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Set up Expense Agent

Expense Agent helps automate expense tracking, processing, and approval workflows in Business Central. After you set it up, employees can submit expenses through email or the Expense Agent web app, and the agent creates expense reports and applies configured rules automatically.

Choose your setup path

You can configure Expense Agent in two ways:

  • Assisted setup (recommended): Use Configure Expense Agent for guided onboarding, quick activation, and built-in validation checks as described in this article.
  • Manual setup (advanced): Use the Expense Agent Setup page to configure settings directly and manage detailed options after initial setup. Learn more in Access expense management setup.

For most organizations, assisted setup is the best way to get started quickly.

Note

Assisted setup is the best way to start quickly, but in a case you have complex policies, we recommend review all setup areas later to eventually adjust your setup to achieve maximum of the agent capabilities.

Prerequisites

Before you set up the Expense Agent, make sure the following prerequisites are met:

  • The Business Central environment is a US version

    The agent is currently only available when the environment is in the US. Learn more in Copilot country/region availability and supported languages.

  • The Anthropic model is enabled as a subprocessor in the Microsoft 365 admin center for Microsoft Online Services.

    Learn more in Anthropic as a subprocessor for Microsoft Online Services.

  • Your Business Central account has the AGENT ADMIN and EXPENSE MGMT. ADMIN permission sets or equivalent permissions.

  • A shared mailbox is available for receiving expense submissions from employees and for communication with users sending different information reports back.

    The mailbox must be a Microsoft 365 user mailbox or shared mailbox in your organization. Learn more in Set up email.

    Important

    You need Read and manage (Full Access) permission on the shared mailbox. Learn more in Use the Exchange admin center to edit shared mailbox delegation.

  • Number series, payment methods, and posting groups for expenses are configured (optional).

    You can choose to use default values during setup, and it creates these entities for you.

  • Billing for agent capabilities is set up in Business Central admin center.

    Expense Agent uses Microsoft Copilot Studio messages when activated, which your company is charged for. Learn more in Manage consumption-based billing.

  • The Expense Agent capability is enabled on the Copilot & Agent Capabilities page.

    The capability is enabled if the Shows the Expense Agent icon when it's not configured Expense Agent icon appears in the upper-right corner of the role center.
    Learn more in Configure Copilot and agent capabilities.

Configure Expense Agent

Use the Configure Expense Agent page to configure and activate the agent. The page guides you through agent setup. You configure submission channels, access controls, defaults, and policies, then activate the agent to handle registration.

  1. In the upper-right corner of the role center, select the Shows the Expense Agent icon in the role center when the agent is not configured Expense Agent icon, and then select Activate.
  2. Follow the instructions onscreen to configure how the agent behaves.
  3. The configuration options are spread across multiple pages. Use the Go to next card and Go to previous card arrows to move between pages.
  4. When you finish configuring the options, turn on the Active toggle to activate the agent.
    If you don't want to activate the agent yet, leave the toggle off. You can return to the page to activate the agent later.
  5. Select Update.

After configuration, the Expense Agent icon indicates the agent’s status:

  • Shows the Expense Agent icon when the agent is configured and activated indicates the agent is ready to process expense submissions.
  • Shows the Expense Agent icon when the agent is configured but not activated indicates the agent is configured but not currently active.

What the configuration page does

The Configure Expense Agent assisted setup guides you through the choices required to prepare the Expense Agent for use in your Business Central environment.

The assisted setup configures the following areas:

  • Access and submission: Configure receipt submission channels, mailbox account, and who can configure the agent or work on behalf of users.

Note

Enable access via web app must be turned on to use Expense Agent capabilities. Enable sending email with receipts is optional and should be enabled if you use a dedicated mailbox for forwarding receipt emails. If this option is selected, you must specify the associated account in the next step.

  • Accounting defaults: Apply number series, payment methods, posting groups, and expense categories. Some options become locked after defaults are applied.
  • Management defaults: Apply default expense locations and management rules. Rule defaults depend on locations.

Note

Select links for suggested default account and management settings to review the recommended configuration. It provides guidance on what setup can be completed automatically and what may require manual adjustment after the configuration is finished.

