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Expense reports: tax rules, CSR, digitisation

Q: Are paper receipts still required?

No, not necessarily. Since the order of 22 March 2017 and the decree of 23 May 2023, digital receipts carry the same legal weight as paper originals, provided the scanning process guarantees their integrity and reliability.[4] A solution like Greenway scans the document, certifies it with an electronic signature and a tamper-proof fingerprint, then archives it in a secure digital vault for the legally required 10-year retention period. You can therefore discard your paper receipts with complete peace of mind.

Q: What are the main deductible business expenses?

Expenses incurred in the interest of the business are generally deductible. The most common include: travel expenses (train/flight tickets, mileage reimbursement based on the official scale), accommodation costs during business trips, meal expenses (solo meals while travelling or business meals with clients), toll and parking fees, and certain entertainment costs. The Greenway platform guides you expense by expense, applying the rules and limits from your internal policy to ensure tax compliance.

Q: How do I handle VAT on expense reports?

Recovering VAT on expense reports is a significant financial issue. It is only possible if the expense is deductible and if the VAT is clearly stated on a properly formatted receipt. Note that VAT cannot be recovered on all expenses (for example, it is generally not recoverable on hotel accommodation or car hire). An expense management solution like Greenway automates the detection of the VAT amount on receipts using OCR and generates the corresponding accounting entries, maximising the amount of VAT recovered with no manual effort.

Q: Can I really track the carbon footprint of every business trip?

Yes, absolutely. This is one of the major innovations in modern platforms. The Greenway app integrates a CO₂ calculator based on reference databases (such as ADEME's Base Carbone).[7] When you enter a journey by car, train or plane, the tool automatically calculates the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. This data is then aggregated into dashboards for a comprehensive overview, which is essential for your carbon audit and CSR reporting.

Q: What are the concrete advantages of Greenway corporate cards over a standard bank card?

Greenway corporate cards offer a far superior level of control and automation. You can set spending limits and restrictions per card in real time, prevent misuse, and above all eliminate manual data entry. Every payment is automatically synchronised with the platform, triggering a receipt request to the employee. This reduces the administrative burden, secures expenditure, enables dynamic limit adjustments, and integrates directly into your existing accounting chain for automatic reconciliation.

Q: Is Greenway compatible with my current accounting software?

Yes, compatibility is a priority. Greenway is designed to integrate directly with the vast majority of accounting software and ERP systems on the market. We offer native connectors or customisable exports for leading tools including Sage, Pennylane, QuickBooks, Cegid, Sellsy, Oracle, SAP, and many others. The goal is to ensure that validated, enriched expense data flows into your accounting system without any manual re-entry.

Optimise your professional expense management with digitalisation, smart tax compliance and measurable CSR impact. A practical guide for modern businesses.

Alexandre Smadja · 25 March 2026

Today, expense report management has evolved far beyond its role as a routine administrative task to become a major strategic lever for businesses of all sizes. With a regulatory landscape in constant flux, mounting economic pressure and growing environmental urgency, optimising the handling of professional expenses is no longer optional. It is a necessity. This is a holistic approach that touches tax compliance, financial performance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) all at once. Digitalisation sits at the heart of this transformation, offering powerful tools to automate, secure, then extract value from every business expense. Innovative integrated solutions like those offered by Greenway provide a comprehensive, modern answer to these complex challenges, combining fiscal efficiency, ease of use and environmental awareness.

The 3 pillars of high-performing expense management:

End-to-end digitalisation and compliance: Say goodbye to time-consuming manual processes and error-prone workflows. The era of paper receipts stuffed into envelopes is over. Digital-first expense management, with legally compliant scanned receipts captured in real time via a mobile app, delivers full traceability and guaranteed URSSAF compliance.
Tax and financial optimisation: Every business expense is an opportunity to reduce your tax burden. Mastering deductibility rules, recovering VAT in full and analysing cost centres are essential to improving profitability. Automated management ensures no legal opportunity is ever missed.
CSR commitment and non-financial reporting: Performance is no longer measured in euros alone. The automatic calculation of the carbon footprint for every trip, meal or hotel stay transforms the expense report into a steering tool for your sustainability strategy, a major asset for your employer brand and your compliance with the CSRD directive.

