/expenses

description: Use this skill when working with Autotask expense reports - creating reports, adding expense items, searching by status or submitter, and tracking reimbursable and billable expenses
argument-hint: "<action> [details]"
arguments: [action, details]

Autotask Expense Management

Prerequisites

• Autotask MCP server connected and authenticated
• API user has access to expense report entities

Steps

Action: create-report

Create a new expense report for a resource.

1. **Find the submitter resource** (if name provided):

Tool: autotask_search_resources
Args: { "searchTerm": "<submitter_name>" }

2. **Create the expense report:**

Tool: autotask_create_expense_report
Args: {
  "submitterId": <resource_id>,
  "name": "<report_name>",
  "description": "<description>",
  "weekEndingDate": "<YYYY-MM-DD>"
}

3. Confirm report created and display the report ID for adding items.

Action: add-item

Add an expense line item to an existing report.

1. **Get expense category picklist** (if category name provided):

Tool: autotask_get_field_info
Args: { "entity": "ExpenseItem", "field": "expenseCategory" }

2. **Find company** (if billable to a client):

Tool: autotask_search_companies
Args: { "searchTerm": "<company_name>" }

3. **Create the expense item:**

Tool: autotask_create_expense_item
Args: {
  "expenseReportId": <report_id>,
  "description": "<description>",
  "expenseDate": "<YYYY-MM-DD>",
  "expenseCategory": <category_id>,
  "amount": <amount>,
  "companyId": <company_id_or_0>,
  "isBillableToCompany": <true/false>,
  "isReimbursable": <true/false>,
  "haveReceipt": <true/false>
}

Action: search

Search for expense reports by submitter or status.

Tool: autotask_search_expense_reports
Args: {
  "submitterId": <resource_id>,
  "status": <1-6>,
  "pageSize": 25
}

Status codes: 1=New, 2=Submitted, 3=Approved, 4=Paid, 5=Rejected, 6=InReview

Action: get

Retrieve a specific expense report by ID.

Tool: autotask_get_expense_report
Args: { "reportId": <report_id> }

Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | action | string | Yes | create-report, add-item, search, or get | | details | string | No | Context-dependent details for the action |

Examples

Create an expense report

/expenses action="create-report" details="Feb 2026 travel expenses for Aaron Sachs"

Add mileage to a report

/expenses action="add-item" details="Report 12345 - 45 miles to Contoso Ltd at $0.67/mi = $30.15, billable"

Search submitted reports

/expenses action="search" details="status=submitted"

Get a specific report

/expenses action="get" details="report ID 12345"

Output

Expense Report Created:
  ID:          12345
  Name:        Feb 2026 Travel
  Submitter:   Aaron Sachs
  Status:      New
  Week Ending: 2026-02-28

Items:
  1. Mileage to Contoso Ltd     $30.15  (Billable, Reimbursable)
  2. Parking - Contoso office    $12.00  (Billable, Reimbursable)
  ─────────────────────────────────────
  Total:                         $42.15

Error Handling

| Error | Resolution | |-------|------------| | Submitter not found | Verify resource name with autotask_search_resources | | Invalid expense category | Use autotask_get_field_info to get valid picklist IDs | | Report not found | Verify report ID with autotask_search_expense_reports | | Cannot modify approved report | Only NEW or REJECTED reports can be edited |

Related Commands

• [time-entry](/commands/time-entry) - Log time against tickets or projects
• [lookup-company](/commands/lookup-company) - Find company for billable expenses
• [check-contract](/commands/check-contract) - Verify contract includes expense billing