Manage Expenses is where you work with many expenses at once. You load the expenses you need, filter them, choose which columns you see, run batch actions on many expenses together, and export the data.
To add new expenses, see How to add expenses in VAT4U.
Before you begin
You see the expenses of the companies your role gives you access to.
Exporting mass data is only available to some users (see Step 7).
Batch actions change many expenses at once. Check what you have selected before you run one.
Step 1: Open Manage Expenses
In the sidebar, open VAT Recovery and click Manage Expenses.
Once data is loaded, the screen has three areas:
Scope of your work and filter chips: which expenses are loaded, and which filters are applied.
The toolbar: workflow actions on the left (Start processing, Batch actions, Smart AI), table tools on the right.
The expense table.
Step 2: Set the scope of your work
When you open Manage Expenses, the table is empty until you choose what to load. This keeps the table fast.
In Prefilter by company or group, choose one or more companies.
Optionally narrow it down further, for example by Refund Status, VAT Flow, Country of Refund, Invoice date or Date created. Click Show additional filters for more, such as OCR Status, Data Source, Import ID, Claim ID or Audit Status.
Click Go.
The table loads, and the top of the screen shows Scope of your work with your selection. To load something else, click Change scope, adjust the prefilters and click Go again.
Tip: Keep the scope narrow. The table loads faster, and batch actions on filtered data only touch what you meant.
Step 3: Filter the table
Every column has a filter icon in its header. Click it to open the column menu:
Sort the column Ascending or Descending.
Filter by the column: choose a condition (for example Contains) and enter a value. To add another condition on the same column, click +AND or +OR:
+AND: all conditions must be true.
+OR: any condition can be true.
Filter by source (on some columns): show only values that came from a certain source, such as USER, IMPORT, API, CALCULATED or AI, or values that are IS EMPTY or IS NOT EMPTY.
Click Apply filters. Clear removes the filter from this column.
One column uses either AND or OR, not both. Filters on different columns are always combined with AND.
Example: two vendors. On Vendor Name, choose Contains and type Hotel, click +OR, choose Contains and type Tankstelle, then click Apply filters.
Example: potential cashback between €10 and €100. On Potential Cashback, choose Greater than 10, click +AND, choose Less than or equal to 100, then click Apply filters.
Example: vendor missing. On Vendor Name, tick IS EMPTY under Filter by source, then click Apply filters.
Filter chips and table tools
Every active filter appears as a chip under Scope of your work, for example Vendor Name contains Hotel OR contains Tankstelle. The icons on the right of the toolbar are your table tools. Hover any icon to see its name.
# | What it does |
1 | Filter chip. Click × to remove that filter. For a filter with several values, click the chip to remove single values. |
2 | Share. Copies a link to this exact view (scope and filters). The link in your browser's address bar also updates every time you change a filter. |
3 | Pin filtered columns. Moves the columns you filter on to the front of the table, right after VAT4U ID. Click again to restore the order. Pinning lasts until you reload the page. |
4 | Clear filters (red). Removes every filter at once. It only appears when a filter is active. |
5 | Refresh. Reloads the current page of data. |
6 | Currency. Shows amounts in EUR or in local currency. |
7 | Export. See Step 7. |
8 | Table view. Choose your columns. The button shows the name of the view in use. See Step 5. |
Next to Table view you choose how many rows to show per page.
Step 4: Check the totals
Under the table, Statistics from filtering sums up the expenses that match your filters: the countries, the number of invoices, the period, Total VAT, Deductible VAT and Deductible VAT local.
Note: These totals can include Excluded expenses. To see only VAT that can still be claimed, filter Refund Status to Ready and Incomplete.
Step 5: Choose your columns and views
Click Table view in the toolbar. A window opens with three tabs.
Predefined views
Five ready-made column sets for common work. Click Use to apply one.
View | Use it for |
Operations (default, 18 columns) | Day-to-day work: claimant, vendor, amounts and main statuses |
Finance (21 columns) | Amounts in both currencies, billing and payment statuses |
VAT Recovery (19 columns) | Country, VAT flow and claim status |
Compliance (22 columns) | Compliance, duplicate and data-quality checks |
OCR / AI Extraction (53 columns) | Smart AI and OCR values next to the saved values, to check extraction quality |
A predefined view doesn't change your own saved view. While one is in use, the Table view button shows its name, for example Operations (Default). Click the arrow on the button to go back: Switch back to saved view, or Reset to the default column layout if you haven't saved a view yet.
Visibility & order
The third tab shows how many columns are hidden, for example 143 hidden fields. Here you choose which columns you see and in what order.
Search columns to find a column by name.
Columns are grouped, for example System Fields, Company Information, Invoice Details and Amounts. Tick a column to show it, or click Show all on a group.
Drag a column to move it within its group, or drag a group header to move the whole group.
Turn on Disable columns grouping for one flat list.
Reset to default restores the standard layout.
To keep your layout, click Save preference. To save it as a new view, type a View name first.
Important: If you don't save, the table goes back to your saved layout when you reload the page.
My views
Pick one of your saved views to load it, or delete a view you no longer need. Saved views are personal: your colleagues don't see them.
