Adjusting Mileage reimbursement amount as an expense approver

[kpatel]

For example, one employee submitted a mileage claim, where she drove from her house to a client visit at the start of her workday and it was 30 miles (20 miles from her home to client, 10 miles from client to office). Had she driven to/from the office, the total mileage would have been 20 miles (10 from office to client, and 10 from client back to office). 

Without sending the report back, as an expense approver, I want to adjust the mileage she is claiming down to 20. How would I do that?

[KevinD]

@kpatel Usually the only thing approvers are allowed to enter on someone's expense report is the Approved Amount if they want to partially approve an expense. You are going to have to send it back and have them adjust the miles entered. Does your company require employees to deduct their commute from the miles driven? 

My explanation as to why approvers are limited on what they can edit is because the expense isn't theirs and the employee should be responsible for entering the expenses correctly. 

[kpatel]

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for the prompt response. Our policy does not reimburse employees for their daily commute to/from work between the office and their home. However, there are times where employees get a bit confused in what they should/shouldn't submit as their mileage reimbursement if they are commuting to a different location directly from their house (where a portion of the miles would have to be carved out, related to the distance between their house and work office). 

I was just trying to see, without additional back and forth with the employee, if the mileage could be adjusted from the approver's end, notifying the employee of how it was calculated, without sending the report back.

Does this change your response?