Hello there, chris_slater.

Let me guide you on how to record the expenses refunds of your employee from a business trip in QuickBooks Online (QBO). This way, you'll be able to keep your books accurate and manage your transactions correctly.

You can create an expense transaction to record what the employee purchased. Then, record the refund through a bank deposit. I'm here to guide you how.

Here's how to create an expense transaction from the +New button.

1. Go to the +New button.
2. Select Expense.
3. Select the name of your employee in the Payee field. If you haven't added your employee, click the Add option, then make sure to select Employee in the Type field.
4. Enter all the necessary data about the purchase.
5. In the Category field, you can create/add a specific expense account or use a relevant default one.
6. Select Save and close.

Once done, you can now process the refund through the bank. Here's how:

1. Go to the +New button.
2. Select Bank deposit.
3. Choose the account that the money was received in the Account field.
4. Select the correct date in the Date section.
5. In the Add funds to this deposit section, select the name of the employee under the Received from column.
6. In the Account column, select the expense account you use for the transaction you created.
7. Enter the amount with No VAT.
8. Select Save and close.

Moreover, you can pull up the Deposit Detail report to check the details of the transaction you created above. This way, you can identify if you recorded everything accordingly.

QuickBooks also lets you record or pay back your employee's business-related expenses. In case they used their funds to pay a business expense, you can pay them directly or record it first and pay them later. For the detailed steps, kindly refer to this article: Reimburse an employee. 

Please let me know if you have other concerns. I'm just around to help.