You can set up custom fields to collect additional information when booking a trip, submitting an expense, or processing an invoice for cost allocation. The information in this field can be used to track and classify costs or to trigger a specific approval flow.

Only account admins can create these custom fields. However, people can see them at the checkout, in the expense submission form, and in the invoice form. 

Depending on their role, they can add information to these fields. For example, employees can add information to a custom field at the checkout when booking a trip, and travel managers can edit it if needed. For expenses, submitters can select an option for the custom field, and financial reviewers can edit it if required.

When setting up a custom field for travel bookings, expenses, and invoices, you can choose the usage. For example, you may decide to add a custom field to the checkout to store travel preferences, explanations for selected fares, or special requests. In this case, you can set up the custom field exclusively for travel. This field won’t appear in any expenses that people may submit.

You can set up custom fields for use by everyone across all companies, or restrict them to specific companies. Only people from those companies see the custom field and can enter a value. You can choose whether the field is optional or mandatory.

Custom fields are displayed in alphabetical order in the checkout, for expenses, and invoices. Similarly, field options are sorted alphabetically. There’s no option to set the order manually.

Note: If you previously used labels, you can now use custom fields. For more information, see Migrating labels to custom fields.

Custom fields for cost allocation

You can use custom fields to mirror any additional financial dimensions you may have set up in your finance system to track cost assignment. 

For example, you may want employees to add a specific event name so you can track all expenses resulting from that event. In this case, you add a custom field for travel and expenses, and people can specify the event when they book, and add this information when they upload any associated expenses. This makes it easy for you to track all costs related to that event.

When setting up a custom field used for cost allocation, you can specify a unique ID to help identify the concept when exporting expenses or invoices to a third-party system. You can restrict the custom field to specific expense or invoice categories, and even associate it exclusively with specific cost objects, so you can gather additional information beyond what the cost object provides. 

For example, you may want to set up a cost object, Sales Enablement, but then create a custom field, Project, to further classify spend. This way, you can assign expenses to the Sales Enablement cost object while collecting granular information on which project the expense was incurred in for better reporting.

Note: The number of custom fields you can create depends on your plan. For more information, see Perk’s plan pricing page.

Response formats and options for custom fields

You can flexibly determine how people enter information in the custom field. Perk allows you to create three response types:

• Single-select: People can only select one option from a list. This format applies to travel, expenses, and invoices. You determine the ERP code to be used to export the information to your finance and accounting system. You can also choose a specific approver, if required. For more information, see Using custom fields for expense and invoice approval.
   
• Multi-select: People can select one or more options from a list. You can create as many options as you need. Select custom fields can be used to track departments, offices, reasons for travel, and project or customer codes. This format only applies to travel custom fields.
  
  You can choose to allow people to add their own options if required. They see all predetermined field options in the list, along with an option to create a new response. Once a new response is added, other people can select it when filling out the custom field.
   
• Free-text: People can write anything they want. This can be used to track identifiers from other systems, store travel preferences, record explanations for selected fares, capture special requests, or record dietary restrictions. This format only applies to travel custom fields.

Tip: You can create single-select custom fields for expenses and invoices to gather information that is not used for cost allocation.

There are three ways you can create field options for single-select and multi-select custom fields, depending on where they are used:

• Add the options individually (all).
• Upload in bulk using a CSV file (all).
• Provision using a third-party tool.

You can edit or archive field options whenever you want. For custom fields provisioned via a third-party system, the source system determines the custom field type created. For example, for spend integrations with a finance and accounting system or ERP, only custom fields used for cost allocation can be created.

You can change the custom field type at any stage, switching from single-select to free text, single-select to multi-select, multi-select to free text, or free text to multi-select.

Caution: You can't use multi-select customs field for expenses or invoices. If you have created a multi-select custom field, you can't convert it to a single-select field. You need to create a new custom field.

Using custom fields for expense and invoice approval

In expenses and invoices, you can use values submitted as part of a custom field to determine a custom approval flow for that expense or invoice. 

For example, you may want to assign all expenses for a specific project to a certain person. In this case, you set up a custom field Project with the values Project Alpha and Project Beta. In the settings for each value, you set Alex Gomez as the approver for Project Alpha and Ana Smith for Project Beta. 

You set up a custom workflow using the workflow designer that includes a node to assign an approver based on the value of the custom field Project if present. 

