[$250] LHN - Expense amount is shown in bracket in LHN preview

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.3.25-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #82648
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): jsodjsodnjoisjdosij@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Pull Request QA execution
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Left Hand Navigation (LHN)

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Create an expense.
4. Open the expense report.
5. Click on the report header > Pin.
6. Close the RHP.
7. Open the pinned expense report.
8. Navigate away from the expense report.

Expected Result:

LHN preview will not show the expense amount in bracket.

Actual Result:

LHN preview shows the expense amount in bracket.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7086427_1771884499892.8.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @aimane-chnaif

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022026092317555249020
• Upwork Job ID: 2026092317555249020
• Last Price Increase: 2026-02-24

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @mallenexpensify (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @aimane-chnaif (External)

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022026092317555249020

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

When a user creates an expense in a workspace chat, pins the expense report, and then navigates away, the LHN preview shows the expense amount wrapped in brackets/parentheses (e.g., ($25.00)) instead of displaying it without brackets (e.g., $25.00).

What is the root cause of that problem?

The LHN preview text for workspace (policy expense) chats uses the expense report's reportName directly from the derived report attributes. This flows through:

1. OptionsListUtils/index.ts:655-657 — for policy expense chats with a REPORT_PREVIEW last action, the code uses reportAttributesDerived[iouReport.reportID].reportName as the preview text.

2. ReportNameUtils.ts:335-336 — getMoneyRequestReportName returns the server-provided report.reportName directly for expense reports without any client-side reformatting.

The backend (OldDot/PHP) formats the report.reportName field using accounting-style number formatting where negative amounts are rendered with parentheses: ($25.00) instead of -$25.00. Since expense report totals are stored as negative values on the backend, the server-computed reportName contains the amount wrapped in parentheses.

When this server-provided reportName is used as the LHN preview text, the parenthesized amount is displayed to the user.

Additionally, the client-side buildOptimisticExpenseReport at ReportUtils.ts:6707-6712 also creates a report name with a negative formatted total (convertToDisplayString(storedTotal, currency) where storedTotal = total * -1), producing something like "WorkspaceName owes -$25.00". This is a known issue referenced at line 6713 (linked to Expensify/Expensify#507850).

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

The fix should be in getMoneyRequestReportName in ReportNameUtils.ts. Instead of returning report.reportName directly for expense reports, the amount portion should be sanitized to remove accounting-style parentheses. Alternatively, the client should always compute the report name from getMoneyRequestSpendBreakdown using Math.abs() on the total, ensuring amounts are always displayed as positive values without brackets.

For the specific code paths:

1. In getMoneyRequestReportName — when report.reportName is available, strip parenthesized amounts by replacing ($X.XX) patterns with $X.XX, or skip the server reportName and compute client-side instead.

2. In buildOptimisticExpenseReport — use convertToDisplayString(Math.abs(storedTotal), currency) instead of convertToDisplayString(storedTotal, currency) for the formattedTotal used in the optimistic reportName.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• Backend fix: Modify the PHP backend to use standard number formatting (minus sign instead of parentheses) for the reportName field. This would fix it at the source but requires a backend change.
• Strip parentheses in LHN: Add a sanitization step in OptionsListUtils where the reportName is used for the LHN preview. This would be a narrower fix but doesn't address the underlying issue.

Detailed Investigation

Evidence Chain

Path 1 — Workspace Chat LHN Preview:

1. OptionsListUtils/index.ts:655-657: For policy expense chats, uses reportAttributesDerived[iouReport.reportID].reportName
2. reportAttributes.ts:222-225: Computes reportName via computeReportName() → getMoneyRequestReportName()
3. ReportNameUtils.ts:335-336: Returns report.reportName directly if set by server for expense reports
4. Backend provides report.reportName with accounting-formatted amounts: ($25.00)

Path 2 — Non-Workspace Chat Preview:

1. OptionsListUtils/index.ts:658-668: Calls getReportPreviewMessage()
2. ReportUtils.ts:5280-5288: Uses getMoneyRequestSpendBreakdown() which negates report.total for expense reports
3. ReportUtils.ts:4342-4343: totalSpend = total * -1 — normally makes negative total positive, but if total is positive (edge case), produces negative totalDisplaySpend
4. ReportUtils.ts:5394: The Math.abs(amount) path avoids brackets; the fallback payerOwesAmount path at line 5415 uses raw formattedAmount which could be negative

Currency Formatting Confirmation:

• CurrencyUtils.ts:105-138: Uses Intl.NumberFormat with default currencySign: 'standard' — produces -$25.00 for negatives, not ($25.00)
• @formatjs/intl-numberformat locale data: Standard pattern "¤#,##0.00" uses minus sign; only accounting pattern "¤#,##0.00;(¤#,##0.00)" uses parentheses
• Translation strings (en.ts:1287-1294) do not add parentheses around amounts

Relevant Code

• App/src/libs/OptionsListUtils/index.ts:654-668 — LHN preview text generation
• App/src/libs/ReportNameUtils.ts:327-377 — getMoneyRequestReportName
• App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts:4325-4360 — getMoneyRequestSpendBreakdown
• App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts:5186-5416 — getReportPreviewMessage
• App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts:6694-6731 — buildOptimisticExpenseReport
• App/src/libs/CurrencyUtils.ts:105-138 — convertToDisplayString

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, or @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis.