support these users.

  It should be possible to submit payment

  requests without JavaScript.  The interface can be enhanced when JavaScript

  is available.

  Whether or not we do this in the first release probably depends on what

  framework we decide to build on.  If the framework itself requires

  JavaScript out of the box, it may make sense to have the first release go

  with the flow, then work to add JavaScript-free functionality in a later

  release.

  In any case, Javascript used will respect software freedom of users and, *if

  possible*, will adhere to LibreJS protocols.

## Requirements for later releases

These are features that we would ultimately like the system to have.  We

would also like to release a first version as early as possible, to start

getting feedback from users and generating more development interest.  It's

good to keep these in mind when architecting—in particular, we may choose an

existing system to use, or framework to build on, based on its ability to

support these features.  However, they needn't be a focus of development

effort for the first release.

* Administrator-defined policy validations

  Some validations we would like to have:

  * A value from a selection is in a specific subset of values

  * A date is within N days before and/or after today or a date in another answer

  * A currency amount is over or under a limit, with automatic conversion as needed

  * The limit on a currency amount is defined by an outside source - The

    main case for this is per diem, where many organizations use rates that

    are determined by another party like the US GSA and updated periodically.

  These may need to be compounded.  For example, an administrator may want

  to define a policy, "If an employee did not use a preferred airline, and

  did not travel internationally, it does not meet policy."

* Flag non-reimburseable expenses based on policy validations

  When the requestor answers questions that are outside the policy

  validations, the system should flag the answer and explain how it falls

  outside policy.  The requestor should still be able to submit the request,

  but they should be prompted to explain why the request should be fulfilled

  despite policy problems.

* Ask additional questions based on policy validations

  For example, "If the expense type is office supplies, and the cost is over

  $50, prompt for a receipt."

* Allow optional questions

  Along with this, policy validations probably need to

  be extended to address the case of "other question isn't answered"

* Additional exporters

  * Export to SQLedger

  * [Certainly many more, feel free to add them here]

* Richer lifecycle management

  * Support requests for pre-approval, probably with two states

    "Pre-Approval Draft" and "Pre-Approval Submitted."  In the

    Pre-Approval state, the requestor is submitting not receipts or

    invoices, but documents regarding potential expenses that have not yet

    been incurred, but for which organization policies require preapproval

    by organizational management ahead of time.  The appropriate management

    representatives are duly notified by the system of pending Pre-Approval

    requests, and their approval moves the request into the Draft

    state.  Their rejection moves the request to the Rejected sate.

  * Support more review: a leader (such as a manager or program

    director) may need to review and approve a request along with, or

    instead of, the bookkeeper

    * Support automatically determining the appropriate leader for a

      payment request based on information in the request, like a

      "What project is this for?" selection

  * A new state after Approved, Filled, which means that the

    organization has arranged for payment to go out.  The requestor

    should receive a notification when their request moves to the

    Filled state.

  * A new state after Filled, Received, which means the requestor

    received payment.  Bookkeepers should receive a notification when

    the request moves to this state.

* Show currency amounts in the requestor's reimbursement currency

  For example, the requestor can submit a reimbursement with expenses in

  USD, EUR, and CHR, but wants payment in INR.  Unclear what

  interface for this would look like, but real-time data about past currency

  rates might be available via an API somewhere, and we can use that to have

  the requestor give us "preferred currency for payment" so all changes

  happen in real time in the interface (even allowing the requestor to be

  able to decide *while filling out the report*: "ugh, these exchange rates

  to INR are horrible; I'll have them pay my USD account instead").

## Desired features

These are features that we would also, ultimately, like the system to

have.  But they're not as critical as the features in the previous

section, and they don't need to hold as much sway over the choice of a

base system or framework.

* Data import

  * Apps like [Tricky Tripper](http://trickytripper.blogspot.de/) let users

    track expenses for a trip as they go.  The system could import this data

    to prepopulate answers to questions about the request and expenses in

    it.  Probably there would be an import API that can map different import

    formats to a common format, and then administrators can define how

    questions in their system can be answered based on imported data.

* Automatically prepare payment

  * Print checks with the requestor's name and approved amount

  * Automatically submit wire transfers through standard APIs like HBCI