Follow the guided expense lifecycle
Use the browser's guided actions and inspect the returned state. The workflow ribbon, approval requirement and linked payment status are separate indicators.
Status reference
| State | Meaning in current workflow |
|---|---|
| DRAFT | Normal editable/deletable state; amount-tier decision may still be pending |
| APPROVED | Lifecycle approved; no initial posting created by that action |
| POSTED | Employee expense recognition journal created; employee payment is separate |
| PARTIALLY_PAID | Employee recorded-payment counter is positive with remaining due |
| PAID | Employee recorded totals reached total, or company posting path set this label |
| IN_PAYMENT | Existing enum value; the current browser filters it out of guided transitions |
Guided actions
On DRAFT, the next action requests APPROVED and is blocked by the UI while approval is pending/rejected. On APPROVED, the action requests POSTED. Employee POSTED/PARTIALLY_PAID payments are handled from the journal's payment navigation, not a direct next-state button.
For company-paid posting, the server returns PAID after creating its full payment record. A toast may describe the requested POSTED action even though the returned detail says PAID. Read saved detail and the linked payment rather than the toast alone.
Enforcement limit
The backend status service checks null/unchanged requests and unresolved approval when APPROVED is requested, but does not implement a complete transition matrix matching every guided browser step. The source does not establish that every direct posting request rechecks the amount-tier decision. This guide therefore describes the controlled browser sequence, not a universal server-enforced approval state machine.
Do not use direct status jumps, resetting status labels or API requests to bypass review. Do not promise immutable terminal states or safe reposting merely from this UI. Known limits records the relevant finance review points.
After an uncertain action, reload expense, journal and payments before repeating. A status label alone is not proof that a new financial operation is required or that earlier effects were rolled back.