Accounting closure : 5 insights for better expense report management

At the end of the year, closing the accounts becomes a key step. It requires rigour, coordination… and often a special effort when it comes to expense reports.

Often dealt with urgently, they can nevertheless have a direct impact on your cash flow, your recoverable VAT, and the social compliance of your accounts. To avoid oversights or unpleasant surprises, it is best to plan ahead.

Here are five key points to help you manage this period calmly, with both a practical and strategic approach.

1. Not all expenses are managed in the same way.

Before considering validations or VAT, start by clearly identifying the different types of business expenses.

Why ? Because everyone follows specific rules, whether it be taxation, VAT recovery or URSSAF processing.

For example, distinguish between :

• Meal expenses : subject to limits, often misunderstood
• Kilometric : linked to annual scales, therefore sensitive
• Transport, accommodation : VAT partially recoverable
• Foreign currency charges : require reliable conversions
• Subscriptions or shared tools : may involve partial breakdown between professional and personal use

📌 Useful tip : organising your expenses properly when entering them into the tool helps to avoid allocation errors at the end of the period.

2. An expense claim affects several accounting aspects.

An expense claim, even a modest one, generally affects several accounting items at once :

• The charge in the income statement
• Potentially deductible VAT
• Supplier debt (if reimbursed to the employee)
• And sometimes even analytical breakdowns (by cost centre or project)

At closing, things can quickly become complicated if all the documents are not up to date or properly categorised.

A few key checks :

• Are all expenses correctly dated for the financial year in question ?
• Is VAT correctly entered and allocated?
• Have the reimbursements been properly recorded ?
• Have any closed projects been charged subsequent costs in error ?

3. Many errors are not due to forgetfulness, but to a lack of structure.

It is tempting to imagine that errors are caused solely by a distracted employee or a manager in a hurry. In reality, inaccuracies often stem from a lack of automation or clarity in processes..

Common examples :

• An employee waits until the last minute to get everything done, due to a lack of reminders or clear deadlines.
• A missing receipt goes unnoticed because there is no automated check in place.
• Misunderstood rules lead to errors in ceilings or VAT.

Rather than relying solely on individual discipline, it may be useful to strengthen the framework :

• Set up alerts or blocks in the tool
• Update and remind staff of internal rules
• Support managers with simple tools for tracking approvals

4. Closing the gap should not become a race to catch up.

When all the expense reports arrive en masse at the last minute, it is often a sign that ongoing monitoring is insufficient.

This common phenomenon can cause several difficulties :

• Delays in VAT recovery
• Errors in accounting dates
• Notes not validated in time, therefore not included in the accounts

To limit these effects :

• Set a clear deadline in advance for the marks to be recorded.
• Communicate in advance, via the tool or by email, to avoid oversights.
• View expenses that have not yet been incurred in order to anticipate budget variances.

5. Take advantage of the closing to analyse and adjust

The end of the financial year is also a good time to take a step back and review your practices regarding business expenses.

What if, instead of simply validating the latest grades, you analysed what the data is telling you ?

For example :

• Are certain types of costs increasing for no apparent reason ?
• Are the rules applied consistently ?
• What proportion of expenditure is approved without supporting documentation ?
• Are there any grey areas regarding ceilings or VAT ?

This approach makes it possible to better frame practices for the following year, identify areas for optimisation… and sometimes even achieve savings.