Site purchases and reimbursements

Site expenses, approved on the phone and paid back properly.

Unibuild’s expense management lets site workers ask for small purchases in the staff app, get approval from the office and claim the cost back with a photograph of the receipt. It runs beside the standard purchase order workflow, under a spending limit the firm sets.

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A site worker in a hard hat at a trade counter, checking a list beside the till

One small purchase

A tube of sealant, a limit of £100 and a claim the office could check.

An example from one job. The amounts are illustrative; the steps are the ones Unibuild runs.

Requested: An electrician on a fit-out needs fire-rated sealant and fixings that are not in the van. They raise a purchase request in the staff app against the job, for about £40.
Approved: The office admin gets a push notification and approves the request from the phone. The electrician is notified and goes to the merchant.
Bought: £38.40 at the counter, paid on the electrician’s own card. Well inside the firm’s £100 limit for site purchases.
Claimed: The receipt is photographed in the app and the reimbursement claim is raised from the approved request, with the payment method recorded as own card.
Processed: The office checks the receipt against the request and processes the claim. The electrician is notified, and the £38.40 counts as cost on the job.

Example month of site purchases, reported by payment method (illustrative figures)
Payment method	Claims	Total
Company card	23	£1,146.20
Worker’s own card	14	£612.75
Cash	6	£94.10
Credit account with the supplier	9	£703.60
All methods	52	£2,556.65

The rule Asked first, receipt on every claim Under the firm’s own limit

Problems we solve

Seven small-purchase problems. All seven solved.

From the van waiting at the counter to the fixings that never reached the job’s cost.

The van waits at the counter while somebody rings the office.

Solved A purchase request from the phone, approved from a push notification.

Receipts lost in the van, the wallet and the glovebox.

Solved The receipt is photographed at the counter and becomes the claim.

Bought first, asked about afterwards.

Solved Every claim follows an approved request, so the office says yes before the money goes.

A small purchase turns into a large one on somebody’s own card.

Solved A spending limit set by the firm, and nothing above it can be claimed.

The operative is still waiting to be paid back.

Solved Every claim in one office queue, and the worker notified when it is processed.

Card, cash or account? Nobody recorded how it was paid.

Solved The payment method on every claim, and reports by each one.

Small purchases never reach the job’s cost.

Solved Approved claims land on the job, with the receipt behind them.

7/7Solved in one module

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What it does

Expense management for site teams, from request to claim.

Purchase
request

The site worker asks for what the job needs in the staff app, against the job, before buying anything.

Raised from the phone
Against the job
What it is and its cost
Sent to the office at once

Asked before it is boughtLive

Approval
on the phone

The office admin gets a push notification and approves or declines, wherever they are.

Push notification
Approve from the phone
Worker told straight away
Nobody waiting at a counter

Yes in minutesLive

Receipt
photographed

After buying, the worker photographs the receipt and the reimbursement claim is raised from the approved request.

Photographed at the counter
Linked to the request
Payment method recorded
No envelopes at month end

The receipt is the claimLive

Spending
limit

The firm sets a cap on what a site worker can buy themselves, and nothing above it can be claimed.

Set by the firm
For example £100
Nothing above it claimed
Larger spend on an order

Small stays smallLive

One queue
for the office

Every purchase request and reimbursement claim in one place, each with its job and its receipt, ready to process.

Every request and claim
Receipt on each
Processed from one place
Workers notified

Nothing in an inboxLive

Reports by
payment method

Spending reported by how it was paid, so each card, the cash and every supplier account can be reconciled.

Company card
Worker’s own card
Cash
Supplier credit account

Every method reconciledLive

The process

How site purchases and reimbursements work.

Six stages from the request on site to the reconciled card statement. Free to use in your own expenses policy.

Flow diagram of the six stages of a site purchase and reimbursement: raise a purchase request, the office approves against the spending limit, buy it on a company card, own card, cash or credit account, photograph the receipt, check and pay back, then cost and reconcile by payment method — How site purchases and reimbursements work: ask first, keep the receipt, and stay under the firm's limit.Free to use, copy, change and share, with no conditions. Download the PNG

Two ways to buy

Purchase orders for the job.
Site purchases for the day.

Most buying in Unibuild runs through purchase orders. Site purchases and reimbursements are an additional route, switched on for firms whose teams need small items on the day.

Purchase orders: Materials, hire, subcontract and anything ordered from a supplier. Numbered, approved and matched to the goods received and the invoice. See purchase orders.
Site purchases: Consumables, fixings and small items a job needs today, bought by the site worker after approval and claimed back with the receipt.
Where the line sits: At the spending limit the firm sets. Anything above it goes on a purchase order.
Your app: Requests and claims are made in your own branded staff app, published on the App Store and Google Play under your company’s name and icon.

