The Expense Policies page in SVB T&E lets you define and enforce how employees can submit, approve, and reimburse expenses. By creating flexible policy rules, admins can set clear limits, automate approval routing, and maintain compliance across all spending activity.
This article explains the different rule types, how to build and manage them, and how to route expenses for review or approval.
Blocking rules vs. warning rules
There are two rule types:
- Blocking rules: prevent users from submitting an expense that violates policy.
- Warning rules: Display guidance during submission. Users can fix the expense or submit with the policy violation flagged for review.
If you try to submit an expense that violates the blocking rule, SVB T&E will prevent submission and identify what policy item you have not included.
Warning rules alert you to the policy and give you the option to go back and fix the expense, or submit it anyway.
Expenses that violate a warning rule show an orange warning icon on the expense in the Transactions screen.
Select the Warning icon to open the expense and view the list of warnings in the Expense Details window.
You can search and filter for expenses with warnings.
Configure Comment Requirement for Policy Checks
Admins can control whether users must enter a comment when responding to warning policy checks.
Comment Required toggle: Determines whether a user must enter a comment when submitting an expense that triggers a policy response.
*Please Note: Comment Required is toggled off by default.
Behavior
- On: Users must enter a comment to submit an expense when a warning policy check is triggered
- Off: Users can submit an expense without entering a comment when a warning policy check is triggered
Applies To
- Applies to warning policy checks
The SVB T&E Rule builder
The rule builder enforces your organization's policy using flexible conditions.
To start, select Add a Rule on the Expense Policy screen, then configure the fields below.
Rule Types
Each rule type defines what is enforced and which fields are required. Use the table below as the complete reference when building rules.
| Rule Type | Purpose | Scope Fields | Rule-Specific Fields | Optional Filters | Behavior | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requirement | Collect information from the submitter (for example, receipt, category, custom field, or note) |
Source: Every expense, corporate card, or reimbursable Submitted By: Everyone, a specific employee, or a a Team Field |
Requirement type (receipt, category, custom field, or note) Routes expenses above this amount to an approver (if applicable) |
Categorized As (select one or more categories) Tagged As (select one or more Expense Fields) |
Warn or Block | Use to enforce required fields or trigger approval routing |
| Budget | Enforce spending limits by amount and time |
Source: Every expense, corporate card, or reimbursable Submitted By: Everyone, a specific employee, or a Team Field |
Expenses Should Not Exceed: Budget threshold |
Categorized As (select one or more categories) Tagged As (select one or more Expense Fields) |
Warn or Block | Fiscal year for yearly budgets runs January 1 to December 31 |
| Time Limit | Require expenses to be submitted within a defined time window |
Source: Every expense, corporate card, or reimbursable Submitted By: Everyone, a specific employee, or a Team Field |
Expenses Should Be Submitted In: Days, months, quarters, or years |
Categorized As (select one or more categories) Tagged As (select one or more Expense Fields) |
Warn or Block | Helps enforce timely submission |
| Daily Rate | Manage per-diem-style expenses (for example, hotels) |
Source: Every expense, corporate card, or reimbursable Submitted By: Everyone, a specific employee, or a Team Field |
Daily rate amount or Unlimited option |
Categorized As (select one or more categories) Tagged As (select one or more Expense Fields) |
Warn or Block |
Requires check-in and check-out dates; system calculates allowed amount. Select |
Edit or Delete a Rule
To edit an existing rule, select the 
next to the rule.
To delete a rule, select the 
next to the rule.
Route Expenses to Specific Approvers
Create an Approval Routing rule to send certain expenses to specific managers or admins. Routed expenses appear in Pending for admins until they are approved.
Prevent Admins or Managers from Approving Their Own Expenses
Turn on Prevent administrators or managers from ever approving their own expenses to require a different admin to approve an admin’s expense.