Non-reimbursable and Reimbursable

SandiW
SandiW Expensify Customer Posts: 4 Expensify Newcomer

Hi there!

I would like to make our employees Purchase Expenses non-reimbursable and keep their Mileage Expenses reimbursable.

Does anyone have any thoughts on a good way to do this?

Thanks!

Best Answer

  • Sheena Trepanier
    Sheena Trepanier Expensify Team, Approved! Accountant, Expensify Student Ambassador Posts: 1,362 Expensify Team
    Answer ✓

    Hi @SandiW - great question! Are your employee's "purchase expenses" incurred on their own personal cards or on company cards? Are those cards connected to Expensify and importing into your employee's accounts?

    If the purchase expenses are importing from a credit card, employees can make those expenses import as non-reimbursable expenses via the card Settings button on their Settings > Your Account > Credit Card Import page. (below)

    Or are your employees creating the Purchase Expenses by uploading receipt images and allowing SmartScan to take care of populating the merchant, date and amount?

Answers

  • SandiW
    SandiW Expensify Customer Posts: 4 Expensify Newcomer

    Dear Sheena,

    Thank you very much for your response! Can I ask a follow up question?

    We are in the process of switching to credit cards for our employees, so that they can charge all the expenses on company cards. However, I am under the impression that it is not straghtforward to do the Credit Card Import you mention. I have talked to a couple of banks on the topic, and this service seems to be offered only for larger institutions with a high level of spending. We are a small nonprofit and don't spend very much. Am I missing something?

    Thank you,

    Sandi

  • Sheena Trepanier
    Sheena Trepanier Expensify Team, Approved! Accountant, Expensify Student Ambassador Posts: 1,362 Expensify Team
    edited September 2021

    Hi @SandiW, this is a good follow up question to ask and I'm happy to help further.

    Via Domains, we support direct connections with many major banks. A direct connection relies on login credentials to connect and maintain the card connection. Cards under the connected account are still imported and a domain admin can assign an imported card to the corresponding cardholder in Expensify to import expenses. The availability of this type of connection will depend on whether or not one is currently built for your specific bank.

    The second type of connection that is supported via Domains is a commercial feed, which is the preferred connection type and more stable, but it comes with requirements from the bank's side. For example, American Express will only build commercial feeds for customers with Amex@Work accounts. Typically, a company card account is eligible for a commercial feed when it's considered a Corporate card type account. Each bank is slightly different though so it's always recommended that you talk with your bank rep about the possibility of a commercial feed. We support feeds for American Express, Visa and MasterCards.

  • SandiW
    SandiW Expensify Customer Posts: 4 Expensify Newcomer

    @Sheena Trepanier, thank you! I think I am beginning to understand a bit. So, the distinction from the banks point of view is Direct Connection vs Commercial Feed? I have just been asking about Expensify Intergration, and I need to get more specific with my vocabulary to get a good assessment of availability and costs. Do the words VOX integration mean anything to you? This is what one bank told me I needed to do, and I'm not sure if they were referring to Direct Connection or Commercial Feed.

    I want to apply for the credit card at the bank that is going to make this easy. Thank you for helping me decode this mystery :)

  • Sheena Trepanier
    Sheena Trepanier Expensify Team, Approved! Accountant, Expensify Student Ambassador Posts: 1,362 Expensify Team

    @SandiW, hmmmm I haven't heard of a VOX connection but I can definitely offer advice when talking to banks. Typically your average rep on the phone at the bank will not be aware of any connection with Expensify, they will frequently tell you it's not supported because we own the connection on our end rather than a connection the bank built themselves.

    The top banks we recommend are:

    • Capital One - partnership with Capital One and easy to set up.
    • Chase - Direct Connect is required to connect to Expensify.
    • American Express - Many different direct connect options (login credentials). For example Amex Business is a very common connection.
    • Silicon Valley Bank - commonly used connection and easy to get a commercial feed for.
    • Bank of America - partnership with BofA and easy to set up.

    If you can get a commercial feed, it's recommended but not required. Any of the banks I listed above will give you access to a login based (direct connection) connection via Domain Control.

  • SandiW
    SandiW Expensify Customer Posts: 4 Expensify Newcomer
  • Sheena Trepanier
    Sheena Trepanier Expensify Team, Approved! Accountant, Expensify Student Ambassador Posts: 1,362 Expensify Team
    edited May 2019