Part 1: Tax Rules — What Businesses Need to Know to Keep Their Expenses Compliant

The legislation governing expense reports is a complex and shifting landscape. Today, the French tax authority and URSSAF have tightened their requirements for the justification of professional expenses. For an expense report to qualify as a tax-deductible charge and for the associated VAT to be recoverable, three fundamental conditions must be met: the expense must have been incurred in the direct interest of the business, it must be duly supported by a valid invoice or receipt, and it must not be excessive.^[1] The 2023 reform placed particular emphasis on a clear distinction between strictly business expenses and those that could be reclassified as benefits in kind. This primarily concerns the most common categories: mileage reimbursement, meal expenses and accommodation costs.

<h3>Receipt formalities: the key to deductibility</h3>
<div class="blog_row">
  <p class="blog_text w100">Tax obligations demand absolute rigour in the collection and presentation of supporting documents. Each receipt must include mandatory details to be valid: the supplier's name, the date of the expense, a precise description of the goods or services (e.g. "Business meal" rather than simply "Restaurant"), the net amount excluding VAT, the VAT rate and amount, and the gross amount including VAT. For business meals, the names of guests and their companies must also be recorded. Omitting any of these details can lead to the deduction being rejected during a <strong>URSSAF audit</strong>.<sup>[2]</sup> If the documentation is deficient, the tax authority can not only disallow the expense but also reclassify it as a <strong>benefit in kind</strong>, triggering additional social security contributions for the company and income tax liability for the employee. This represents a significant financial and legal risk. This is precisely where solutions like <strong>Greenway</strong> become indispensable: using OCR technology (Optical Character Recognition), the app scans the receipt, automatically extracts all relevant data and pre-fills the required fields, reducing the risk of human error to virtually zero.</p>
</div>

<h3>The main expense categories and their limits</h3>
<div class="blog_row">
  <p class="blog_text w100">To navigate <strong>expense report regulations</strong> with confidence, it is essential to understand the specifics of each expenditure category:</p>
  <ul>
    <li><strong>Mileage expenses:</strong> Reimbursement for business travel using a personal vehicle is governed by the <strong>official mileage reimbursement scale</strong> published annually by the tax authority. This scale takes into account the vehicle's engine rating and the number of kilometres driven. Any reimbursement above this scale is subject to social security contributions. An expense management solution like <strong>Greenway</strong> automatically incorporates the current scale and calculates allowances based on the journeys entered (via Google Maps integration, for example), ensuring full compliance.</li>
    <li><strong>Meal expenses:</strong> Meal costs are deductible when incurred in the context of a business trip that prevents the employee from returning home or to their usual workplace. The meal allowance exemption threshold is set at €20.70.<sup>[3]</sup> Beyond this amount, the expense must be justified in detail. For business meals with clients or partners, the "non-excessive" nature is assessed on a case-by-case basis by the tax authority.</li>
    <li><strong>Accommodation expenses:</strong> When travelling more than 50 km from home, hotel costs are fully deductible, provided they are not deemed "lavish". A detailed invoice is mandatory.</li>
  </ul>
</div>

Part 2: Digitalisation and Automation — The Revolution in Professional Expense Management

The paperless expense report is undoubtedly the greatest advance of recent years. Modern digital solutions, embodied by the Greenway mobile app, radically transform what was once a cumbersome and frustrating process. The principle is simple yet powerful: as soon as an expense is incurred, the employee photographs the receipt. OCR technology analyses the image and extracts the data (amount, VAT, supplier, date), then artificial intelligence automatically categorises the expense (transport, restaurant, hotel, etc.). The expense report is created in seconds and is ready to be submitted for approval. This real-time process eliminates forgotten receipts, lost tickets and lengthy data-entry sessions at the end of the month. The manager receives a notification and can approve the expense with a single click, verifying its compliance with the company's expense policy, which is built directly into the tool.

