How to use Expensify as a free account to track and submit expenses?

JayB

I signed up for Expensify to use to keep track of some personal expenses for which I need to create occasional reports. I was under the impression I was signing up for just such an account, but I keep receiving messages asking me to submit a credit card for a monthly charge.

Are there no free accounts for personal use?

Sheena Trepanier

Hi @JayB, thanks for taking the time to use the Community for such a great question.

Expensify can be used for free to Track and Submit expenses. The key to being free is to be sure you only have an Individual policy. If you navigate to your Settings > Policies page and under the Group tab you see a policy with "You" in the Billing Owner column, then you have a paid account.

It’s easy to downgrade to a free account and I can share some instructions so you avoid creating a Group policy in the future.

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To downgrade

To downgrade to a free account, click on the Inbox page from the left side navigation menu. From there click on the green free trial banner near the top right, and then the "Cancel free trial" button. In the popup click the "Downgrade to free" option, and you should see a green growl in the bottom right letting you know your account was successfully downgraded.

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Setting up a free policy

Once your screen refreshes, click on the Inbox task that starts with "Welcome back". After expanding this task click on the Track or Submit options. Clicking either option will create the associated free policy. You can customize your individual policy by navigating to your Settings > Policies > Individual tab, and clicking on your policy name.

Anytime in the future, you can unhide your hidden tasks and select Collect or Control if you ever need to use a Group policy.

Cheers!

Ted Harris

Hi @JeremyS - thanks for the question! In a nutshell, you've cracked what the free version is for; individual users who don't need any of the bells and whistles that an accountant, firm or business would need.

With the free account, you can set-up Personal Scheduled Submit, Import your supported Credit Card or Checking Account , and SmartScan receipts just as any other user would - the only difference being that with the free plan, you're limited in how many SmartScan's you get.

You can still use the direct receipt integrations such as Uber, Lyft and HotelTonight.

You can still create Expenses Rules, Time and Mileage expenses and create your own Categories & Tags for your personal transactions.

Then you can easily Export them to a spreadsheet or PDF format.

In fact, if you're only planning on logging a few SmartScanned expenses per month and you're not interested in using Expensify with anybody else, exporting to an accounting integration or being reimbursed via Expensify, you'll want to stick with the free plan!

And if you have any questions, there's a whole Community right here to delve into - you're definitely not the only one making the best out of the free plan here, so ask away!

JeremyS

So, if i just want to use it to keep track of my own personal expenses and generate a report that will show me the expenses with the images I can use the free version? I dont need to link to a accounts system, use tags etc. Will the free version work for me?

Sheena Trepanier

hi @JeremyS - it sounds like the free version of Expensify should work very well for you!

The free version would allow you to add expenses, create a report, and then analyze and export those expenses as you need.

If you have specific questions, feel free to search the community or create a new thread!