Employee Reimbursement Claim Form (Free Excel Template)

When an employee spends their own money on something for the business, a train fare, a tool, a software subscription, they need a clean way to claim it back and the business needs a clean way to check and pay it. The reimbursement claim form is that document. It standardises what gets submitted so the approver can sign it off in seconds and the bookkeeper can post it without chasing missing details.

This template gives you a header block for the employee, department, period, and approver, a line-item table for each expense, a column to confirm a receipt is attached, a self-totalling Amount column, and an approval section. Open the Excel file, fill it in per claim, and keep the completed file with the receipts as the evidence behind the payment.

What each part of the form does

• Header block. The employee name, department, claim period, and approver. This is what routes the claim to the right person and the right pay run.
• Line items. One row per expense, each with a date, a plain description, a category that maps to your chart of accounts, the merchant, and the amount. The category column is what lets the bookkeeper post the claim straight to the right account.
• Receipt-attached column. A simple yes or no per line. An approver should never sign a line marked “no” without a documented reason. This single column prevents most unsubstantiated claims.
• Total and approval. The sum to be reimbursed, plus the approver’s name and the date they signed. The approval is what authorises the payment and creates the audit trail.

How to use the template

1. The employee completes one form per claim period, one row per expense, and attaches or scans every receipt.
2. They confirm the receipt-attached column for each line and total the claim.
3. The approver checks each line against its receipt, queries anything without one, and signs the approval block.
4. The bookkeeper posts the claim by category, reimburses the employee through payroll or a separate payment, and files the form with its receipts.

Keep reimbursements evidenced, not estimated

The reason to insist on a receipt for every line is not bureaucracy. A reimbursement made against a genuine, evidenced business cost is normally tax-free to the employee. The moment claims drift into round-sum estimates or unevidenced amounts, they risk being treated as taxable pay, with reporting obligations attached. An evidenced claim form keeps reimbursements on the right side of that line and gives you the substantiation if the tax authority ever asks.

A good claim form also protects the employee. It gives them a clear record that they submitted the cost, what it was for, and that it was approved, so a reimbursement never quietly falls through the gap between an email and a pay run.

Common mistakes

• Approving on trust. A signature on a total nobody checked against receipts is not a control. The line-by-line receipt column exists to be used.
• Mixing personal and business lines. A claim that bundles a personal purchase next to a business one forces the approver to unpick it. Keep claims clean.
• Letting claims pile up. A claim submitted months late is hard to verify and awkward to reimburse in the right period. Set a submission deadline per period.

When the form should fill itself

A paper or spreadsheet claim form is a fine starting point, but for any team submitting regularly it is worth removing the manual entry. Tools that help:

• Expensify lets staff photograph a receipt and builds the claim line for them.
• ExpenseFlow captures the receipt behind each out-of-pocket cost, reads the amount and tax, codes it to the right category, and routes it for approval before posting the approved claim into Xero or QuickBooks Online with the image attached.
• Pleo pairs company cards with capture so card spend and reimbursements run through one approval flow.

Start with the template, set a clear receipts-required policy, and move to automatic capture once the volume justifies it.