount (plus tax if needed). Incomplete rows slow approvals.
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5
Attach proof in the same order
Convert receipt photos to PDF, keep trip order, and make sure spreadsheet totals match the voucher pack.
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6
Review policy, total, then submit
Check category limits, tips, foreign currency, and missing receipts. Get the required signature, then send the pack to finance and archive a copy.
Result of the steps above
A completed expense report you can submit
After filling the header, line items, and totals—with receipts attached in order—you get a clear travel expense report like this, ready for manager review.
Free to open
Free expense report templates
Once you know the required fields, skip building a sheet from scratch. Open an editable expense report template below, then use the WPS workflow to attach receipt PDFs.
Travel
Excel · Editable preview
Travel Expense Report.xlsx
Classic trip expense report with date, merchant, and amount columns—ready to edit in Spreadsheet.
Open template
Reimbursement
Excel · Editable preview
Travel Expenses Reimbursement Form.xlsx
Reimbursement-focused layout for submitting travel costs to finance after the trip.
Open template
Simple
Excel · Editable preview
Simple Expense Report.xlsx
Lightweight expense report template when you need a clean sheet without extra charts.
Open template
Business trip
Excel · Editable preview
Business Trip Reimbursement Form.xlsx
Business-trip claim form for employees who need a structured reimbursement submission.
Open template
General
Excel · Editable preview
Expense Reimbursement Sheet.xlsx
General expense reimbursement sheet for mixed receipts—not only travel.
Open template
Claims
Excel · Editable preview
General Expense Reimbursement.xlsx
Another editable reimbursement workbook from the WPS template library—customize columns as needed.
Open template
After the spreadsheet
An expense report template alone isn’t enough
Knowing what to include and how to write the report is step one. These four gaps still block reimbursement—and what the WPS product workflow below is built to close.
Receipts stuck in chat albums
A blank or filled template won’t help if slips are still phone photos. Compress and convert JPG to PDF before amounts fade—see step 1–2 in the workflow.
Sheet vs voucher mismatch
Finance rejects claims when Excel lines don’t match attachments. Keep one expense report table plus a merged PDF pack in the same trip order.
Typing amounts from image-only PDFs
Manual re-entry causes errors. Use image to text / OCR to pull merchant and totals into your template—then verify before you submit.
Approval lost in email threads
Even a perfect spreadsheet stalls without a signed pack. Sign PDF, then archive the claim in a shared cloud folder for the next audit.
Do it in WPS
Finish receipts in WPS: photo to signed archive
You’ve covered what an expense report needs and how to write it. Now use WPS screen demos: open a template, capture receipts, convert JPG to PDF, extract amounts, fill the sheet, then merge, sign, and archive.
1Capture & compress
Photograph receipts, then shrink upload-ready images
Use your phone as a receipt scanner: shoot meals, taxis, and hotels while travel is fresh. Run an image compressor pass so large photos don’t blow email or portal limits—keep the merchant name and amount readable.
Process · Import → Compress → Ready in WPS
2JPG to PDF
Convert receipt photos into a standard PDF pack
Turn JPGs into one or more PDFs with JPG to PDF. Order pages by trip day so finance can flip through vouchers without opening a dozen photo files. See also PDF Converter for other formats.
Process · Image to PDF → Convert → Receipt PDF
3Extract amounts
Use image to text / OCR to pull merchant and totals
Run image to text / OCR on scanned receipts so amounts and dates become selectable text. Always spot-check currency and tips—OCR speeds entry; you own the final numbers on the claim.
Process · OCR → Extract text → Copy amounts
4Expense Excel
Fill your expense report template with extracted lines
Open a free expense report template (or pick from the WPS expense report templates hub). Paste OCR lines into date / merchant / amount columns, total the trip, then attach the PDF voucher pack.
Process · Open template → Fill lines → Totals
5Merge, sign & archive
Merge PDF vouchers, sign for approval, then cloud-store
Merge PDF receipts and forms into one claim pack; split PDF if finance wants hotel pages separate. Add a PDF signature for manager approval, optionally compress PDF for upload limits, then store the pack in WPS Cloud.
Process · Merge PDF → Sign → WPS Cloud
Interactive check
Expense claim readiness checklist
Tap each item as you finish. Checks stay in this browser so you can continue later.
Why WPS
WPS advantages for expense claims and travel receipts
Image tools, OCR, Spreadsheet, and PDF merge/sign/cloud stay in one suite—so reimbursement doesn’t turn into app-hopping.
All-in-one
One suite from photo to signed claim
Compress images, convert JPG to PDF, extract text, fill Excel, merge/sign PDFs, and sync cloud folders without exporting through three websites.
JPG to PDF
Upload-friendly receipt PDFs
JPG to PDF plus compression options turn phone photos into portal-ready pages finance actually opens.
Image to text
Faster amount capture with OCR
Pull merchant names and totals with image to text so you type less—and still verify every figure before submit.
Expense Excel
Structured expense report lines
Keep categories and totals in Spreadsheet—ideal when policy needs an expense report table beside the PDF vouchers (image to excel when the receipt layout allows).
Sign & archive
Approve with sign PDF, then store safely
Add a signature in PDF editor, compress if needed, and keep the final pack in WPS Cloud for audits—without losing the trail.
Try the workflow
Start from an expense report template in WPS
Pick a free editable template, fill the trip, attach receipt PDFs, then merge & sign—without leaving the suite.
Real user reviews
What people say about the tools in this workflow
Quotes published on WPS feature pages for Merge PDF, JPG to PDF, and related PDF tools used in expense packs.
“Merging invoices and receipts used to be a tedious task. Now I just drag, drop, and merge. It has streamlined our monthly accounting process significantly.”
Linda Chen · Office Administrator
“This tool is a lifesaver for submitting assignments. I can combine all my scanned notes and diagrams from JPGs into a single PDF in seconds. It's so fast and easy!”
Maria S. · University Student
“I needed to combine several client reports into a single PDF for a presentation. WPS PDF Merger did it in seconds, without any loss of quality. Highly recommended!”
Michael B. · Account Manager
FAQ
FAQ for expense reports and travel receipts
Get started
Download WPS and open a free expense report template
Edit a ready-made expense report template, attach scanned receipts, merge and sign PDFs—then archive with confidence.
Free DownloadWindows · Free to start