The expense owner is the user an expense belongs to. They may pay for something without taking part, such as a gift or a taxi for a colleague.

The "Enable removing the expense owner from attendees" setting lets you choose whether the owner can be removed from the attendee list.

Removing the expense owner updates the number of attendees and the amount per attendee. The total expense amount and reimbursement amount remain unchanged.

💡 This setting applies company-wide wherever the Attendees field is enabled. It cannot be configured separately by category or role.

Enable or disable the setting

Before changing this setting, we recommend reading the section on existing expenses below and inform users, approvers, controllers and finance first, especially if expenses are awaiting review.

1. Go to Settings > Advanced settings > Expense settings > Attendees.
2. Scroll down to > Enable removing the expense owner from attendees.

3. Select the checkbox to enable, or clear it to disable the setting.

   

4. If you disable the setting, acknowledge the warning that appears. Acknowledging the warning does not save your change.                  

   

5. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

How the setting affects attendees

When the setting is enabled. 

• The expense owner is included as an attendee by default.
• They can be the only attendee.
• The owner can be removed from the attendee list and added back later.

When the setting is disabled. 

• New expenses have no attendees by default.
• When another attendee is added, the owner is included automatically.
• Removing all other attendees also removes the owner.
• The owner cannot be added as the only attendee.

Who can remove or re-add the expense owner?

When the setting is enabled, anyone with permission to edit the expense can remove the owner from the attendee list or add them back:

• Users: on their own expenses before submission.
• Approvers and controllers: on expenses they review.
• Finance: before the expense is reported.

Turning this setting on does not give anyone additional edit permissions. These permissions are managed in Admin settings > Roles. See Types of roles in Rydoo.

💡 If the trash icon is missing next to the owner’s name, check that the setting and the Attendees field are 💡enabled, and that the person can edit the expense at its current stage.

Attendee requirements

If the category requires attendees, the expense must have at least one attendee before submission:

• Setting enabled: the owner alone meets this requirement. If the owner is removed, add at least one other attendee.
• Setting disabled: add at least one attendee other than the owner. The owner is then included automatically.

If the category does not require attendees, an expense with no attendees can still be submitted, approved and reimbursed, provided it meets all other validation requirements.

Attendee calculations and expense rules

The owner counts towards the attendee total when included in the attendee list. The expense amount is divided by the number of attendees. Removing or adding the owner updates both values.

Removing the owner updates the attendee count and amount per attendee. Adding them back updates both values again.

Example with the setting enabled and an expense total of 200 EUR:

When the setting is disabled, an expense of € 200 with the owner and one colleague also has 2 attendees and an amount per attendee of € 100.

Expense rules

when there are no attendees, amount-per-attendee rules use the full expense amount. With the setting enabled, this applies even though the expense displays an amount per attendee of 0. See Create an expense rule.

Exports and reports

The exported attendee count includes the owner when the owner is included as an attendee. The exported amount per attendee is calculated using this count.

When an expense has no attendees, the exported values depend on the setting:

The owner is never listed in the Internal attendees export column or the attendee list in XML snapshots, even when included as an attendee on the expense. The owner’s name and email are available in separate fields. "UserEmail" contains the owner’s email address.

"OwnerExcluded" indicates whether the owner has been removed from the attendee list:

• True: the owner has been removed from the attendee list.
• False: the owner has not been removed from the attendee list. This is the default value.

It is available in custom exports whether the setting is on or off. Add it to your export template if needed.

If your reporting or integration uses attendee counts or amounts, check how it handles excluding owners, zero values and blank values. 

These fields are available in custom exports, standard exports/reports, XML snapshots, SFTP XML exports and the public API. The existing attendee-list structure is unchanged.

💡 Expenses already in their final stage keep the values stored in their export snapshots.

What happens to existing expenses when you change the setting?

Changing the setting affects existing expenses that have not reached their final stage. Expenses that have already reached their final stage, and their export snapshots, remain unchanged.

When you enable the setting

The owner is included as an attendee on open expenses. 

• On expenses with no attendees, the owner becomes the only attendee. 
• On expenses with other attendees, the owner is counted alongside them. 

Anyone with permission to edit the expense can then remove the owner.

When you disable the setting

On open expenses, the owner can no longer be removed separately and is included only when at least one other attendee is present.

💡 Expenses where the owner was previously removed from the attendee list must be saved or submitted before they can be approved, controlled or reported. Turning off the setting or simply opening an expense does not apply this update.

Update affected expenses after disabling the setting

• If you can edit the expense: click Save or Submit to apply the new setting before approving, controlling or reporting the expense.
• If you cannot edit the expense: reject it or send it back so the owner can save or resubmit it. You cannot approve, control or report it until this update has been applied.
• For bulk actions: affected expenses are skipped when you bulk approve, control or report, regardless of edit permissions. An error identifies the affected expenses. Save or Submit each expense individually, then retry the bulk action.