---
title: "Request expense selector for Administrators - Payhawk Help Center"
slug: "overview-of-the-request-expense-selector"
description: "Learn how the Request Expense Selector works in Payhawk, where to use it, and how it connects approvals with the right spend."
updated: 2026-10-19T10:36:29Z
published: 2026-10-19T10:36:29Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/overview-of-the-request-expense-selector"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://payhawk.com/help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview of the Request expense selector

The **Request** selector appears in **Spend** for certain expenses when specific conditions are met. It allows you to link an expense to an existing request when specific criteria apply.

## Where the Request selector appears

Where you select the request depends on whether the expense is split into line items:

- If the expense has no line items, select the request in the **Request** field of the **Details** section.
- If the expense has line items, select a request for each line item in the **Amount** section. Once you select the request, the **Matching request line item** field becomes required, and you select the request line item that the expense line item matches. This way, you can link different line items of the same expense to different requests or request line items.

In both cases, the linked request also appears in the **Related** section of the expense, together with its status and amount.

![Expense in Spend with the linked request in the Related section, and the Request and Request line item columns for each line item in the Amount section.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3ARequests/Request_selector_related_and_line_items_20261007_ai_20261007_ai.png)

## Line item layouts

Line items in the **Amount** section appear in one of two layouts:

- Table layout - each line item is a row, and the **Request**, **Request line item**, and **Received** columns show the request data next to the tax and total amounts.
- Vertical layout - each line item expands to show its fields one below the other, including **Request**, **Matching request line item**, **Received status**, and **Invoiced status**.

On narrower screens, Payhawk automatically switches to the vertical layout.

![The Amount section of an expense in the table layout, next to the same line item in the vertical layout with its Request, Matching request line item, Received status, and Invoiced status fields.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3ARequests/Request_selector_line_item_layouts_20261007_ai_20261007_ai.png)

## Request selector visibility

- The expense must be in **Draft** status.
- For bank expenses, at least one enabled request type must have an allowed payment method of **Bill**.
- For card expenses, at least one enabled request type must have an allowed payment method of **Card**.
- Only requests with the status **Open** appear in the drop-down list.

## Supplier filtering

- If the expense has a **Supplier ID**, only requests with either a matching supplier ID or no supplier are shown.
- If the expense has no **Supplier ID**, supplier-based filtering is skipped.
- Requests with inactive suppliers are always excluded.
- A suggested supplier (a name only, without an ID) is treated as having no **Supplier ID**.

## Who can link an expense to a request

A user can link an expense to a request if any of the following conditions is met:

- Their role includes the policy **Link expenses to any request.**
- They are a Team Manager of the request.
- They act as a reviewer within the workflow for that request type.
- They are both the owner of the expense and the owner of the request.

## Spend types

- Bills can be linked to requests with a **Bill** payment method.
- Card expenses can be linked to requests with a **Card** payment method.
- Both bills and card expenses can be linked to requests with a **None** payment method if the request type allows the relevant outcome type.
- Expenses cannot be linked to requests with the **No payment needed** payment method.