Approve Expenses Via Email

Emburse Enterprise will email you expenses that require your approval, and you can take action directly from the approval email.

Before You Begin

• Email approvals must be sent from your primary Emburse Enterprise account email address, unless your organization has activated the ability to approve from any email address listed in your Account Settings. See "Personal Settings" in Customize Your User-Account Settings for complete details.
• On some mobile devices, the From field in the approval email may default to the device’s main email address rather than your Emburse Enterprise account email address. Confirm the From address is correct before selecting Send.
• If you use Apple Mail on iOS 26.1, selecting the Accept or Return buttons in approval emails may not work as expected. Instead, press and hold the button, then choose Email from the menu to complete the action successfully.

Approve All Expenses

This is equivalent to selecting Submit in Emburse Enterprise and approves all line items on the report.

1. Select the green Accept button.
2. A new email draft opens automatically.
3. To add questions or comments, type them above the forwarded text.
4. Select Send.

Return All Expenses

This is equivalent to selecting Return All in Emburse Enterprise and rejects all line items on the report.

1. Select the red Return button.
2. A new email draft opens automatically.
3. To include comments, type them above the forwarded text.
4. Select Send.

Approve or Return Specific Line Items

To approve or return only certain expenses on a report, you must log in to Emburse Enterprise.

Select the View Receipts link at the bottom of the email to be taken directly to the report in Emburse Enterprise. See for Approve Expenses in Emburse Enterprise for complete details.

Expense Report Approval Failure Notification

If you attempt to approve via email an expense that has since changed—for example, if the expense owner has recalled and resubmitted the report—you will receive an Expense Approval Failure Notification email alerting you to reattempt your approval via the most recent approval email notification for that report.

Watcher Approval Feature

Emburse Enterprise offers customers the ability to allow certain users to watch specific expense reports, line items, or pre-approvals as they route through the approval process, even for items that are auto-approved. Based on criteria defined by your organization, certain users may be CCed on the approval email notifications. They receive the same notifications an approver receives, but for Watchers there are no ACCEPT and RETURN buttons.

If you are interested in implementing this enhancement for your organization, contact us via Support.

For information on enabling watchers to view receipts via the links in approval emails, see "Enable Unauthorized Users to View Image Links in Approval Emails" in Access Permissions Admin Screen.