Yes! Melio lets you manage corporate expenses, including reimbursing employees for things like travel, office supplies, or other business costs, as part of your regular bill pay activity. These reimbursements work the same way as paying any other vendor, so there's no separate system to set up. This guide walks you through creating a bill for your employee so you can send the reimbursement quickly.
How to reimburse an employee in Melio
1- Select Pay from the left sidebar.
2- Select + New payment.
3- On the Create bill page, enter the Vendor business name by typing your employee's name in the search field and selecting from the dropdown.
If this is the first reimbursement you are sending to your employee, select + Add new vendor to add them to your Melio account.
4- Enter the Bill amount for how much you need to reimburse them.
5- Confirm or update the Due date. The default will be the current day’s date.
You can also click Select or drop a file on the left side of the screen to upload a receipt or invoice. Melio will automatically pull the details into the bill for you.
6- (Optional) Enter a Note to self about what the payment is for, such as "office expenses." This can help you keep track of the reimbursement later.
7- Select Continue to pay.
8- Continue scheduling the payment as usual. You can check out this guide if you want more details: How to make a payment.
We recommend not using a credit card to reimburse employees, as it may be subject to credit card restrictions.
That's it! You've created a bill and scheduled a reimbursement payment to your employee — handled just like any other business expense in Melio.
Can I use Melio for employee payroll?
While you can’t use Melio to directly pay your W-2 employees, you can use it to fund your payroll. You can pay your payroll provider in one of two ways, depending on how they accept payments:
- If your payroll provider accepts a wire or an ACH payment from you: You can pay them through Melio the same way you'd pay any other vendor.
- If your payroll provider doesn't accept a payment initiated on your end: Payroll by Card may be available for eligible accounts. Learn more in the guide: Funding payroll by credit card through Melio.
Freelancers and 1099 contractors, however, can be paid directly through Melio. Learn more about it in What is a 1099 contractor and can I use Melio to pay them?