New Expensify progress update

You might’ve noticed here and there that we’ve made reference to New Expensify more and more lately. That’s because, after a few years of development, it’s finally ready to see the light of day (and you can try it out right now at new.expensify.com or by downloading it in your app store of choice). 

We’ve been testing pieces of New Expensify functionality here and there – mainly at conferences this year – in order to gather feedback and make improvements. Pretty standard stuff. But what’s not even close to average is what we’re building. I’ll tell you all about it below. 

What’s the difference between New Expensify and Expensify Classic?

New Expensify is the next generation of Expensify. It’s totally chat-based, like WhatsApp. But it also allows you to send money, request money, scan receipts, split bills, track distance (eg. mileage and kilometers), and more to come – all in the same app. So in a sense it’s also Venmo (and Splitwise) on steroids. It’s what we’ve come to call “financial collaboration.” And it’s getting faster and more powerful by the day. 

Then there’s everything we’ve already been doing in the business space for nearly 15 years: expense coding and submissions, employee reimbursements, corporate card management, invoicing, bill pay, travel booking. The list goes on. That’s what we’re calling “Expensify Classic”, and we’re definitely not leaving that behind. In fact, we’re slowly melding the business and personal functionality into one financial superapp. Not in a scary way that changes everything overnight, but in a thoughtful, deliberate way that considers current workflows. 

What are the use cases for New Expensify?

For me, this is by far the most exciting part. When you combine chat and money in one place, the opportunities are truly endless. Looking back, it’s pretty astounding that nobody has done this super successfully yet, and it’s pretty obvious that there’s a gap in the market. This is the best type of value we can provide, the kind of value that makes you go, “Oh, duh, why didn’t that exist before?” 

The first example that I think of is planning a group trip. I would typically start a chat in WhatsApp with my friends and then create a group in Splitwise for expenses like a rental house, groceries, gas, and so on. That’s two apps. Then add a third like Venmo or Zelle (god forbid someone doesn’t have a US bank account) to make sure everyone gets paid back. Why isn’t that easier yet? Why can’t you just start a group chat in Expensify, scan and split every receipt in the same chat, and pay each other back immediately? Oh, and why can’t you just…plan and coordinate your trip in the same app, too? That’s the power of what we’re building.

Other examples that come to mind are: roommates splitting utility bills and discussing chores, neighbors sharing supply costs for improvement projects and chatting about get-togethers, student orgs making purchases for their members and planning the next meeting. Don’t forget volunteer groups, churches, professional societies, monthly beer clubs, etc. Anything that requires an exchange of words and/or money, really. 

It’s worth mentioning that all of the use cases above are fairly simple examples of how money and chat are better together. Remember that the most complex use cases – namely expense and corporate card management at large and small businesses around the world – are what we’ve already been handling in Expensify Classic for years, and soon everything will be in one superapp. How convenient!

When will we be back to one Expensify app? 

We’re working day and night to get New Expensify to a place where it can be combined with Expensify Classic and you barely notice a thing. Except, of course, that everything will be based around chat. But again, that’s where the real power comes in.

As for timing, it’ll be a slow, consistent migration over to new functionality as its released. We’ve already been testing early releases at recent events, including:

• Scaling New Heights - chat

• ExpensiCon - chat

• SaaStr - receipt scanning + chat

• Small Business Expo - distance tracking + chat

• Money20/20 - bill splitting, sending/requesting payments + chat

You can try all of the above functionality right now in New Expensify, and much more is coming soon. So get ready to say hello to a new era of “financial collaboration,” because we’ve been working so hard to make a proper introduction.