Before your users can submit expense claims, as a SeaTalk admin, you need to set up the claims process including:

• the categories that employees can claim;
• the currencies that they can claim;
• what and how much they’re entitled to claim; and
• the approvers for the claims.

Permissions needed

• Super Admin or an admin with all Claim permissions

Before you start

• Determine the types of claims your organization may need
• Determine the currencies your organization uses for its operations
• Understand the maximum limit you have for each type
• If your employees have different types of claims, organize them into different groups

1. Customize basic settings for claim reports

To access claims and set up its basic settings:

• In the SeaTalk Admin Center, navigate to Application > Claim.
• When you first enter, set up settings for the claim report.
• Select the base currency and decimal places used in your organization’s finances. Once a claim report is created, this cannot be changed. Click Next.
• Click the Submission Settings dropdown menu and select the date range for claims.
• Enter a prefix for the report and the number the first report will start with. This can help you keep track of the claim reports made.
• Select a vertical version or a horizontal version print report. You can click Sample to view either format.
• Click Confirm.

To make changes to these settings, you can click Basic Settings in the left panel. Learn more about customizing claim settings.

2. Set up currencies

If your organization only uses one currency, you do not need to set up currencies.

However, if your organization uses more than one currency, learn how to set up other currencies and their exchange rates.

3. Create claim categories

Your SeaTalk organization comes with default claim categories:

• Travel - Air Ticket
• Travel - Hotel
• Fixed Assets
• Team Building
• Medical Fee
• Others

Each category will have a standard form requesting for information on the expense claim. Employees will fill in the form when they submit an expense claim under the category.

If you need more categories, you can create new claim categories. You can also edit existing claim categories to fit your organization’s use.

4. Add employees and categories to claim policies

Employees assigned to a claim policy will be allowed to submit claims according to the claim policy’s claim types.

For example:

• Full-time staff are usually assigned to a claim policy that has travel claim types. They can make claims on any travel expenses.
• Contract staff are usually assigned to a claim policy that doesn’t have travel claim types. They will not be able to claim any travel expenses.

Your SeaTalk organization comes with a default empty claim policy. All new employees will automatically be added to this claim policy. To start using the policy:

• Add claim categories to the policy.
• Assign employees entitled to those claim categories to the policy.

Learn more about setting up a claim policy.

5. Set up the approval process for claims

If you don’t set up the approval process, expense claims will go directly to the Claim Reports section for SeaTalk admin approval.

To designate certain employees as approvers, you can set up the approval process. Once a claim reaches the end of the process, they will still go to the Claim Reports section for SeaTalk admins to do the final approval.

6. Approve claims

Once the claims complete the approval process, only SeaTalk admins with the right permissions can grant the final approval for the expense claims in the Claim Approvals section. Learn how to give final approval to expense claims made.

Please note: the reimbursement currently cannot be done within SeaTalk. Your finance manager has to reimburse the money to the employee separately. SeaTalk helps you track the claims submitted by your employees.