Soft warnings and the meal that still paid
A red banner is not a control if the submitter can save and send anyway.
Expense platforms like to show the policy. A banner appears when a dinner exceeds the band. Approvers see a flag. The claim still pays. Staff remember the colour; they do not remember whether anyone had to override.
In policy-rule testing we separate hard stops from messages. The difference matters when SST invoices, weekend travel, or alcohol sit just outside the handbook and still land in the reimbursement file.
A short list of scenarios—over-limit meals, missing e-invoice QR, split taxis—gives finance something to re-run after the next rule change. Colour on a screen is not that list.