Greetings, and Happy Wednesday! We’re excited to announce that our long-awaited (and oft requested) update to our QuickBooks Online integration has officially arrived. We’ve written about this topic before, but in case you missed it, there are plenty of reasons to make the switch once your books are closed for April 2014. The most important reasons include: Continue Reading…
Dear QuickBooks users, we have important news to share: We’ve taken a stand in the ideological (and business) battle for FREEmium – ensuring that you can use Expensify’s core features for free as long as you want – and because of this, Expensify has been kicked out of the Intuit App Center. But not to worry! We continue to support all versions of QuickBooks, whether online or desktop.
The first question you’re probably asking is, “Am I affected by this?” If you into http://appcenter.intuit.com/ and then connect to Expensify, you’re affected. Or more simply, if you see an Intuit logo in the top righthand corner of any page in Expensify, then you’re also affected and will need to re-connect to Expensify by following the directions below. Otherwise, you’re in the clear!
Important: QuickBooks connections require upgrading to the Team plan or above. If you don’t see Settings > Policies in your Expensify account, then please upgrade.
Remove Your App Center Connection from Expensify
1. Log into your Expensify account and visit Settings Connections. Click the “delete” button next to your App Center (or Sync Manager) connection. Also make sure to visit Settings > Account > Secondary Logins and delete any secondary logins for “intuit.”
Delete your App Center (Sync Manager) Connection in Expensify
Fingers crossed! This is hopefully the only step needed to fully disconnect from the App Center! Now we’ll reconnect to Expensify using the Intuit Web Connector (Desktop) or Intuit API (Online).
Reconnect QuickBooks Desktop
1. Initiate your connection to the QuickBooks Web Connector (detailed directions).
Connect QB Desktop to your Expensify policy
Pro-tips:
Reconnect QuickBooks Online
1. Connect to Intuit’s API (detailed directions). Like QuickBooks Desktop, we recommend creating and intiating your QuickBooks Online connection via your Expensify policy (Settings > Policies > [Policy Name] > Connections).
Connect QB Online to your Expensify policy
Pro-tips:
Remaining Issues?
We hope that everything has worked flawlessly up until this point. But there’s always a chance that something may go wrong, so we wanted to provide some tips if this is the case:
If you run into any issues, please email us at help@expensify.com. Thanks for understanding!
For today’s Pro-Tips Monday, we’ll walk you through how to integrate Expensify with NetSuite, a leading cloud-based accounting package. NetSuite integration is available on the Corporate plan, and you can also reference this post if you’d like to integrate Expensify with other cloud-based accounting software, such as Intacct.
Initial Setup
The pre-requisite steps for NetSuite integration are: 1) Sign-up for an account at http://www.expensify.com; 2) Create a company expense policy (directions); and 3) Map your company’s accounting setup (examples).
Creating Your Export Format
Once the pre-requisites are out of the way, you’ll need to decide how your company will export from Expensify into NetSuite. PAY ATTENTION HERE. THIS PART IS IMPORTANT. NetSuite can accept financial information as “vendor bills”. Which format your company will use depends on your NetSuite implementation. If you’re unsure which is right for your company, please email us at help@expensify.com.
NetSuite requires the following information on import:
Optional fields include: Department, Customer/Project and Class (all exact names as they appear in NetSuite), as well as Billable (yes/no).
Configuring Your Export File
After you’ve chosen the appropriate format for your company, you will create an export format that any admin can use when exporting from Expensify to NetSuite. To do so, visit Settings > Policies > [Policy Name] > Export Formats. Below is how you’d configure an export file when exporting as vendor bills.
And you’re done! At the end of your next accounting period, you can choose which reports you’d like to export, and the information will be formatted for direct upload into NetSuite. Let us know if you have any questions!
Yes, accounting and finance departments, we’re talking to you!
With 2012 in full swing, everyone at Expensify is excited by the opportunity to make this year even better. Don’t get us wrong, 2011 was awesome! But we’re a startup, and re-thinking the old to build something new is an oft-repeated mantra. As larger and larger companies increasingly drink the Expensify kool-aid – or our own Expensify beer thanks to a resident brewmaster – our sights are squarely aimed at the scary-sounding world of “enterprise accounting.”
As you may recall, in late-2011 Expensify unveiled functionality that allows anyone to create and edit a very flexible CSV export file. This functionality enables our system’s Categories and Tags to speak the parlance of enterprise accounting and CRM packages. It’s called GL Mapping, and we’re super excited about the potential of this functionality, especially in the context of our self-service, bottom-up adoption model. With that said, we are still in the exploration stage when it comes to enterprise accounting and ERP systems, and for some reason, it conjures images of scary pumpkins. So we thought we should take up some white space to learn what’s out there. Thus far, we’ve talked to customers that use Sage, SAP, Oracle, Netsuite, Intacct, and many others.
But more than names, we’re interested to learn about the types of accounting configurations that we need to support. Past conversations have worked out how to export Expensify’s data into a MySQL database before eventually feeding this information into an accounting package. This was luckily solved by a bit of accounting triage; in other words, correctly mapping the columns in the company’s database. We’ve also seen customers that must track a variety of inter-related GL Codes, both at the expense-level and at the report-level, and this has required a good deal of problem solving for all involved.
This brings us to the interactive part! We’d love to hear from you about your GL setup. Specifically:
Please join this conversation in the comments or feel free to email jmills@expensify.com. Thanks!
If you know anything about Expensify, you’ve probably heard our CEO David Barrett speak about the “bottom up adoption curve“. As a freemium service, Expensify has seen exceptional bottom up adoption among small businesses – especially those where employees actively seek out alternatives to expense reporting “solutions” that REALLY suck. And in a big way, employees continue to “sell” Expensify with great success across all manner of small business.
Throughout our journey, we’ve kept one ear open to the employees selling our product, and the other to the accounting and finance departments that have had to implement us. Through this approach, our product is poised to command an extensive presence among medium-sized businesses. And so, with the stage set and the curtains drawn, Expensify is in the first act and first scene of building out a salesforce of the future! 
What do we mean by salesforce of the future? That’s a pretty nebulous statement, no? Yes, great point! You’re impressing us already!
In answer, the interesting thing about sales at Expensify is that your job will be just as much about selling our product as it will be supporting the diverse group of individuals, employees, managers and accountants that use our product. Thus, we’re looking for people who can speak in the parlance of accounting and finance departments, and who also have a knack for navigating the ins and outs of a deceptively intricate product – and masterfully so.
Can you troubleshoot on the fly? Great! Are you flexible in solving any given problem? Even better!
Our salesforce of the future will also be very comfortable leveraging various sales tools, including our internal lead generation database and unique online demos, to manage and seek out high value leads.
Important Notice: this isn’t a cold calling job. You will speak with people who have a genuine – sometimes fanatical – interest in our product. Yes we’re talking about expense reports, but people love us. Just check out what people tweet about us!
Finally, and most importantly from your perspective, we will aggressively promote the best among our team. Impress us and you’ll reap clear benefits, both financially and for your career.
Still with us? Awesome! Check out our jobs page, and then email your answers to the following questions to jobs@expensify.com:
1. Did you ever have a summer sales job when you were in high school? What did you sell, and what was your personal take on the product? How did you sell it?
2. If you were given free reign to choose the optimal set of sales tools, what would they be and how would they optimize your sales approach? (Feel free to list actual sales tools you’ve used, or fictitious ones. You’ve got free reign).
3. Pretend you had a month to do whatever you wanted. What would you do? And would this be sufficient time to accomplish the goals you set out to achieve?
4. What do you want to do with your life, and how is Expensify a step toward those long-term goals?
Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!
Hello everyone out in Expensify Land! Today we write with two mission-critical questions:
1. What reporting requirements does your company have that our application has not yet addressed?
2. What features could we add that aren’t required but would simply make your life easier?
Sure we’d like to know more – like what adoption barriers Expensify faces at your company – but let’s face it, in the Internet age our attention span is about as short as a hamster’s memory capacity is small. So go ahead. Now’s your chance. The comment gate is wide open!
We’d like to hear from you on these topics because you – that’s right YOU – are the maverick employees helping us lead the charge against arcane norms in the expense reporting world. You – whether you know it or not – are out on the front lines fighting with us against awkward “solutions” that weren’t intended to make expense reporting easy, like Excel or the manila folder.
The Battle Against Excel (Dramatic Re-enactment)
Now if you’d read this far…then congrats to you! You’re a rare breed; most people don’t make it here. We’d love to hear interesting success stories that your entire company has had using Expensify. In fact, WE’RE HAPPY TO FEATURE YOU ON THIS BLOG!
If you’re shy, then no problem. Contact us at help@expensify.com or jmills@expensify.com. Share your feedback and success stories with us!