A site manager in a hard hat working on a laptop at a table on a building site

Envelope against app

Site expenses, handled two ways.

Site purchases and reimbursements: phone calls and paper receipts compared with Unibuild
The question	Phone calls and paper receipts	Unibuild
Asking	A call to somebody who is driving	A purchase request in the staff app
Approval	A yes nobody wrote down	Approved from a push notification, on record
The receipt	In an envelope at month end, if at all	Photographed at the counter
The limit	Whatever the worker thinks is reasonable	A cap the firm sets, enforced on every claim
How it was paid	Unknown until the statement arrives	Recorded on every claim and reported by method
Paying the worker back	When somebody gets round to it	Processed from one queue, with the worker notified
The job’s cost	Left in overheads	On the job, with the receipt behind it

Built around your firm

Your limits, your approvers, your payment methods.

Site purchases are set up the way your firm already buys, and any change you ask for is built for you. Changes after go-live are included in the monthly fee. That is how bespoke software works here.

Who can buy: Switched on for the people and teams who need it, and left off for everyone else.
Who approves: The office admin, a manager, or whoever your firm names for each team.
The limit: One cap for the firm, set at whatever suits the work, with anything above it sent to a purchase order.
Into the accounts: Unibuild syncs with QuickBooks, Xero and Sage 50, and exports to CSV, XML and JSON for payroll or anything else.

Questions

Asked by office managers
and finance teams.

Can site workers request a small purchase from their phone?

Yes. The site worker raises a purchase request in the staff app, against the job, saying what is needed and roughly what it costs. The office admin is notified straight away and approves it from the phone, and the worker is told at once.

How does a site worker claim back what they spent?

With a photograph of the receipt. After buying, the worker photographs the receipt in the app and the reimbursement claim is raised from the approved request. The office processes it from one queue, and the worker is notified.

Can we set a spending limit for site purchases?

Yes. The firm sets a cap on what a site worker can buy themselves, for example £100. Nothing above the cap can be claimed as a reimbursement, so larger spend goes through a purchase order instead.

Which payment methods can be recorded?

Company card, the worker’s own card, cash, and a credit account with the supplier. The method is recorded on every claim, and reports group spending by method so each one can be reconciled.

How are cash and petty cash purchases handled?

The same way as card purchases. The worker asks first, buys, photographs the receipt and records the payment method as cash. Cash spending is reported on its own, so the office can see exactly where petty cash went.

Do office staff and site workers get notifications?

Yes. Push notifications in the app tell the office when a request or claim arrives, and tell the worker when it is approved or processed. Both sides can act straight away rather than waiting for a phone call.

Does the spend show against the job?

Yes. Every request is raised against a job, so the approved claim counts as cost on that job, with the receipt behind it. It shows in cost control and job profitability.

Is this how Unibuild handles purchase orders?

No. Unibuild has a standard purchase order workflow for materials, hire and supplier orders. Site purchases and reimbursements are an additional route for small items bought on the day, switched on for the firms that need it.

Does Unibuild read receipts automatically?

Yes. A receipt photographed in the app or forwarded by email is read by Unibuild’s AI. It picks out the supplier, date, amount, VAT and category, so nothing is typed. Claims are checked against your expense policy and anything unusual is flagged to the approver.

Can staff claim mileage?

Yes. Mileage claims are recorded in the app at the rate your firm sets, with the CO2 for each journey worked out alongside.

Can staff claim travel, hotels, meals and parking?

Yes. Out-of-pocket claims for travel, hotels, meals, parking and project costs are made in the app, with the receipt photographed. Each claim is checked against your expense policy and follows the approval route your rules set.

Can expense policies differ by team?

Yes. Limits and rules are set by category, amount and team. A claim outside them is flagged to the approver before it is paid.

When are staff paid back?

When your firm chooses: automatically once a claim is approved, or in the next payment run. Claimed amounts, VAT and coding carry through to your accounts package, and every claim and payment is on the audit trail.

Can staff claim in other currencies?

Yes. Claims in other currencies are converted, with the exchange rate kept on the claim.

Does it work with our accounts package?

Yes. Unibuild syncs with QuickBooks, Xero and Sage 50, and any other accounts system is synced on request. Data also exports as CSV, XML and JSON, for payroll or anything else.

Can the approval steps be changed to suit us?

Yes. Who can buy, who approves, the limit and the payment methods are set to match your firm, and anything else you need is built for you. Changes after go-live are included in the monthly fee.

What expense management software suits UK trades and contractors?

Unibuild does. Site workers request small purchases in the staff app, the office approves them, and receipts are photographed and claimed back under a firm-set limit. Unibuild is bespoke business software for UK trades and specialist contractors, in daily production since 2016.

Is expense management an extra cost?

No. One monthly figure covers everything, including every module, unlimited users and the branded staff app. Site purchases and reimbursements are part of it.

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