Expensify Business Expense Tracking

Expensify is a new company offering a fantastic service for those business travelers who are forced to manage their own expenses. You know who you are…those of you saving up receipts to add to your expense report at the end of every trip. I used to be one of you, and I know how much it sucks. Well, Expensify plans to revolutionize the expense reporting market by tracking your expenses for you.

How does this work? First, you get the Expensify MasterCard which is linked to your regular credit card. The MasterCard is considered an “electronic payment card,” meaning charges to this card are sent to your credit card. It does not at as a credit card itself, but as the middle man. By using the Expensify card, the company tracks your spending, charges your real credit card for the purchases, and lets you submit photographs of your receipts as you get them. The receipts are attached to the corresponding purchase in your account history.

So how do you get the information? You go to the Expensify website, where you can label the various expenses. At the end of your trip, Expensify will generate a PDF list of the expenses you’ve accrued. You can email the list, import it in to Excel or print it out. The cool thing is that if you submit the record online, your accountant can then pay for your expenses immediately using a credit card or bank information, and Expensify will reimburse your original credit card immediately. That beats waiting around for your expense check.

What’s in it for Expensify? They charge you a 3% surcharge on every item purchased with the card. Be sure your company is willing to reimburse you for that amount, as it can add up pretty quickly if you’re traveling a lot. I guess it can amount to better productivity on your part, if you’re saving time doing expense reports when you could be working.

You can (try) to see it for yourself at expensify.com, though the website was only offering a “Wait for our Completion” type website when I tried it out.
Via Techcrunch