Help Center / Expense Management

Expense Reports and Analytics

Light provides comprehensive reporting and analytics on employee spending patterns, policy compliance, reimbursement trends, and cost controls.

Understanding Expense Analytics

Expense analytics provide visibility into:

  • Who is spending the most (employees, departments)
  • What categories represent biggest spend (travel, meals, supplies)
  • Where employees are purchasing (merchants)
  • When spending is happening (time trends)
  • Why spending is occurring (business purposes)
  • How Much is being reimbursed vs. card expenses
  • Compliance with policies (violations, exceptions)

Use analytics to manage costs and improve policies.

Spending Summary Dashboard

Quick overview of expense activity:

  1. Navigate to Dashboard > Expense Summary

  2. View:

    • Total Expenses This Month: Sum of all expenses
    • By Status: Submitted, Approved, Reimbursed, Rejected
    • vs. Budget: Actual vs. budgeted spending
    • Trend: Month-over-month change
    • Reimbursement Pipeline: Expenses awaiting reimbursement

  3. Filter by:

    • Date Range: Specific months or quarters
    • Department/Cost Center: Specific teams
    • Employee: Specific people

Expense Report by Category

Analyze spending by expense category:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Spending by Category

  2. View:

    • Category Name: (Travel, Meals, Office Supplies, etc.)
    • Total Spending: Sum in this category
    • % of Total: What percentage of overall spend
    • Trend: Change from prior period
    • Count: Number of expenses in category

  3. Data shown as:

    • Table: Detailed numbers
    • Chart: Visual pie chart or bar chart
    • Trend Graph: Historical comparison

Example results:

  • Travel: $45,000 (45%)
  • Meals: $22,000 (22%)
  • Office Supplies: $18,000 (18%)
  • Professional Development: $15,000 (15%)

Click on category to drill down into individual expenses.

Spending by Employee

View spending by individual:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Spending by Employee

  2. View table with:

    • Employee Name
    • Department
    • Total Spending: YTD or specified period
    • Avg per Expense: Average expense size
    • Count: Number of expenses submitted
    • Status: Reimbursed, Pending, Rejected

  3. Sort by:

    • Total Spending: Highest spenders first
    • Count: Most frequent submitters
    • Avg Amount: Largest individual expenses
    • Department: Group by department

  4. Click employee to see their recent expenses

Spending by Merchant

Analyze which vendors/merchants you're using:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Spending by Merchant

  2. View:

    • Merchant Name: Shop or restaurant name
    • Total Spending: Cumulative spend with this merchant
    • Frequency: How many times used
    • Avg Transaction: Average amount per purchase
    • Category: Type of merchant (travel, meals, etc.)

  3. Filter by:

    • Merchant Category: Restaurant, airline, hotel, etc.
    • Geography: Where merchant is located
    • Date Range: Specific periods

  4. Use to:

    • Identify preferred vendors
    • Negotiate volume discounts
    • Optimize procurement

Track spending over time:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Spending Trends

  2. View data by:

    • Monthly: Spending in each month
    • Quarterly: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 comparison
    • Annual: Year-over-year comparison

  3. Display as:

    • Chart: Line graph showing trend
    • Table: Detailed numbers
    • Growth Rate: % increase/decrease

  4. Analyze:

    • Seasonal patterns (higher spending in certain months?)
    • Year-over-year growth (is spending increasing?)
    • Forecast future spending

Example: Travel spending highest in Q3 (summer travel season), meals spike on conference days.

Department Analysis

Compare spending across departments:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Department Spending

  2. View by:

    • Department Name
    • Total Spending: Sum per department
    • Per Person: Average per employee
    • Employees: Count of people in department
    • Budget: If budgets are set

  3. Benchmarking:

    • Which departments spend the most per capita?
    • Is Sales department higher than expected?
    • Is Engineering lower?

  4. Use for:

    • Accountability
    • Budget allocation
    • Policy adjustments

Policy Compliance Analysis

Monitor compliance with policies:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Policy Compliance

  2. View:

    • Total Submissions: Expenses submitted
    • Compliant: % meeting policy
    • Violations: Expenses exceeding limits or ineligible
    • Exceptions Granted: Override approvals

  3. Breakdown by:

    • Violation Type: Exceeds limit, ineligible, missing documentation
    • Category: Which categories have most violations
    • Employee: Who violates most

  4. Analyze:

    • Are policies too strict (high violations)?
    • Are policies well-understood (lower violations over time)?
    • Which employees need coaching?

