But an expense claim is saying "When I was doing what you asked me to do, I had to pay some money on your behalf, so please refund me".
Usually it’s just internal processes - Uber can be expensed, gas cannot.
An expense is an invoice someone sends to you for payment. This “invoice” might be as simple as a docket from a cash register.
If you receive an invoice from someone, it can be classified as an expense if it’s legitimately part of your business - depending on local law. If it is an expense then it’s deducted from your income so that you don’t get taxed on it - you should only be taxed on profit, not revenue.
If it’s not a legitimate business expense then you can’t deduct it from your income and the tax you pay is higher.
It is generally accepted practice in accounting that all outgoing payments should have an invoice from a vendor. Also all incoming payments should have an invoice/receipt raised by you.
Whether something is an expense depends on what you are paying for. If the vendor's invoice is for goods that you are reselling, that is not an expense. That goes to inventory. Similarly when you pay an invoice from your heavy equipment supplier, that is not an expense, that goes to your equipment & machinery. However, when your vendor invoice is for something like janitorial service, utility bills, lawyer fees etc, these are classified as expenses and hence its 'expensed'.
either capital goods, or purchases of trading goods or expenses. Now, all of these are technically purchases". Just that your accounting ledger defines the further classification. Now, all of these require "invoice", at least in india, that means you can't just say "i paid inr 500 for fuel" without a receipt/invoice. So what is a bill and how is it different than being expensed?