Employee expense claims UAE staff submit from their phone

You ask in plain English, the AI does the bookkeeping work, and you or your accountant approve the result.

• You ask: “Show me unapproved claims over AED 500 and anything without a tax invoice.”
• The AI agent: The AI lists pending claims above the limit, flags receipts that are simplified receipts rather than tax invoices or that lack a supplier TRN, and suggests the expense account for each.
• You review: You approve or reject each claim, decide whether a missing tax invoice means no VAT recovery, and release the reimbursement.

Expense claims are built into HelloBooks, so a claim is not a separate spreadsheet that someone rekeys. Each approved claim posts a cost and a balance owed to the employee, cleared when you pay them.

• Capture: the employee photographs the receipt; bilingual OCR reads supplier, date, total and VAT
• Code: the AI proposes the account, such as fuel, client entertainment or tools
• Approve: a manager approves, rejects or asks a question in the app
• Reimburse: pay by bank transfer or with the next salary, and the claim clears

Input VAT on a business expense can generally be recovered only when the business holds the right evidence and the cost relates to taxable activity. Some costs, such as entertainment for people other than employees, have specific restrictions on recovery under the VAT rules. The AI flags categories that commonly carry blocked VAT so your accountant can decide; it does not make that judgement for you.

A practical habit: ask staff to request a full tax invoice in the company's name for anything above a small amount. The AI will mark receipts that do not show a TRN.

Rania submits petrol station fuel of AED 210 including AED 10 VAT, a client lunch of AED 630 including AED 30 VAT, and a printer cartridge from a Mussafah shop of AED 157.50 including AED 7.50 VAT on a full tax invoice. The AI codes them to fuel, client entertainment and office supplies, and flags the lunch for review because of the entertainment VAT rule.

Her manager approves all three. Your accountant keeps input VAT on the fuel and cartridge and books the lunch gross. The total of AED 997.50 is reimbursed with the October salary. If your company wants per-diem rules, spend limits by grade or a different approval chain, those approval rules can be customised; email hello@hellobooks.ai.