  • Rules and controls: Configure policy enforcement such as required receipt number, required merchant name, and anti-corruption attestation visibility.
  • Communication: Configure open-report reminder behavior and notification frequency.
  • Mileage and per diem: Configure mileage rate/UOM and per diem calculation options, including partial-day settings.

When you activate the agent, Business Central verifies that all required conditions are met, such as enabled capabilities, correct permissions, and a valid mailbox for email-based expense submission. If any required conditions aren’t met, the assisted setup prompts you to address them before activation completes.

If you deactivate the agent later, Business Central stops processing incoming expenses and disables background processing. Your configuration settings are retained so that you can reactivate the agent without reconfiguring it.

For complete field-by-field reference and advanced options on the Expense Agent Setup page, go to Set up expense management.

After you finish setup

After the Expense Agent is active:

  • The agent starts monitoring the configured mailbox for incoming expense submissions.
  • Expenses submitted by email or through the Expense Agent web app are processed based on your configuration.
  • Expense reports are created automatically and routed according to your rules.
  • Reminder notifications are sent based on your notification settings, if enabled.
  • Managers and approvers can review and approve expense reports in Business Central and the Expense Agent web app.

You can return to the Configure Expense Agent page at any time to update settings, apply other defaults, or deactivate and reactivate the agent.

After initial setup: Manage access and settings

The following sections cover tasks you typically do after completing the assisted setup, such as adjusting user permissions or changing language settings.

Manage agent permissions and user access

Add agent users

As an administrator, you can specify which users have permission to use or configure the agent. There are two ways to add and configure agent users:

  1. Select Shows the Expense Agent icon after configured Expense Agent > Shows the configuration icon for Payables Agent Configure.

  2. Turn off the Active toggle.

  3. Select Manage user access.

  4. On the Select users that can manage or interact with the Agent page, you can do the following steps:

    • To add a user, select an empty line, select the User Name field, then select the user from the list.
    • To give a user permission to configure Expense Agent, select the Can configure check box.

      The Can configure setting defines whether a user has access to update the agent configuration (for example, updating the designated mailbox, activating and deactivating the agent, and other settings) or only to work with the agent tasks (for example, reviewing and confirming agent steps).
    • To remove a user's access to the agent, select Shows the icon to show more option on a field Show more options next to the user name, and then select Delete.

Manage agent's permissions to objects, data, and UI elements

Expense Agent has a user account in Business Central, similar to other users. To edit this account, search for and open the Agents page, and then select EXPENSE AGENT to open the agent card page.

The Agent Permission Sets section lists all the permission sets currently assigned to the agent. By default, the Expense Agent has the EXPENSE AGENT permission set. This set restricts access to only the objects, data, and UI elements (such as pages, fields, and actions) necessary for processing employee expenses.

You can't modify the EXPENSE AGENT permission set directly, because it's a system permissions set. However, you can create a copy, modify the copy to suit your needs, then add it to the Agent Permission Sets section, along with any other permission sets.

Before you can add or delete permission sets applied to the agent, change the State to Disabled. When you're done making changes, set it back to Enabled.

Change agent language, regional, and other settings

Expense Agent is validated and supported in English (EN-US) only. While it can be used in other languages, it might not function as intended. Language quality might vary based on the user's interaction or system settings, which might impact accuracy and the user experience. Learn more in Copilot country/region availability and supported languages.

  1. Search (Alt+Q) for Agents, and then select EXPENSE AGENT.

  2. Select Agent User Settings and set the following fields:

    Field Description
    Profile Specifies the role that defines the agent's home page with links to the most common tasks.
    Region Specifies the regional format used by the agent for dates, times, and numbers in outgoing emails and task details.
    Language Specifies the language the agent uses for generated text in:
    • Outgoing email messages to employees. If an employee card has a language specified, the agent uses that language instead of the default.
    • Task details and descriptions in the agent Tasks page and log.
    Time zone Specifies the time zone used by the agent when displaying and processing date and time in tasks details.

Troubleshooting

For setup, processing, and user issues, go to Troubleshoot common issues in Expense Agent.

Next steps

Set up email
Use the Exchange admin center to edit shared mailbox delegation
Configure Copilot and agent capabilities
Assign permissions to users and groups
Troubleshoot common issues in Expense Agent

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