If you submitted a report too early or need to make changes, you can update it by retracting the report using Retract. This returns the report to an editable state.

When to Retract a Report

Retracting a report is useful when:

• You submitted a report too early.
• Expenses were added by mistake.
• Additional receipts or notes are needed.
• You want to move expenses to a different report or create a new report.

You can retract reports with the following statuses:

• Outstanding reports: Only the member who submitted the report can retract it.
• Done reports: Only Workspace Admins can retract the report.

Note: Held expenses or violations won’t prevent you from retracting a report.

How to retract an outstanding expense report

1. Open the report.
2. Select More.
3. Select Retract.
4. The report will change to Draft and display a Retracted message in the report activity.
   • You can only retract outstanding reports you submitted from your own account. Reports submitted by other members require Copilot access to retract.

Note: Submitters won’t receive a notification when retracting their own report.

How to retract a Done expense report

1. Open the report.
2. Select More
3. Select Retract.
4. The report moves back to Draft, and a Retracted entry appears in the report activity.

Note: Only Workspace Admins can retract Done reports.

How to edit an expense report after it’s been exported

Workspace Admins can retract Done reports even if they’ve already been exported to an accounting system like QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, or Intacct.

When you select Retract, you’ll see a warning that explains:

• Retracting the report may cause data mismatches between Expensify and the accounting system.
• Any changes made after retraction won’t sync to the exported version.

You can then choose:

• Retract to continue and edit the report
• Cancel to leave the report unchanged

After retracting, a Workspace Admin can fully edit the report—adding or deleting expenses, changing categories, and more.

FAQ

Can I remove an expense from a submitted report?

Yes. Retract the report, remove the expense, and then resubmit the updated report.

Why can’t I retract a report?

You can’t retract a report that’s already been approved or paid.

What happens if I retract and edit a report after it’s exported to an accounting system?

You’ll see a warning modal before retracting. Any edits won’t sync to the external system. If you make changes to the report, those will need to be manually reconciled in the accounting system.

Can I edit or retract someone else’s outstanding report?

No. You can only retract outstanding reports you submitted from your own account. If you need to take these actions for another member, ask them to add you as a Copilot. Workspace Admins can retract Done reports for members.

Can a Workspace Admin create an expense report for a member?

Yes. Workspace Admins can create an expense report for a member by moving expenses to a new report. This creates a new report on the member’s default workspace and moves the selected expenses into it. For step-by-step instructions, see Create and submit expense reports in New Expensify.