Expensify: report can't be submitted - all approvers inactive

TL;DR

The report's approval chain points at people who are deactivated, on extended leave without a delegate, or removed from the policy, so Expensify has nobody to route to. An admin opens the policy's approval workflow, replaces the inactive approvers with active ones (or sets a default approver), and the report submits. Submitters cannot fix routing; it is a policy-admin task.

Error

Expensify: report can't be submitted  -  all approvers inactive

Steps

1. Open the report and confirm the error names inactive approvers. Expected: the approval section shows the assigned approvers flagged inactive.
2. An admin opens the Expensify policy's approval workflow settings. Expected: the workflow shows the inactive approver entries.
3. Replace each inactive approver with an active approver, or set a default approver for the policy. Expected: the workflow lists only active approvers.
4. If approvers are on leave, set up delegation from the absent approver to a covering approver. Expected: delegation is recorded and future reports route to the delegate.
5. Resubmit the report. Expected: the report routes to the first active approver.

When to use

• Expensify blocks submission with "all approvers inactive".
• A manager left and their reports pile up unroutable.
• Approvers are on leave without delegates configured.

When not to use

• An active approver rejected the report (a decision, not a routing failure).
• The report is missing required fields.
• Only one approver is inactive but others are active (fix that one assignment).

Tool compatibility

Expensify with approval workflows (current 2026 releases). Policy-admin role required.

Variant phrasings

expensify "no active approver" on submit

Same routing failure in short form. An admin reassigns the workflow.

report stuck after a manager departure in expensify

The chain still names the departed manager. Reassign to the new manager.

approver on leave and expensify report blocked

Set delegation from the absent approver or reassign the workflow.

Why it happens

Expensify resolves the approval chain at submit time from the policy workflow. When approvers are deactivated (departures) or never set up delegation (leave), the chain resolves to nobody and submission fails closed. This is a control: a report must always have a real approver, so the system refuses to submit into a void rather than auto-approving.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstibE3TIFF9l1q7JkNJM94g