Behind every client expense are three things an administrator sets up: the accounts that hold each person's money, the categories that classify spending, and the budgets that flag when an account runs hot. This is representative-payee ledgering — tracking money that belongs to the people you support — not employee reimbursement. Approving an entry posts it to a client's balance; it never pays anyone back.

Admins manage categories, budgets, and closing periods. Directors can set budgets and run exports.

Set up a client's accounts

Each client can have one or more accounts — one for each place their money lives:

Cash — petty cash on hand.
Checking — a bank account.
Card — a debit or gift card, such as a Walmart gift card.
Other — anything that doesn't fit the above.

Each account has a starting balance and, optionally, a monthly budget. As approved entries post, the balance moves to match.

Categories and receipt rules

Categories classify every entry — Food, Clothing, Transportation, Activities, Medical, Client Savings, Personal Care, Emergency, and Other. Open Categories from the Client Expenses header to manage them. Each category has:

A receipt threshold — the dollar amount above which a receipt is required. The default is $25. Activities, Medical, and Emergency default to $0, so they always require a receipt. Client Savings is $100.
An optional GL code, so expenses map cleanly into your accounting system.

Set the thresholds to match your compliance rules. Any entry at or above a category's threshold is blocked from submission until a receipt is attached.

Monthly budgets and Over-Budget

Give an account a monthly budget from Budgets in the header, and Enmantle tracks spending against it. On the Client Expenses landing page, the Over Budget stat card counts the accounts that have passed their limit.

Budgets don't block spending — they surface it, so you can follow up before a small overrun becomes a problem.

Close a month

At the end of a period, an Admin can close the month. Once it's closed:

No new entries can be recorded into that month.
Nobody can back-date an entry into it.

Closing locks the ledger so your records stay clean once you've reconciled. Entries are also retained for 7 years to meet DODD requirements.

Export for reporting and audits

Directors and Admins can export from Reports in the Client Expenses header. Use exports for monthly reconciliations, funder reporting, or a DODD audit — the same records, in a form you can hand off.

Keep the framing straight: this ledger records a client's own money being spent on their behalf. Approving an entry posts it to that person's balance — there is no reimbursement to staff. For the review side, see Reviewing and approving client expenses.