When people submit expenses to the Sales Enablement cost object and select Project Alpha as the project, the expense can be routed to Alex Gomez for approval rather than using the Sales Enablement cost object owner as the approver.

Setting up a custom field for bookings, expenses, and invoices

Note: Depending on your account settings, you may or may not see all these settings.

1. Go to Settings > Cost management > Custom fields.
2. Click Add field.
3. Select Travel bookings, expenses, and invoices.
   
   
    
4. In Field name and description, enter:
   • Name: The label displayed at checkout, expense, or invoice.
   • Description: This helps people to fill out the field correctly.
   • In Companies, choose whether to collect this custom information for all companies or only for specific ones. If you select specific companies, the custom field is only displayed for people who belong to that company.
   • In Usage, choose where you want to use the custom field: travel, expenses, or invoices. You may or may not see all these options depending on your account.
   • If you have selected expense or invoices and want to track costs using the custom field, select Use for cost allocation and enter a unique ID that can be used to identify the type of cost when exporting expenses to a third-party system, such as an ERP.
5. In Settings, choose:
   • Whether the custom field is required within travel bookings, if you have selected travel usage, or in expenses and invoices, if you have selected either of these in the previous step.
   • If the custom field is used for cost allocation, choose whether to restrict its use to a specific category or cost object. The custom field is displayed only when this category or cost object is selected for an expense or invoice.
6. In Response format, determine the format of the information that can be entered in the custom field:
   • Single-select: Only one field value can be selected from the allowed field values.
   • Multi-select: Multiple values can be selected from the allowed field values. Allow people to add other values by selecting Allow people to add their own field values (travel bookings only).
   • Free text: People can enter any text that matches the field settings. Specify a minimum and maximum number of characters, and determine the type of characters that can be used: upper or lower case characters, numbers, or special characters. Special characters are considered to be any character that is not 0-9, a-z, A-Z, or a space.
7. Depending on the response format, determine any applicable Field values. For instructions, see Adding field values for a custom field.
8. Click Save.

Tip: You can create multiple custom fields with the same display name but restrict them to specific companies so you can determine the correct ERP code for exporting the information to the finance system.

For example, you can create two custom fields called Project and restrict one to the Spanish legal entity and another to the German legal entity. This allows you to correctly export the project codes for that company.

Adding field values for a custom field

You can add options when creating a new custom field or after the field has already been created. Depending on the response format, the information required may vary.

For all response formats, you specify a value name and a display name. The display name is shown to people when they click on the custom field. The value name is used if the custom information is exported to a third-party system.

For single-select custom fields for expenses and invoices that you intend to use for cost allocation, you also determine the specific ERP code to ensure that information can be exported to your finance and accounting system. 

You can also choose a specific approver for expenses or invoices submitted with that value in the custom field. For more information, see Using custom fields for expense and invoice approval.

You can remove field values at any stage. Any responses already registered in existing expenses

Add the options individually

1. Go to Settings > Cost management > Custom fields.
2. On the custom field you want to add options to, click the three dots and select Edit.

3. Under Field values, click Add new:

   Value name: Value that is exported to third-party systems, if required.

   Display name: Label displayed to people as an option in single-select and multi-select responses.

   ERP code: Unique ID used to identify the option in a third-party system. Only applies if the custom field is used for cost allocation.

   Approvers for expense: Select the person or people who should approve the expense or invoice. Only applies if the custom field is used for cost allocation.

4. Click Save.
5. Add as many values as required and click Save to keep the changes.

Using a CSV file upload

To bulk upload multiple field options, you can use a CSV file. Values must be separated using a semi-colon (;). The name must contain 100 characters or less, and must not contain a forward slash (/), newline characters (\\n), or semi-colons (;).

Any field options with names with over 100 characters or prohibited characters can’t be imported and cause the import to fail. If you specify approvers for each value and the approver's email address doesn’t exist in Perk, an error message is displayed.

1. Create a CSV file with your option names in a single column.
2. In the first row of the column, you must have the text name. Do not edit the first row of the CSV template; it is required for importing the data.
3. Go to Settings > Cost management > Custom fields.
4. On the custom field you want to add options to, click the three dots and select Edit.
5. Under Field options, click Import from CSV.
6. Drag and drop or select your CSV file and click Import.
7. Click Save.