<h3>Legally compliant archiving: legal certainty and space savings</h3>
<div class="blog_row">
  <p class="blog_text w100">A longstanding obstacle to going paperless was the legal standing of digital receipts. Since the decree of 23 May 2023, which reinforced the order of 22 March 2017, all uncertainty has been removed: a <strong>digital receipt</strong> is legally equivalent to its paper original, provided it complies with strict standards for scanning and storage.<sup>[4]</sup> This process, known as <strong>legally compliant archiving</strong>, guarantees the integrity and authenticity of the digital document, along with its durability. Solutions like the <strong>Greenway</strong> portal include a <strong>certified digital vault</strong> that stores receipts securely for the legally required 10-year retention period. Businesses can therefore dispose of their bulky paper archives with complete peace of mind, freeing up physical space and simplifying access to documents during audits. This provides unprecedented traceability and dramatically simplifies the audit process.</p>
</div>

<h3>Measurable productivity gains at every level</h3>
<div class="blog_row">
  <p class="blog_text w100">The time and cost savings generated by automation are significant and impact the entire organisation:
    <ul>
        <li><strong>For employees:</strong> No more end-of-month admin chores. Submitting an expense report takes less than a minute. Reimbursements are faster, improving employee satisfaction and wellbeing.</li>
        <li><strong>For managers:</strong> The approval workflow is streamlined. They have a clear view of their team's expenses and can approve on the go, without holding up the process.</li>
        <li><strong>For finance and accounting teams:</strong> This is a genuine revolution. Manual data entry, a source of errors and wasted time, is eliminated. Data is reliable and structured, and it feeds automatically into the accounting software (Sage, Cegid, SAP, etc.). Companies equipped with a dedicated <strong>expense management solution</strong> typically save 30 to 40 hours per month and reduce data-entry errors by as much as 75%.<sup>[5]</sup></li>
    </ul>
</p>
</div>

Part 3: Tax Deductions and CSR — A Strategic Alliance for Sustainable Performance

Today, business performance is no longer defined solely by financial results. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a strategic pillar, shaping a company's reputation, employer brand and even its access to financing. Expense report management, which captures a significant share of operational activities (travel, purchases, etc.), is an ideal entry point for embedding and measuring this commitment in concrete terms. Businesses can now map their expenditure according to its environmental and social impact. This data is crucial for sustainability reporting, which becomes mandatory from 2025 for companies with more than 250 employees under the new European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).^[6] Failing to prepare for this deadline carries a real risk of non-compliance.

In practice, how does this work? The Greenway app, true to its name, goes beyond simple financial management. It natively integrates a carbon footprint calculator based on ADEME data.^[7] For every transport expense entered (flight, train, car, etc.), an accurate CO₂ emissions estimate is automatically generated. The tool can compare the environmental impact of a train journey versus a flight and suggest greener alternatives. This functionality enables businesses to:

Raise awareness among employees about the impact of their travel choices.
Steer the company's travel policy by setting emissions reduction targets.
Highlight those efforts in non-financial reporting and external communications.

Some forward-thinking companies are even using this data to introduce internal green bonus schemes, rewarding employees who opt for the least polluting modes of transport. A fiscally neutral strategy, yet one that is highly valued socially and environmentally.

An employee emits up to ten times less CO₂ by taking the train rather than flying on a Paris–Marseille route, ADEME Base Carbone.^[7] Making this information visible at the point of expense changes behaviour.

Part 4: Corporate Payment Cards — Simplifying Expenses, Strengthening Control

One of the defining trends reshaping expense management is the widespread adoption of corporate payment cards. Far from being simple bank cards, modern solutions like those offered by Greenway are genuine management tools. They put an end to the outdated system of personal expense advances by employees, a source of stress and complexity for both the individual and the company's cash flow. These cards are highly customisable and configurable: fuel cards (restricted to petrol stations), mobility cards (for the sustainable mobility allowance), electronic toll cards, or lodge cards for corporate travel agencies. Each card can be linked to an individual employee, a department or a project, with spending limits and authorisations adjustable in real time from a central dashboard.

