Set up Play by the Rules to collect receipts and info
Play by the Rules lets Admins and Account Owners enforce deadlines for receipts and required payment info, blocking cards when spenders don't comply. For: Admins and Account Owners, on all billing plans.
Before you start
Requirement | Detail |
Roles | Admins and Account Owners only |
Plan | Available on all billing plans |
Setup | No prior integration needed to enable the Standard Control Rule |
👥 Only Admins and Account Owners can create, edit, or assign control rules.
How Play by the Rules works
Play by the Rules sets a maximum number of days spenders have to provide a receipt and any other required payment information (for example: Description / supplier or cost centre). It also sets a maximum number of overdue payments allowed before a spender's card is blocked. This encourages requesters to submit complete, compliant information on time.
💡 Rules now cover both missing receipts and missing mandatory information (such as analytics or supplier fields), not receipts alone.
Get started with the Standard Control Rule
Navigate to Settings > Company rules > Control on receipts & info.
Click to enable the Standard Control Rule.
Review the default settings: a 5-day limit and a maximum of 5 overdue payments. Spendesk pre-selects these values because they build good habits without blocking spenders too often.
Click to customise the rule if needed.
Assign members to the rule to activate it.
Create a custom rule
Navigate to Settings > Company rules > Control on receipts & info.
Click to create a new rule.
Enter the maximum number of days allowed to provide a receipt or required info.
Enter the maximum number of overdue payments allowed before a card is blocked.
Select the members this rule applies to.
Click to save the rule.
Edit a rule
Navigate to Settings > Company rules > Control on receipts & info.
Click the rule you want to edit.
Update the limit, overdue payment maximum, or assigned members.
Click to save your changes.
⚠️ Editing a rule can immediately accelerate restrictions for assigned members. All affected members receive an email notification when a rule is edited.
Assign a rule to specific members
Navigate to Settings > Organization > Members.
Select the member you want to update.
Click Edit Member Profile > Settings & Policies > Receipt Controls.
Select the rule to apply to this member.
Remove control from a member
Admins and Account Owners can also assign "No control rule" to a specific member. A member with no control rule assigned is never blocked for missing receipts or missing info, regardless of how many payments are overdue.
Navigate to Settings > Organization > Members.
Select the member.
Click Edit Member Profile > Settings & Policies > Receipt Controls.
Select No control rule.
⚠️ Removing control from a member means their card usage is never blocked for missing receipts or info. Use this only for exceptions, as it removes a key compliance safeguard.
Requester experience
Requesters can monitor payments with missing receipts or info from their dashboard, and complete them from the Payments tab. They receive warning notifications by email, mobile, and/or Slack before their card is blocked, and these notifications explain how to unblock themselves by uploading the missing information.
Monitor compliance
Admins and Account Owners can track members with late receipts or info from the homepage dashboard and from the Control dashboard.
Missing vs. late payments
Status | Definition |
Missing | Info hasn't been uploaded yet. A payment's info becomes missing as soon as it appears on the platform. Not urgent on its own, since receipts can arrive a day or two after the transaction. |
Late | Info that hasn't been uploaded within the authorised delay. For example, with a 5-day limit, a receipt becomes late on day 6. A member reaching the maximum number of late payments gets their card blocked. |
💡 A receipt marked "invalid" still counts as a late payment. A receipt marked "cannot be provided" does not count as late.
💡 Refunds always require a receipt or the required info under Play by the Rules, and count toward the late payment limit.
How Play by the Rules applies to different card types
Card type | Behaviour when the member is blocked |
Physical cards | Blocked — cannot be used |
New card requests (including single-use cards) | Blocked |
Multi-use cards | Continue to work. Payments made on them still count toward the member's missing/late limits |
Subscription (recurring) cards | Exempt from Play by the Rules blocking entirely, to avoid disrupting recurring tool payments |
Troubleshooting
Symptom: A requester's card remains blocked even after uploading all their receipts.
Cause: Some payments may still be missing other required info (such as supplier or cost centre), or the status hasn't refreshed yet. Status updates run through real-time checks and a nightly batch job, so a short delay is normal.
Resolution: Check the Payments tab for any payment still marked as missing info, complete it, and wait a short moment for the status to refresh.
Symptom: A requester has more payments with missing receipts than the assigned rule allows, but isn't blocked.
Cause: Some payments may be marked "cannot be provided" (which doesn't count toward the late limit), or the member has "No control rule" assigned instead of the intended rule.
Resolution: Check each payment's status in the Control dashboard, and confirm the correct rule is assigned to the member in Settings > Organization > Members.
Symptom: A member's rule changed but past payments weren't affected as expected.
Cause: New rules apply going forward; payments already marked late under the previous rule keep their original status.
Resolution: No action needed. If the member exceeds the new limit going forward, they'll be blocked as expected.
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