TechRadar Verdict
The simplicity of Expensify is one of its main strengths as it reduces much of the hassle involved with claiming expenses for both employers and employees. With strong app and desktop editions it’s a great all-rounder.
Pros
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Easy to use
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Strong feature set
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Great reporting
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Automates most tasks
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iOS and Android apps
Cons
- -
Costs add up the more you scale it
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Expensify is a desktop and app service that aims to help business owners and employees manage their expenses using real-time money monitoring. It's a dynamic approach that works brilliantly for small and medium-sized businesses. However, Expensify has also been designed to let larger businesses keep an eye on employee expenditure too, but in a reassuringly straightforward fashion. Useful in the wake of coronavirus.
Central to this is the way that Expensify can automate much of the process, which means less work keeping an eye on things and better results in terms of tracking and processing expense claims. Adding to the usefulness of Expensify, particularly for the people who actually use it, is the way it has been engineered. Expensify offers a solid user-friendly experience and that’s always a bonus.
Expensify is up against the likes of QuickBooks, Rydoo, Hurdlr, Zoho Expense and Pocketguard.
- Want to try Expensify? Check out the website here
Pricing
There are two pricing variants for Expensify, depending on if you’re an individual or a company, although you can actually try it for free in order to check out how it works.
Package-wise, you can then choose Track for Individuals, which is $4.99/£3.99 per month. This is suited to individuals and sole proprietors for tracking receipts and expenses. You get unlimited SmartScans (OCR’d receipts), automatic mileage tracking and can auto-categorize expenses.
Next, Submit for Individuals, which is $4.99/£3.99 per month and is aimed at employees and small business owners to send receipts to managers or accountants. You get everything in Track as well as being able to auto-submit reports for reimbursement and also submit receipts to anyone.
Collect for Groups, meanwhile, is $5/£8 per month and is aimed at teams and organizations looking to automate receipt collection and reimbursement. That comes with everything in Submit, but also features the capacity to auto-sync to accounting software along with boasting powerful reconciliation functionality.
Finally, Control for Groups, which costs $9/£14 per month is suited to companies that need expense reporting, card management, approvals, and reimbursements. It features everything in Collect along with corporate card management and multi-level approval workflows.
Annual subscriptions options are probably the way to go if you have multiple employees to think about, details of which can be found on the Expensify pricing pages.
Features
The features come thick and fast in Expensify, with the app in particular being a really practical solution if you’re on the go. If you're busy working it can often be rather tedious to have to try and keep a firm grip on expenses you incur during the day. However, Expensify lets you track and submit your receipts with ease.
The feature list is pretty expansive too, with mileage and GPS tracking, automatic credit card import, corporate card reconciliation and pier diem functionality all built-in. Business users will also relish its easy integration with accounting software including QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite and numerous others.
An administrator can also set up Expensify to remove much of the legwork for employees who claim expenses, with a host of fully customizable settings meaning that many things are already figured out for you. Automatic generation of reports also means that there’s much less time involved in day-to-day administration duties.
Performance
You’ll most likely be using Expensify on the go via the app, which has been very nicely put together. Logging and tracking expenses requires little in the way of work and most of the time all you need to do is take a photo of the receipt and the app will do most of the actual cataloging of money to be reimbursed.
If you’re using Expensify via the desktop edition then that too works in the same fast and efficient fashion, with an interface that has little to go wrong. Speed is also a major factor in the way Expensify can generate detailed reports, which again makes collating lots of expenses and summarizing them a much less time-consuming task. You can share or print documents too, which is useful for meetings or review purposes.
Ease of use
A real bonus about Expensify is the way that it has been designed and engineered. From the minute you sign in you’re presented with a minimalist interface that is not only easy to get to grips with as it’s also very user-friendly.
With not much in the way of obvious obstructions you can soon be adept at using Expensify to keep track of your expenses. It’s also got a neat two-pronged setup that allows both individuals and groups to monitor their expenses, all of which is easily configured using an ever-present built-in Concierge.
Getting expense receipts into Expensify is also wonderfully simple, making it more appealing for less enthusiastic expense keepers. You can also download the app for your phone while you’re in the desktop interface.
Support
You’ll find that there’s a vibrant support community if you're new to Expensify, with teams based around the globe, all focused on improving its features and functionality.
Final verdict
Being able to test out Expensify with little in the way of hassle makes it a great option to at least try, even if you’re not convinced that it’s going to be for you. However, soon after creating an account you’ll find that Expensify has an interface that is a doddle to get to grips with, and that extends to both employers and employees.
Using it on a day-to-day basis is quick and easy too, with a combination of basic usability and automated functionality making it very practical. Expensify has done a great job with ensuring that you can file expenses quickly, while the reports document everything in as much detail as you need. Finally, the reimbursement of funds is also nicely streamlined.
While it works for freelancers and sole-traders, it’s easy to see the appeal for small, medium and bigger businesses too, with a Corporate control version that’s particularly beefy.
