Delete an expense claim or invoice in the "Schedule" tab
Once a payment reaches the Schedule tab, you can't delete it directly. This article explains how to correct or remove a mistaken invoice or expense claim before it's paid, and what to do if it's already been reimbursed.
For: Account Owners and Controllers who manage invoice and expense claim payments.
Before you start
Requirement | Detail |
Role | Account Owner or Controller |
Plan | Available on all Spendesk plans |
Applies to | Supplier invoices and expense claims in the Schedule tab |
Key difference | Invoices can be sent back to the Review tab. Expense claims currently cannot — use the CSV workaround instead |
👥 Roles: Only Account Owners and Controllers can send a payment back to Review or mark it as paid by CSV.
Send an invoice back to Review
Once an invoice is confirmed in Review, it moves to Schedule following the path Review > Schedule > Confirm. If you made a mistake, you can send the invoice back to Review instead of letting it proceed to payment.
Navigate to Invoices > Schedule.
Select the invoice you want to correct.
Click "Send back to Review".
Confirm the action.
Edit or reject the invoice from the Review tab.
⚠️ Warning: You can't send an invoice back to Review if it has already been marked as ready or exported.
If the invoice is marked as ready in Prepare but hasn't been exported yet, follow these steps first:
Navigate to Bookkeep > Export.
Select the relevant invoice period.
Click "View".
Click "Send back to Prepare" for the payable.
Return to Schedule and click "Send back to Review".
📋 Best Practice: "Send back to Review" also can't be used if the invoice was split into multiple payments and one of those payments has already been paid. In this case, contact Spendesk support for help correcting the remaining payment.
⚠️ You cannot delete an invoice that has been paid (whether from Spendesk, or via CSV / XML file).
Remove a validated expense claim before reimbursement
Validated expense claims cannot be reverted, rejected, or corrected once confirmed in Review, even if they haven't been reimbursed yet. This protects the integrity of your financial records. If you need to remove a validated expense claim before it's paid, use this workaround:
Navigate to Expense Claims > Schedule.
Select the expense claim you want to remove.
Select "Pay by CSV" as the payment method for this expense claim.
Export the CSV file.
Delete the corresponding line from the CSV file before importing it into your accounting software.
Assign a dedicated category (for example, "Mistake - do not keep in bookkeeping system") to flag the entry for easy identification, if needed.
⚠️ Warning: Do not execute the transfer from your bank account after selecting "Pay by CSV". Doing so will reimburse the employee.
Correct an expense claim already reimbursed
If the expense claim has already been reimbursed, follow these steps instead:
Mark the claim as "Prepared/Exported" in Spendesk, as you would for any other payment.
Remove the corresponding line from your CSV export before importing it into your accounting software.
Optionally, assign the entry to a dedicated exclusion category (for example, "Error – exclude from accounting").
Arrange repayment directly with the employee if the claim was reimbursed by mistake, using one of the following methods:
Cash repayment
Bank transfer back to the company
Deduction from a future expense claim
Deduction from their paycheck, provided there is mutual agreement
💡 Tip: Even after you exclude a line from your accounting import, it remains visible in Spendesk. Excluding it from the import only prevents it from affecting your accounting records.
Troubleshooting
Symptom: The "Send back to Review" button is greyed out for an invoice.
Cause: The invoice has already been marked as ready, exported, or split into multiple payments with one already paid.
Resolution: If it's marked as ready but not exported, send the payable back to Prepare first (see steps above). If it's already exported or partially paid, contact Spendesk support.
Symptom: You can't delete an expense claim from the Requests tab.
Cause: The expense claim has already been validated in Review, and Spendesk doesn't allow deleting validated claims for compliance reasons.
Resolution: Use the CSV workaround described above to exclude it from reimbursement and accounting.
Symptom: Two duplicate expense claim payments appear in Schedule.
Cause: The same expense claim was accidentally approved or prepared twice.
Resolution: Apply the CSV workaround to the duplicate entry, then contact Spendesk support if the duplicate persists after export.
When to contact support
Contact Spendesk support if:
An invoice has already been exported and you still need to correct it.
An invoice was split into multiple payments and one has already been paid.
A duplicate expense claim payment doesn't clear after applying the CSV workaround.
Related articles