Stop reimbursement delays: A guide to digital out-of-pocket expenses

Sometimes, employees have to pay out of pocket for things like mileage, client lunches or last-minute train tickets – that’s to be expected. Waiting weeks to be repaid, however, creates frustration, extra admin and unnecessary pressure on payroll.

Reimbursements shouldn’t depend on payday. With Pleo Reimbursements, you can capture, approve and repay expenses digitally – often within 24 hours of approval, depending on banking processes and country-specific conditions. We’ll guide you through exactly how to do it.

Key takeaways:

• Repay employees instantly. Use Direct Reimbursements to pay out-of-pocket expenses and mileage directly to bank accounts without waiting for payroll.
• Centralise all spend. Keep cash, card and mileage reimbursements in one system for complete visibility.
• Automate approvals. Set thresholds and workflows so smaller claims are approved automatically and nothing gets stuck in review.
• Eliminate manual tracking. Pleo calculates mileage, logs receipts and updates owed amounts automatically.
• Keep employees happy. Faster payments reduce frustration, improve cash flow for your team, and remove awkward follow-ups.

How to repay employees instantly via bank transfer

With Pleo, reimbursements no longer have to run through payroll.

1. Enable Reimbursements

First, turn on Reimbursements in your account.

1. Go to Reimbursements
2. Click Get started
3. Follow the on-screen setup steps

Once enabled, employees can submit:

• Out-of-pocket expenses
• Mileage claims
• Travel allowances or per diems in supported countries

This centralises all non-card spending in one place.

2. Enable Direct Reimbursements

To repay employees directly to their bank accounts, you’ll need to switch on Direct Reimbursements.

In the Reimburse from your Pleo Account banner:

1. Click Get started
2. Click Switch on
3. Choose how you want reimbursements processed

You can select:

• Scheduled daily or weekly processing
• Manual processing by admins or employees

Note: Direct Reimbursements are not available in the US.

Once enabled, approved claims are paid directly from your Pleo Account – no payroll run required.

3. Employees submit a reimbursement claim

When someone pays out of pocket, they simply:

1. Open the Pleo app
2. Create a new reimbursement
3. Enter the amount
4. Attach the receipt
5. Add relevant details or notes

Everything is logged digitally and visible to admins immediately. No spreadsheets. No email attachments. No manual forms.

4. Set up approval workflows

Admins stay in control with flexible approval settings:

• Single or multi-level approvals
• Automated approvals for expenses under set thresholds
• Customisable workflows depending on team or amount

This ensures the right balance between speed and oversight.

5: Approve and transfer funds

Once approved, the reimbursement is paid directly to the employee’s personal bank account.

There’s no need to wait for the next payroll run. No manual bank transfers – no awkward follow-ups about when the money will arrive.

Employees receive a confirmation notification once the transfer is complete.

Delays often happen because everything needs manual review – but with Reimbursements, you can reduce that friction. Set spending thresholds so smaller expenses are approved automatically. Create clear approval routes so claims don’t sit unnoticed. Give team leads visibility without giving up finance control.

The result is a system that moves quickly without compromising compliance.

How to manage mileage without spreadsheets

Mileage is one of the most common – and most time-consuming – reimbursement categories. Different rates, manual distance calculations and scattered receipts can quickly slow things down.

Here’s how to structure it properly in Pleo.

1. Enable mileage

Before employees can submit mileage claims, you’ll need to enable it.

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Mileage
3. Choose a category for mileage expenses
4. Add a default mileage rate if one hasn’t already been set

If a default rate already exists, it’s based on government tax-free rates and will update automatically as those rates change, unless you override them with custom rates.

Once enabled, employees can begin submitting mileage claims.

2. Customise your mileage settings

You can tailor mileage to fit your policy and location.

Options include:

• Setting custom rates for the entire company
• Creating individual rates per employee
• Allowing employee overrides where appropriate
• Applying government thresholds in supported countries
• Enabling fuel rates in the UK
• Enabling company car rates in Sweden

This gives you flexibility without losing control.