Other table tips
Resize a column by dragging the edge of its header. A column can't be made narrower than its original width.
The Options column (row actions) always stays on the far right and can't be hidden.
Step 6: Run batch actions
Batch actions change many expenses in one go.
Filter the table, or tick the expenses you want in the table.
Click Batch actions.
Choose what the action applies to:
Use table selection: only the rows you ticked. The window lists their VAT4U IDs.
Use filtered data: every expense that matches your current filters. The window lists the active filters. If no filter is active, the action applies to all expenses you have access to.
The Batch edit window opens. It has four steps: Choose action, Edit data, Verification and Finished. Click the action you want.
Fill in the details on Edit data and click Next. Then check Verification, which shows which expenses will change, and confirm. Click Cancel at any point to stop without changing anything.
Group | Actions |
Expense data | Update vendor · Validate vendor VAT number · Update optional fields · Change expense category · Summarize expense items · Change expense country · Change expense province · Change expense type · Move to another entity · Update Business Partner |
Statuses | Update status (compliance, refund, correction or audit status) · Change demo status |
Checks | Compliance & Smart Checks · Run duplicates check · Run Claim Risk Assessment |
Documents | Keywords search with OCR · Retrieve missing documents · Split expense document |
Corrections | Request Correction from Vendor · Request Invoice Correction (Spain only) |
Claims and integrations | Create VAT Claim · Push to Concur |
AI | Ask assistant |
You only see the actions your role and plan allow. Some actions only apply to expenses in certain statuses. For example, changing the country works for Incomplete, Ready and Excluded expenses. Hover the info icon on an action to see its conditions.
Example: find documents by keyword (Keywords search with OCR)
Use this to find invoices that contain certain words, for example proforma, so you can review or exclude them.
Filter or select the expenses you want to search.
Click Batch actions, choose the data set, and click Keywords search with OCR.
Under Type keywords you want to search, type a word and press Enter. Add as many as you need. Keywords are not case-sensitive: Paris also finds paris and PARIS. To reuse keywords from an earlier search, click Copy from existing.
Under Give this search a name (tag), type a name you will recognise. Every expense where a keyword is found gets this tag.
Under Advanced options, choose if needed:
Full keyword search: exact words only. Invoice doesn't match InvoiceAmount.
Erase all existing Tags for filtered expenses: removes earlier tags before this search.
Click Next, check Verification, and confirm.
When the search is done, filter the table on the Tags column to see the results.
Step 7: Export your data
Filter the table to the expenses you want.
Click the Export icon (cloud with an arrow) in the toolbar.
Choose Export to Excel, Export per CoR (one file per country of refund) or Export to CSV (with line items).
The export runs in the background. You get an email when the file is ready, usually within 1 to 15 minutes. You can also follow it in Report › Running Jobs Report.
Who can export: home company users of an Expert or Technology-only account, and users who have the export permission in their user settings. Other users see a message that they can't export mass data.
Opening a CSV export in Excel
VAT4U CSV files use a semicolon separator and UTF-8 encoding. Don't double-click the file. Instead:
Open Excel.
Go to Data › From Text/CSV (on Mac: Data › Get Data › From Text/CSV).
Choose the file, then set Delimiter to Semicolon and File origin to UTF-8.
To keep leading zeros or long IDs, click Transform Data, set those columns to Text, then click Close & Load. Otherwise click Load.
Troubleshooting
The table is empty when I open Manage Expenses.
Nothing is loaded until you set the scope. Choose a company in Prefilter by company or group and click Go.
An expense is missing from the table.
Check Scope of your work and the filter chips. Click Clear filters and widen the scope with Change scope. If the expense still doesn't appear, your role may not include that company.
I don't see Batch actions, Export, or a specific action.
These depend on your role, permissions and plan. Ask your company administrator or your VAT4U contact.
A batch action changed more expenses than I expected.
With Use filtered data, the action applies to every expense matching the filters, and to everything you can access if no filter is active. Always check Verification before you confirm.
A batch action skipped some expenses.
Many actions only apply to expenses in certain statuses. Verification shows which expenses are in scope.
My columns went back to the old layout.
The layout wasn't saved. Open Table view › Visibility & order and click Save preference. If a predefined view is in use, click the arrow on the Table view button and choose Switch back to saved view.
A column I turned on isn't where I expected.
Columns stay inside their group. Look in the group the column belongs to, or turn on Disable columns grouping to place it anywhere.
The VAT totals look too high. Statistics from filtering can include Excluded expenses. Filter Refund Status to Ready and Incomplete.
The export email never arrived.
Check Report › Running Jobs Report and your spam folder. Large exports can take longer than 15 minutes.
My CSV opens with everything in one column, or with strange characters. Import it through Data › From Text/CSV with Semicolon as the delimiter and UTF-8 as the encoding.
Leading zeros disappear, or long IDs show as 1.23E+15. Set those columns to Text in Transform Data before loading.
Keyword search tagged nothing. The document may not have readable text yet (OCR not finished), or the keyword only appears inside a longer word while Full keyword search is on.