<h3>The multiple advantages of an integrated payment solution</h3>
<div class="blog_row">
  <p class="blog_text w100">Integrating a fleet of corporate cards into your expense management ecosystem delivers concrete, immediate benefits:
    <ul>
        <li><strong>Control and security:</strong> Spending limits (daily, weekly, per transaction) and restrictions by merchant category code (MCC) prevent non-compliant or fraudulent expenses. In the event of loss or theft, a card can be deactivated instantly from the app.</li>
        <li><strong>No more advances or reimbursements:</strong> Employees no longer need to use their personal funds. Company cash flow is better managed, and the often lengthy and cumbersome reimbursement process is simply eliminated.</li>
        <li><strong>Accounting automation:</strong> This is the primary advantage. Every transaction made with a <strong>Greenway</strong> card is instantly synchronised with the platform. The employee receives a notification to attach the receipt. Once the receipt is scanned, the transaction and supporting document are automatically reconciled. The accounting entry is pre-generated with the correct cost allocation and VAT rate, ready for export to your ERP. Manual bank reconciliation becomes a thing of the past.</li>
        <li><strong>Real-time visibility:</strong> The CFO or head of accounting has access to a dashboard tracking expenditure live, enabling far more agile and proactive budget management.</li>
    </ul>
    For businesses most committed to CSR, these cards are also an effective way to limit unsustainable spending, for example by blocking transactions with certain suppliers or for types of services that are not aligned with company policy.</p>
</div>

Part 5: Building an Internal Expense Policy — Consistent, Clear and Transparent

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    <text x="210" y="335" text-anchor="middle" fill="#999" font-size="9">Configured once in the tool, enforced automatically</text>

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    <text x="377" y="100" text-anchor="middle" fill="#333" font-size="9" font-weight="600">Enforced</text>
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  </svg>
  <p class="blog_text w50">A tool only delivers its full potential when it is built on clear rules. Formalising and communicating a <strong>professional expense policy</strong> is the foundation of sound, compliant management. This internal document is not merely a constraint; it is a guide that protects the business from a tax perspective while making employees' lives easier by giving them a clear frame of reference. The most effective policies are those integrated directly into the management tool. The <strong>Greenway</strong> platform allows you to configure all of these rules:
    <ul>
        <li>Which types of expenses are permitted and which are not.</li>
        <li>Spending limits by category, role or assignment.</li>
        <li>The receipts required for each type of expense.</li>
        <li>Approval workflows based on amounts or departments.</li>
        <li>Specific rules tied to the travel policy (transport class, hotel category, etc.).</li>
    </ul>
</p>
</div>
<div class="blog_row">
  <p class="blog_text w100">The benefits are twofold. On one hand, employees have instant visibility into what is and is not permitted. The app alerts them in real time to any overspend or non-compliance, preventing errors, frustrating back-and-forth exchanges and potential disputes. On the other hand, HR and finance departments gain transparency, consistency of treatment across employees and systematic adherence to the rules. The tool becomes an impartial guarantor of policy, relieving managers of a sometimes delicate monitoring role. To go further, e-learning modules on best practices and company policy can even be offered natively within the <strong>Greenway</strong> solution, ensuring ongoing training and full team buy-in.</p>
</div>

Conclusion: Turning Expense Reports from a Cost Centre into a Value Centre

Mastering expense report management is a company-wide initiative that goes far beyond simple bookkeeping. It is a strategic approach built on the synergy between a thorough understanding of tax regulations, the adoption of modern, high-performing digital tools, and the proactive integration of CSR objectives. The era of Excel spreadsheets and paper receipts is definitively over, giving way to integrated solutions that combine control and efficiency with intelligence. Greenway positions itself as a key partner in this transition, offering a unified platform that combines ease of use for employees, fiscal efficiency for finance teams, and concrete measurement of environmental impact for strategists. From the smart corporate card to the mobile expense app, through legally compliant archiving and integrated carbon analysis, everything is designed to transform what was once seen as an administrative burden into a powerful lever for financial performance, legal compliance and sustainability. It is an essential strategic step for any modern, responsible business.

