Expensify Review: Features and Pricing for 2022

Expensify is a cloud-based expense management application that tracks expenses and allows employees to submit them for reimbursement. This software focuses on expense tracking and reporting, with features like individual tracking, expense policies, and approvals. Expensify offers free plans for individuals and paid plans for businesses starting at $20 per user.

What We Recommend Expensify For

Expensify is a great preaccounting app for recording expenses because it serves as a platform for your employees to submit expenses for admin approval and reimbursements. Through Expensify, approvers can identify reimbursable, non-reimbursable, and disallowed expenses before sending them accounting. Expensify can help reduce workloads in the accounting departments and provide a way for different company departments to keep track of expenses.

Moreover, Expensify’s ability to integrate with accounting software makes it flexible and easy to implement. Expensify integrates with QuickBooks, one of our choices for the best mobile accounting apps. Aside from QuickBooks, it can also integrate with ERP software like Oracle NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics.

Expensify Is Especially Good For

• Companies with a high volume of expense transactions: Being a pre-accounting app, Expensify prepares expenses for the books. It also speeds up reimbursements with its direct deposit feature and reduces the work volume of the A/P clerk in generating reimbursement vouchers for manual reimbursements.
• QuickBooks users looking for an expense approval and reimbursement tool. QuickBooks is a bookkeeping program with expense tracking features. However, it doesn’t have the approval and reimbursement features. Expensify is our best business expense tracker for QuickBooks users because it can help you preaccount your expenses and filter out expenses that aren’t allowed under company policy. You can read our QuickBooks Online review here for more information.
• Automated expense reimbursement: Expensify lets you reimburse expenses via direct deposit through an automated clearinghouse. All you need to do is set up your bank account within Expensify, and you can send reimbursements automatically to the employees you owe.

Expensify Is Not a Good Fit For

• Companies looking for bookkeeping software: Expensify is only a preaccounting app. It focuses on expense tracking and reimbursement, and it doesn’t provide basic accounting features. Check our list of the best small business accounting software to find the right software for you.
• Freelancers and solopreneurs who need simple expense tracking: Expensify’s best trait is its collaboration feature for recording expenses. If you’re a solopreneur or freelancer, you don’t need Expensify’s collaboration features because you’re both the submitter and approver of expense. Alternatively, you can try FreshBooks because it has simple expense tracking for freelancers. Read our Freshbooks review here.
• Businesses with a limited budget: Expensify’s pricing plans may be too expensive if you have a limited budget. Its monthly fee can be heavy for small companies that need to process expenses before accounting. Rydoo shares the same features as Expensify but at a more affordable price.

Expensify Pros and Cons

Expensify Pricing

Expensify offers two groups of pricing plans for individuals and groups. Under each pricing group, two tiers of pricing options are offered depending on the users’ needs.

Expensify Features

Expensify’s core feature is the management of expenses—nothing more, nothing less. It focuses on expense recording, tracking, reporting, and reimbursement. If you maintain books and accounts for your business, you can integrate Expensify with your accounting software.

Setting up Expensify

After logging in, the software will prompt you to set up your account. Expensify’s concierge will guide you during your first use of the app. It’ll provide tips and procedures to get you acquainted with its features. Regardless, you can always contact customer support by clicking the blue message bubble at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Setting Up Expense Policies

Policy Screen

Before you begin utilizing the app, it’s best to set up your expense policies. Expensify lets you set standard rates and quantities.

Setting up Expense Policies

The Expense Policies screen will instruct Expensify on how to treat your transactions. You can set cash expenses as reimbursable or non-reimbursable by default. You can enable tax tracking for mileage, specify the unit of measure, and set mileage rates. Expensify has its default rate, but you can add more rates as you see fit. Aside from mileage, you can also set your billable hourly rate.

Setting up Per Diem Policies

If your company allows per diems to employees, Expensify can automate it based on your per diem rates. You can import your rates from a spreadsheet, and Expensify will apply them to your future transactions. Expensify also lets you set the per diem on a default category for easier pooling of per diem expenses.

Encoding and Reporting Expenses

Expense Overview

If you click Expenses in the left menu bar, it’ll bring you to the Expense tab. This tab will show you all expenses encoded in the system. Each expense is marked depending on its status:

• Unreported (White): Expense hasn’t yet been added to any report
• Open (Light Blue): Expense has been recorded and added to a report
• Processing (Dark Blue): Report has been submitted but not yet approved
• Approved (Light Green): Report has been approved but not yet reimbursed
• Closed (Gray): Report has been approved but not yet reimbursed
• Reimbursed (Dark Green): Expenses in an approved report has been reimbursed

Encoding Multiple Expenses

There are two ways to encode an expense: manually or via SmartScan. If you have to enter a lot of expenses, you can add multiple entries in a single window as shown in the image above.

Entering Expenses Manually

When encoding expenses manually, you can enter the merchant, applicable tax, amount paid, expense category, attendees, and a brief description of the expense. You can also add a PDF copy of the receipt or its image.

View Reports

Once everything is laid out, you can add expenses to a new or existing employee’s expense report. Just click the drop-down menu beside the Report tab, and it’ll show all your reports. In case there are no existing reports, Expensify can auto-generate a report for you. Once you click Save, the expense’s status will be Open.

Submitting Mileage Expenses

Entering Mileage Expenses

Entering Mileage Expense Using the Map

Expensify can also record mileage expenses in two ways: manually entering miles or via map. You can use your odometer to track your miles and input them into Expensify. The app will compute your mileage cost automatically based on the mileage policy and applicable taxes. Alternatively, creating mileage expenses via map allows you to enter your starting point and destination, and Expensify will compute the number of miles automatically.

Submission of Expenses Based on Billable Hours

Entering Expenses Based on Billable Hours

Expenses incurred based on billable hours are also accepted here on Expensify. You can simply add the number of hours billed, and Expensify will do the rest.

Data Visualization

Visualization of Expense Categories

If you want to see a brief snapshot of your expenses, the Expense screen provides essential analytic tools like charts and graphs to visualize your transactions. You can also filter specific expenses based on status to assess your efficiency in approving expenses.

Approvals

Reports Overview

All expenses are pooled into a report that is then submitted to the approver. If you click Reports, it’ll show you all reports. The approver will review the report and approve or reject some of the items enumerated. Only approved items will move forward in the process.

Rejecting a Report

If the approver rejects a report, it goes back to the submitter and is marked as “Retracted.” All expenses in a rejected report will become Open again. However, after making the necessary changes, the submitter can resubmit it for approval.

Reimbursements

Modes of Reimbursement

After approval, expenses are now ready for reimbursements. Expensify lets you reimburse via direct deposit or manual reimbursement. For direct deposit, you have to set up your bank account within Expensify, and it’ll reimburse via an automated clearing house (ACH). Manual reimbursements let you transfer cash physically, while Expensify just marks the report as Reimbursed.

Approved and Reimbursed Report

Expensify Alternatives

Bottom line

Overall, Expensify is the ideal app for businesses that need to process and reimburse expense reports. Expensify’s features can help accountants and accounting clerks speed up bookkeeping procedures and correctly book expenses based on Expensify reports. In other words, expenses processed under Expensify will provide more accurate information for bookkeeping than those tracked manually in a spreadsheet.

We highly recommend Expensify as a supplementary app to your accounting software. However, it’s not a standalone bookkeeping program.