Reimbursement Metrics

Analyze reimbursement efficiency:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Reimbursement Metrics

  2. View:

    • Submitted Expenses: Total submitted
    • Approved: % approved
    • Reimbursed: % paid
    • Days to Reimbursement: Average time from submission to payment
    • Rejection Rate: % rejected or denied

  3. Drill down:

    • Submitted to Approved: How long does approval take?
    • Approved to Reimbursed: How long does payment take?
    • Total Cycle Time: Full submission to payment time

  4. Use to:

    • Improve process efficiency
    • Identify bottlenecks
    • Set reimbursement targets (e.g., "Pay within 5 business days")

Receipt Extraction Quality

Monitor AI extraction accuracy:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Extraction Quality

  2. View:

    • Total Receipts Processed: Receipts submitted via upload/email
    • Success Rate: % extracted successfully
    • Manual Corrections: Expenses that required employee correction
    • Accuracy: % of extractions needing no changes

  3. View by:

    • Merchant: Which merchants have poor extraction
    • File Type: Images vs. PDFs
    • Date Range: Improvement over time

  4. Use to:

    • Identify problematic merchants
    • Request better invoice formats from vendors
    • Track AI improvement

Cost Control Metrics

Measure expense management effectiveness:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Cost Control Metrics

  2. View:

    • Budget vs. Actual: Spending vs. budgeted amount
    • Variance: Dollar difference
    • Burn Rate: Pace of spending relative to budget
    • Forecasted Year-End: Projection if trend continues

  3. Monitor:

    • Approval Rate: % of expenses approved (vs. rejected)
    • Override Rate: % of policy exceptions granted
    • Policy Violation Rate: % submitted despite violations

  4. Example:

    • Annual travel budget: $100,000
    • Spend to date (6 months): $52,000
    • Burn rate: 52% of budget, 50% of year → On target
    • Forecast year-end: $104,000 (4% over budget)

Custom Reports

Create tailored reports:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Custom Report

  2. Click Create Report

  3. Select:

    • Report Type: Spending, Compliance, Reimbursement, etc.
    • Dimensions: Slice by employee, department, category, merchant, etc.
    • Metrics: Which numbers to show (total, average, count, etc.)
    • Filters: Specific date range, departments, categories
    • Format: Table, chart, or both

  4. Run report and view results

  5. Save for recurring use

  6. Schedule to email automatically

Example custom report: "Q1 Travel Spending by Sales Representative (excluding international), compared to budget"

Exporting Reports

Export data for further analysis:

  1. Open any report

  2. Click Export

  3. Choose format:

    • Excel: For detailed analysis, sorting, pivot tables
    • PDF: For sharing and printing
    • CSV: For importing to other systems

  4. Click Export to download

Use exports for:

  • Detailed analysis in spreadsheets
  • Presentation to executives
  • Import to accounting systems

Scheduled Reports

Automatically send reports on schedule:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Scheduled Reports

  2. Click Schedule Report

  3. Select report type

  4. Configure:

    • Frequency: Daily, Weekly, Monthly
    • Day/Time: When to send
    • Recipients: Who receives
    • Format: PDF or Excel
    • Filters: Any specific data

  5. Create schedule

Example: Monthly summary emailed to CFO every first Monday.

Executive Dashboard

High-level view for executives:

  1. Navigate to Dashboard > Executive Summary

  2. View:

    • Total Spending: All expense spending
    • YTD vs. Budget: Actual vs. target
    • Top Employees: Highest spenders
    • Top Categories: Biggest expense areas
    • Reimbursement Pending: Amount not yet paid
    • Policy Violations: Current problems
    • Headcount: Spending per employee

  3. Drill into any metric for details

  4. Print or share dashboard for board/executive review

Benchmarking

Compare your company to industry:

Light provides anonymized benchmarking:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Benchmarking

  2. View:

    • Your spending per employee: How much employees spend on average
    • Industry average: Comparable to peer companies
    • Travel category: Your % vs. industry %
    • Meals category: Your % vs. industry %

  3. Use to:

    • Justify spending levels
    • Identify cost-saving opportunities
    • Set realistic budgets

Example: Your company spends $5,000 per employee annually on travel. Industry average is $4,800. You're slightly above average but reasonable given your business model.

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