All your questions about expense report management:

<div class="blog_faq_row">
  <h3 class="blog_faq_question">Are paper receipts still required?</h3>
  <p class="blog_faq_answer">No, not necessarily. Since the order of 22 March 2017 and the decree of 23 May 2023, <strong>digital receipts</strong> carry the same legal weight as paper originals, provided the scanning process guarantees their integrity and reliability.<sup>[4]</sup> A solution like <strong>Greenway</strong> scans the document, certifies it with an electronic signature and a tamper-proof fingerprint, then archives it in a secure <strong>digital vault</strong> for the legally required 10-year retention period. You can therefore discard your paper receipts with complete peace of mind.</p>
</div>

<div class="blog_faq_row">
  <h3 class="blog_faq_question">What are the main deductible business expenses?</h3>
  <p class="blog_faq_answer">Expenses incurred in the interest of the business are generally deductible. The most common include: <strong>travel expenses</strong> (train/flight tickets, mileage reimbursement based on the official scale), <strong>accommodation costs</strong> during business trips, <strong>meal expenses</strong> (solo meals while travelling or business meals with clients), toll and parking fees, and certain entertainment costs. The <strong>Greenway</strong> platform guides you expense by expense, applying the rules and limits from your internal policy to ensure tax compliance.</p>
</div>

<div class="blog_faq_row">
    <h3 class="blog_faq_question">How do I handle VAT on expense reports?</h3>
    <p class="blog_faq_answer">Recovering <strong>VAT on expense reports</strong> is a significant financial issue. It is only possible if the expense is deductible and if the VAT is clearly stated on a properly formatted receipt. Note that VAT cannot be recovered on all expenses (for example, it is generally not recoverable on hotel accommodation or car hire). An <strong>expense management solution</strong> like Greenway automates the detection of the VAT amount on receipts using OCR and generates the corresponding accounting entries, maximising the amount of VAT recovered with no manual effort.</p>
</div>

<div class="blog_faq_row">
  <h3 class="blog_faq_question">Can I really track the carbon footprint of every business trip?</h3>
  <p class="blog_faq_answer">Yes, absolutely. This is one of the major innovations in modern platforms. The <strong>Greenway</strong> app integrates a <strong>CO₂ calculator</strong> based on reference databases (such as ADEME's Base Carbone).<sup>[7]</sup> When you enter a journey by car, train or plane, the tool automatically calculates the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. This data is then aggregated into dashboards for a comprehensive overview, which is essential for your <strong>carbon audit</strong> and CSR reporting.</p>
</div>

<div class="blog_faq_row">
  <h3 class="blog_faq_question">What are the concrete advantages of Greenway corporate cards over a standard bank card?</h3>
  <p class="blog_faq_answer"><strong>Greenway corporate cards</strong> offer a far superior level of control and automation. You can set spending limits and restrictions per card in real time, prevent misuse, and above all eliminate manual data entry. Every payment is automatically synchronised with the platform, triggering a receipt request to the employee. This reduces the administrative burden, secures expenditure, enables dynamic limit adjustments, and integrates directly into your existing accounting chain for automatic reconciliation.</p>
</div>

<div class="blog_faq_row">
  <h3 class="blog_faq_question">Is Greenway compatible with my current accounting software?</h3>
  <p class="blog_faq_answer">Yes, compatibility is a priority. <strong>Greenway</strong> is designed to integrate directly with the vast majority of accounting software and ERP systems on the market. We offer native connectors or customisable exports for leading tools including <strong>Sage, Pennylane, QuickBooks, Cegid, Sellsy, Oracle, SAP</strong>, and many others. The goal is to ensure that validated, enriched expense data flows into your accounting system without any manual re-entry.</p>
</div>

References

BOFiP, BOI-BIC-CHG-40, Charges deductibles : frais généraux, Direction Générale des Finances Publiques.
URSSAF, Frais professionnels : conditions de déduction et de justification, urssaf.fr.
URSSAF, Barème des frais professionnels 2026, Indemnités de repas, Journal Officiel.
Legifrance, Décret n° 2023-... du 23 mai 2023 relatif à la dématérialisation des justificatifs de frais.
Observatory of Finance & Accounting, Digitalisation des notes de frais : impact sur la productivité des équipes financières, 2025.
Directive (UE) 2022/2464 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 14 décembre 2022 (CSRD).
ADEME, Base Carbone, facteurs d'émission, bilans-ges.ademe.fr.

Also read: CSRD and carbon accounting: a guide for mid-sized companies in France

Go further

Alexandre Smadja

General Manager, Greenway

All articles → LinkedIn profile →

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