Expense management for schools and colleges

Allowances are kept in a rate table by city class or zone, with separate limits for food and stay and the date each rate takes effect. When your governing body revises them, the table is updated once and every later claim is checked against the new figures. A claim above the limit is flagged as it is filled in, and needs either a lower amount or a written reason for the approver.

Yes. A claim line can be divided by percentage or amount across more than one budget head, for example part to a sponsored research project and part to the department’s travel budget. Each share is checked against its own head’s rules and balance, and posts to its own account.

Your finance office decides which rules stop a claim and which only warn. A hard stop, such as a hotel above the cap without prior approval, cannot be submitted, and the claimant sees the rule and who can grant an exception. A warning lets the claim through with a written reason that every approver in the chain can read.

Yes. Statement lines are imported and wait against the cardholder until each is matched to a claim with a receipt and a reason. Lines left unexplained beyond the period you set are flagged to the cardholder and their approver. Tell us your bank and statement format and we will confirm how it comes in.

Each project record holds its funding body, sanction reference, period, allowed heads and balance. Every claim against it keeps the full chain: who submitted it, the receipt, each approval with its time, and the payment. For an audit or a utilisation certificate, the claims behind any figure come from the record rather than from files.

Approved claims post to the books in iVake, and the day book and ledgers export to Tally or Zoho Books in their own format. Reimbursements are paid by bank transfer or added to the next salary run in payroll, as your policy decides.

Expense claims go live with the rest of iVake: roughly four weeks for a school, six to eight for a university or a group with several campuses. Discovery writes down your policy limits, approval chains and budget heads, open advances come across in migration, and staff are trained on their own screens.