Deep Dive: Best practices for setting up a Submit plan

Victoria O'leary · November 2019

So you've checked out our discussion on what the Submit plan is and this is the plan for you! So what's next?

Getting started on the Submit plan

First things first. To enable the Submit plan you'll need to jump into your Inbox (this is basically your Expensify "to-do" list, but we can talk about that more later) and select the "Submit Receipts":

Or, you can select the Submit option from the policy settings. Navigate to Settings > Policies > Individual > [Policy Name] > Plan to select "Submit":

Ok, so now you have the basics sorted, let's take a look at the features of the Submit plan!

SmartScan and receipt storage

You are going to love SmartScan - this is the key to easy expense reporting in Expensify! As soon as you get a receipt, snap a photo via the mobile app. Do you know what you can do with the receipt after that? Throw it straight into the trash (or burn it, make an origami swan out of it - whatever you like, it's your receipt!)!

SmartScan will automatically read the merchant, date, and amount on the receipt and create an expense in your account, and then store it indefinitely so it can be viewed at any time.

If you receive a receipt in your email, simply forward it over to [email protected] from an email account associated with your Expensify account, and we'll take care of the rest.

Expense report submission

Do you have someone, in particular, you need to submit your expense reports to? You can set up a submission target who will be the default recipient of your reports. And they don't even have to be an Expensify user!
To adjust your submission target, navigate to Settings > Policies > Individual > [Policy Name] > Reports:

Once that's done and you've started scanning your expenses, you're ready to create and submit an expense report.

If the recipient already has an Expensify account, they'll be able to see the report directly in the Expensify app. Otherwise, non-Expensify users will receive a PDF copy of the report attached to the email so it can be processed.

Scheduled Submit

While Smartscan is what makes expense reporting easy, Scheduled Submit is what makes it effortless!
If there's a regular time you would like expense reports submitted, Scheduled Submit is the ticket! Scheduled Submit has two main functions:

Automatically adds new expenses to the most recent Open report, or creates a new report for new expenses if no Open report exists.
Automatically submits reports based on your selected timing

You can set up or adjust Scheduled Submit by navigating to Settings > Policies > Individual > [Policy Name] > Reports.

In-App Reimbursement

Don't want to wait for reimbursement through Payroll? If you're in the US or Australia In-App reimbursement means you can get reimbursed for your expenses directly through Expensify.

You'll just need to add the personal bank account where you want to receive reimbursement. Then, the person reimbursing the report will a business bank account where you will be reimbursed from (this requires an Expensify account) and go through the verification process.

Once both accounts are set up, your submitted reports can be reimbursed inside Expensify for free.

How to get the most out of your Submit plan

No two set-ups are ever going to be the same, but there are a few hints and tips I can give you that will help you get the most out of your plan.

Make sure you only have an Individual policy

You can check this by going to Settings > Policies > Individual, where you should have a single Individual policy. If you look under the Group tab, you probably won't see any other policies listed. Group policies are typically for people who belong to organizations using Expensify as a whole, rather than as a stand-alone user.

You're using categories and tags to code expenses

The Submit plan comes with a set of default categories that should match with IRS Schedule C expense categories, but you can add additional categories at any time by following the steps here.

If you need even more granular coding, you can always set up some tags for another breakdown layer. This will be especially helpful if you need to code expenses in line with your organization's internal process.

You've got a submission target in your policy settings

Remember, we talked about why this is super helpful further up the page! You can manage your designed submission target via Settings > Policies > Individual > [Policy Name] > Reports.

You have Scheduled Submit activated

Scheduled Submit is one of my favorite features and I can't tell you enough how effortless this will make your expense reporting! Just pick a timing that matches your needs and let us do the rest!

You've got an active Monthly Subscription

25 free SmartScans is a great way to get a taste of what Expensify has to offer, but signing up for the Monthly Subscription is the best way to turn paper receipts into virtual expenses with little effort required!

Well, I think you've heard enough from me by now! But if you do need help getting started, why not see if someone in the Community can help! Otherwise, shoot us a message on [email protected]