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Up next week: We’ll respond to what everyone had to say and keep the conversation going. Until then, don’t be shy! Contribute in your own way. We want to make our compelling product even more so. Together, we can make something that’s doesn’t suck!
The author's attempt at a graceful self-portrait (shot while exploring Tibet in a 4x4)
Name: Jason Mills
Alter Egos, if any: Sometimes I am my alter ego
Hometown: New Braunfels, TX
Expensify Job Title/Role: Everything Man #2
When did you start working for Expensify? May 2011
What is the most exciting project you’ve completed so far for Expensify? It’s a secret, at least until we finalize our plans to take over the expense reporting world. Oops. Although I’m pretty sure that tiger’s been out of the bag for a while!
When you’re not fine-tuning expense reports that don’t suck, what projects do you work on in your off-time? Running. It’s a long-distance project. There’s also this bouldering problem I’ve got up in the Berkeley Hills. Does that count? In general, I spend a lot of time chasing adventure and pushing my body to the limit. It’s a decent-sized commitment!
The author logging miles on the Flume Trail around Lake Tahoe
(From the Proust Questionnaire)
Your most marked characteristic? Cop out alert! I’ve got two. Growing up in Texas instilled an affable side of me that’s still around today. That’s the nurture component. In terms of nature, people describe me as a easy-going but intense – some even say I have a streak of madness. Of course, that’s probably because I like doing things other people call “crazy”, like ultramarathons, downhill mountain biking, etc. Now are those REALLY crazy?! I don’t think so.
Where would you like to live? This answer is admittedly mercurial. Several years ago, my answer would have been Taiwan; everywhere you go there you encounter amazing nature. Plus, in the Chinese-speaking world Taiwan has the best combination of modern practicality and traditional sensibility. That makes it a pretty unique place.
Inevitably, a subset of people will answer this question by envisioning how a place is — or might be — without ever having been there. The dreamer in me is attracted to this approach. Lately I keep coming back to Brazil. It has several things going for it: unique flora and fauna; a language that lends itself nicely to rap; and it’s reputed to have a warm and welcoming culture. Sounds like my kind of place.
What is your motto? Live life. Intensely. With meaning.
What is your favorite flower? The yucca flower. Why you ask? Mostly because it reminds me of youthful salad days, when I spent my summers backpacking in Texas and New Mexico. At the same time, the yucca flower is such an awesome juxtaposition; how amazing is it that something so delicate and beautiful arises from such a narly and prickly base?!
What is it you most dislike? I’ve got a laid-back, roll-with-it sensibility, so it’s not easy to come up with something I strongly DISLIKE. But something that comes to mind is pretension. There’s no need for someone to treat someone – poorly or otherwise – based on their perceived importance. That’s got a Golden Rule ring to it, which might sound corny, but I’m a big believer in treating people like PEOPLE. Everyone has an interesting story to tell; we just need to listen.
When people ask why Matt (far left) can act so strange sometimes, he simply references the people he hung out with in Ohio and that pretty much explains it all.
Name: Matt McNamara
Alter Egos, if any: Phronesis, Mahmahnamahra
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Expensify Job Title/Role: Software Engineer
When did you start working for Expensify? May 2011
What is the most exciting project you’ve completed so far for Expensify? For the Unofficial Finovate After Party, I hacked together a really quick “drinks served” app. Our bartenders used this Android app to visually track the beverages they dished out on our big screen TV. It was exciting because it was a very last-minute idea that ended up being pretty funny and highly inaccurate.
When you’re not fine-tuning expense reports that don’t suck, what projects do you work on in your off-time? I created, and still write for, a satire blog that has a very niche market, yet decent readership. Although I just moved to the Bay Area, I’m working on getting involved with a local Marianist high school to volunteer and help kids who are interested in technology and web development.
Matt, not much unlike this highly accurate artistic representation from 2007, frequently has a large grin and enjoys Beef n’ Rice.
(From the Proust Questionnaire)
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? No service/No WiFi Networks in Range
Who would you have liked to be? John Dorian – I model most of my behavior after him anyway. My first drink at a bar the night I turned 21 was an Appletini in his honor.
What is your favorite color? #FF7119
What is your present state of mind? Pretty relaxed in general, but I’m excited about the all the changes that go along with moving out here.
Who are your favorite heroes of fiction? Scat from Syrup, Neo from The Matrix, and Quailman from Doug.