3. Employees submit their mileage claim

Mileage claims are submitted through the Pleo mobile app, except for companies registered in the UK.

After completing a journey, employees:

1. Enter the starting address
2. Enter the destination
3. Confirm the travel date

Pleo automatically calculates the distance travelled and applies your configured rate to determine how much is owed. No manual maths. No separate mileage spreadsheets.

4. Review and approve

Admins can review each claim before approval.

If something doesn’t look right, you can:

• Edit the travel date
• Adjust the distance
• Update the rate

Once approved, the reimbursement is paid directly to the employee’s personal bank account.

If changes are needed after submission, mark the claim as Not okay and ask the employee to delete and resubmit it, as submitted claims cannot be edited.

Good to know:

• Mileage claims cannot be edited once submitted
• Pleo does not report mileage claims to your local tax authority
• You can download an overview of mileage claims to calculate totals per employee

With the right setup in place, mileage becomes predictable, compliant and fast to process – not a monthly admin burden.

How to handle cash withdrawals and personal purchases

Out-of-pocket expenses don’t always follow a neat pattern. Here’s how to keep everything clean and centralised.

ATM cash withdrawals

If a merchant only accepts cash, employees can withdraw from an ATM using their Pleo card.

When they spend that cash, they log it in Reimbursements with the relevant details and receipt. This keeps cash spending visible in the same system as everything else.

Accidental personal purchases

Mistakes happen – but with Pleo, they’re easy to fix.

If someone accidentally uses their Pleo card for a personal expense, they can mark the transaction as private in the app. The system updates the amount owed back to the company automatically.

No separate tracking. No panic. No manual repayment calculations.

Why payroll-based reimbursements slow growing companies down

Traditional reimbursements often run through payroll by default. On paper, that sounds simple. In reality, it creates friction.

Employees wait weeks to recover money they’ve already spent. Finance teams bundle reimbursements into payroll cycles, adding complexity. Manual tracking increases the risk of missed claims or errors.

As companies grow, that friction scales too.

Out-of-pocket expenses are part of everyday business, and treating them as one-off payroll adjustments slows the entire system down. The good news: using Pleo Reimbursements changes that dynamic.

Instead of being tied to monthly salary cycles, reimbursements become:

• Real-time
• Trackable
• Centrally managed
• Clearly approved
• Automatically transferred

Employees aren’t left covering business costs for weeks. Finance teams aren’t patching reimbursement data into payroll. And every expense – whether card, cash or mileage – lives in one place.

It’s faster. It’s cleaner. And it respects both your team’s time and their bank balance.

Building a reimbursement process that respects your team

Reimbursements might seem like a small operational detail. But for employees, they’re personal.

When someone pays for a train ticket, client lunch or fuel out of their own pocket, they’re effectively lending money to the business. If repayment takes weeks, that creates frustration and unnecessary pressure, especially in growing companies where travel and expenses are frequent.

A modern reimbursement process should feel invisible. Claims are submitted in minutes. Approvals are clear. Payments arrive quickly. No spreadsheets. No payroll delays. No uncomfortable reminders.

If you want to eliminate reimbursement slowdowns, focus on these fundamentals:

• Enable digital reimbursements for all employees
• Allow claims via app with receipt upload
• Set clear approval workflows and thresholds
• Automate smaller claims where possible
• Reimburse via bank transfer instead of payroll
• Centralise mileage and cash claims in the same system

When everything runs through one structured workflow, reimbursements stop being a monthly chore and start being part of a smooth financial system.

Employees aren’t left covering business costs for weeks. Finance isn’t manually reconciling spreadsheets against payroll. And every expense, whether card, cash or mileage, is visible and properly documented.

That’s the real shift: reimbursements move from reactive and delayed to real-time and controlled – from scattered and manual to centralised and automated.

And most importantly, your team feels supported, not inconvenienced, by the process.