In Emburse Spend, transactions fall into three statuses: Pending, Queued, or Draft.
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Pending: Recent card charges that haven't been finalized by the merchant.
- These may be edited and queued but not submitted.
- Once these post, queued expenses are automatically submitted when the settled amount matches the authorization amount. If you have not created an expense, the transaction is marked as Ready to Submit and requires review.
Pending transactions are only visible for cards issued by certain providers. If your card provider does not support pending transaction visibility, these charges will not appear until they are fully posted.
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Queued: Pending transactions you have edited and marked as ready to submit.
- These will be automatically submitted for approval once the transaction is posted and the settled amount matches the authorization amount.
- These can be queued in bulk by selecting multiple transactions and selecting Submit.
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Draft: Transactions you have started and saved but aren't ready to submit yet.
- Drafts can be updated with details and receipts, then submitted when ready.
- Both Pending and Posted transactions may be saved as drafts.
Select Dashboard in the Personal sidebar to view posted card transactions that need action.
Select Transactions in the Personal sidebar to view all your unsubmitted transactions, including Pending, Queued, and Draft.
Where Do Transactions Come From?
Transactions are automatically created when a charge is made on a connected corporate card or Emburse Card. Emburse Spend uses data from the card feed to fill in the date, merchant, and amount fields.
These fields are autofilled and cannot be edited.
Emburse Spend uses Gen-AI-enabled OCR to extract details from uploaded or forwarded receipts and attempts to match receipts to transactions when possible.
Pending Transactions
A Pending transaction is a corporate card or Emburse Card charge that has been authorized but has not yet been posted by the card issuer. Posting typically takes 1–3 business days, depending on your card issuer.
Example
You buy a coffee for $5.50 with your Emburse Card. A pending transaction appears in Emburse Spend. You upload the corresponding receipt. Emburse Spend matches the receipt image automatically and links it to the Emburse Card transaction. You may add such expense details as category or notes now and either save the transaction as a draft or queue it for auto-submission later.
Can I Queue a Pending Transaction?
Yes, you may queue expenses for both corporate and Emburse cards if the following conditions are met.
- The transaction is still in Pending Transaction status
- All fields required by your company's expense policy (e.g., attached receipt, category, or notes) are completed
If any required information is missing, you will be prompted to save the expense as a Draft instead.
To queue an expense, select the Queue button. The expense status will then update to Queued.
Pending transactions cannot be split. You will need to wait until the transaction posts before splitting it.
What Happens When the Transaction Posts?
If no expense exists, the pending card transaction becomes Ready to Submit when it settles. If the settled amount differs from the authorization amount (for example, due to a tip or currency conversion), Emburse Spend updates the transaction amount but does not change its status.
If a pending expense exists, the settled amount is updated on both the card transaction and the expense when the transaction posts. If the expense is Queued and the posted amount matches the authorization amount and your company's expense rules are met, the expense is auto-submitted for approval.
If the expense is Queued and the posted amount differs from the authorization amount (due to currency conversion, preauthorization, a tip, etc.) or if it violates your company's expense rules, Emburse Spend un-queues the expense and updates its status to Draft.
You will receive an email notification titled "A queued expense has been moved back to Draft." You must then review and resubmit the updated expense.
Any posted, submitted expense that has not yet been approved can be edited and resubmitted.
What Happens with Tips?
When a merchant finalizes a charge and includes a tip, the final settled amount posts to your account. The original pre-tip authorization is only a temporary hold.
In most cases:
- The merchant releases the original authorization within 3–5 business days.
- Once released, the pending authorization automatically drops off and does not remain on your transaction list.
- If the merchant does not release the authorization, Emburse Spend automatically removes the pending transaction after 30 days.
Queued Transactions
A Queued transaction is an expense that is complete and waiting for the transaction to post. If the settled amount matches the authorization amount when it posts, the expense is automatically submitted for approval and no further action is required. See What If the Amount Changes? if the amount changes.
When Can I Queue an Expense?
You may queue expenses for both corporate and Emburse cards if the following conditions are met.
- The transaction is still in Pending Transaction status
- All fields required by your company's expense policy (e.g., attached receipt, category, or notes) are completed
If any required information is missing, you will be prompted to save the expense as a Draft instead.
Example
You purchase software for $100 with your corporate card. A pending transaction appears in Emburse Spend. You attach the receipt and enter the category and project code. You select Queue, and the expense status changes to Queued. Two days later, the transaction posts for $100, and because the settled amount matches the authorization amount, the expense is automatically submitted for approval.
What If the Amount Changes?
This applies when you have already created a pending expense for the transaction.
If the transaction's posted amount differs from the authorization amount (due to currency conversion, addition of a tip, etc.), Emburse Spend un-queues the expense and updates its status to Draft.
You will receive an email notification titled "A queued expense has been moved back to Draft." You must then review and resubmit the updated expense.
Draft Expenses
A Draft is an expense that has been started but not submitted or queued. It allows you to gather missing info or make changes before finalizing the expense.
- The Save Draft button is only available for card transactions, not for reimbursable expenses.
- The Save Draft button is available for both Pending and Posted card transactions.
- Drafts stay on your Personal Dashboard until you take action—they do not auto-submit.
Example
You buy a coffee, and the transaction is posted by your credit card company. You start creating the expense in Emburse Spend but need to confirm some details before submitting it, so you save it as a draft. Later, you finalize the details of the draft and submit the expense.
What Happens When the Transaction Posts?
If the expense is in Draft status when the transaction posts, you may still edit it. If you have queued the expense and the settled amount matches the authorization amount, it will be auto-submitted.