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“Beneficiaries” Field

Add beneficiaries to expenses and card payments

Use the Beneficiaries field to flag who benefited from a shared expense — for example, guests at a business lunch or attendees at a team event — instead of listing names in the description field. This adds a layer of compliance tracking to expense claims and card payments.

For: Employees submitting expense claims or card payments. Visible to Controllers and Account Owners on reporting and bookkeeping pages.

Table of Contents

  • Before you start

  • How the Beneficiaries field works

  • Add or edit beneficiaries on an expense claim

  • Edit beneficiaries on a card payment

  • Where beneficiaries appear

  • Export beneficiary data

  • Troubleshooting

  • Related articles

Before you start

Requirement

Details

Role

Requesters can add or edit beneficiaries on their own expense claim. Controllers and Account Owners can edit beneficiaries on a card payment from the Payments panel, as long as the payment is still editable.

Plan

Available on all Spendesk plans

Platform

Web, and mobile app on iOS 2.57.0 or above / Android 2.69.0 or above

Setup

None — the field is enabled by default on expense claims and card purchases

🔒 Access: On expense claims, only the requester can add or edit beneficiaries, and only before the request is approved. Once approved, the field is locked to protect the audit trail.

How the Beneficiaries field works

  • The field is pre-filled by default with the name of the person submitting the expense claim or updating payment details.

  • Requesters can update it to reflect everyone included in the expense:

    • Internal beneficiaries: select from a list of employees in your organisation.

    • External beneficiaries: manually enter a full name and company name.

    • No beneficiaries: you can submit a request with zero beneficiaries if it doesn't apply.

  • Adding a colleague as a beneficiary does not send them a notification.

  • The Beneficiaries field is available for both expense claims and card payments.

  • It is not currently possible to restrict the field to specific expense categories only.

Add or edit beneficiaries on an expense claim

  1. Navigate to Requests.

  2. Click "New Request", or open an existing draft or pending request.

  3. Fill in the expense details (date, amount, supplier, description).

  4. Click the "Beneficiaries" field.

  5. Select employees from the list, or click "Add external beneficiary" and enter their full name and company name.

  6. Remove any pre-filled beneficiary you don't want to include, if needed.

  7. Click "Confirm My Expense" to save your changes.

👥 Roles: Once an expense claim is approved, the Beneficiaries field is locked. Only the requester can edit it before approval.

Edit beneficiaries on a card payment

Card payments follow different edit rules than expense claims. Beneficiaries on a card payment can be edited by anyone who can edit that payment's description — this includes Controllers and Account Owners, not only the original requester.

  1. Navigate to Payments > All Payments.

  2. Open the card payment you want to update.

  3. Click the "Beneficiaries" field in the payment panel.

  4. Select employees from the list, or click "Add external beneficiary" and enter their full name and company name.

  5. Save your changes.

This edit path is only available while the payment's description is still editable — for example, before the payment is settled and exported. Once the description is locked, the Beneficiaries field becomes read-only for everyone, including Controllers.

⚠️ Warning: Beneficiaries on a card payment cannot be added or edited from the Bookkeep > Prepare page. That view is display-only. Use the Payments > All Payments panel instead.

Where beneficiaries appear

Beneficiary information is visible to finance teams on:

  • Expense Claims

  • All Payables

  • All Payments

  • Bookkeep > Prepare (view-only)

Export beneficiary data

Export

Includes beneficiaries?

Notes

All Payables CSV export

Yes

Names appear in a dedicated "Beneficiaries" column. Multiple beneficiaries are comma-separated. Included automatically, with no filter required. In France, this export can help identify "ticket restaurant" meal voucher deductions.

Bank journal export

No

Bank journal exports focus on accounts payable and payment matching only. Use the All Payables export if you need beneficiary data.

Troubleshooting

  • Symptom: You can't edit the Beneficiaries field on an expense claim. Cause: The field can only be edited by the requester, and only before the request is approved. Once approved, it is locked as a safeguard. Resolution: Ask the approver to reject the request so the requester can update it and resubmit, or contact Spendesk support if the request has already been exported.

  • Symptom: A Controller can't edit beneficiaries on a card payment from Bookkeep > Prepare. Cause: The Prepare page only displays beneficiary data — it does not support edits. This is expected behaviour, not a bug. Resolution: Open the payment from Payments > All Payments instead, and edit beneficiaries from the payment panel there.

  • Symptom: Beneficiaries you added don't appear on the All Payables page or in Bookkeep > Prepare. Cause: This has previously been caused by a temporary data-sync issue between the request and downstream bookkeeping pages. Resolution: Refresh the page. If beneficiaries are still missing, contact Spendesk support with the request ID so the team can check the underlying data.

  • Symptom: The Beneficiaries field doesn't appear when making a card payment. Cause: The field is designed for expense claims and card payments; availability can vary by card type. Resolution: If the field is missing on a card type where you expect it, note the participants in the payment description and contact Spendesk support to confirm expected behaviour for that card type.

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