The Free Plan
What is the Free Plan?
The free plan is ideal for start-ups and small businesses to manage expenses. With the Free Plan, a workspace admin can set their team up with Expensify Cards, reimburse cash expenses, send invoices, and manage bills, all for free! You will have total visibility and control over all spending associated with your workspace in real time.
Features Included with the Free Plan
- Expensify Cards for all employees
- Invoicing
- Bill Pay
- Unlimited receipt scanning for everyone in the company
- Free next-day ACH reimbursements for cash expenses
- Up to 4% cash back
- Free corporate travel booking
Setting Up the Free Plan
- Navigate to new.expensify.com, enter your company email address, and set a password
- Click the green “+” button and select New workspace
Once you’ve created your Workspace, you will receive a message from Concierge encouraging you to chat with your Setup Specialist. Click the link in the message, and your designated Setup Specialist will guide you through how to configure your company setup.
Once you’ve completed your company setup, you should have completed the following tasks:
- Connected a business bank account (Settings menu > Click Bank account and follow the prompts).
- Invited members to the workspace
- Assigned Expensify Cards
Inviting Members to the Free Plan
- Navigate to the Settings Menu and click Members to invite your team. You can invite employees one at a time, or you can invite multiple users by listing out their email addresses separated by a comma
- To use the Expensify Card, you must invite them to your workspace via your company email address (i.e., admin@companyemail.com and NOT admin@gmail.com).
Managing the Free Plan
Workspace Settings
To access your workspace settings, click your profile icon and then on your workspace name. This settings menu allows you to manage your workspace members, issue additional Expensify Cards, and utilize this plan’s various bill pay and payment options.
Paying an Expense Report
- Once a user creates an expense it will automatically be shared with you in a Processing report.
- Pay expenses directly through Expensify by choosing ‘Reimburse > via Direct Deposit (ACH)` in a report on www.expensify.com or by choosing ‘Pay with Expensify’ in a payment request on new.expensify.com.
- Notify your user that you’ll pay them manually outside of Expensify by choosing ‘Reimburse > I’ll do it manually’ in a report on www.expensify.com or choosing ‘Pay Elsewhere’ in a payment request on new.expensify.com.
- Reports with only non-reimbursable expenses on them have the option to ‘Mark as Closed’ in the report on www.expensify.com or ‘Mark as Done’ in the payment request on new.expensify.com.
Changing Submitted Expenses
Request an edit an expense or remove an expense before you pay, you can let your user know by making a comment in the Report History section of their Processing report or chatting with them on new.expensify.com.
Managing Expenses
Creating an Expense
- You can create an expense either by swiping the Expensify card or just smartscan a receipt!
- Once you create an expense it will be automatically added to a report and shared with your admin.
- You can edit or delete any expense that hasn’t been paid or closed by your admin.
Getting paid for Expenses
- Automatic submission is already set up, so your admin can pay you back immediately once you create an expense.
- Your admin will get a notification when you send them a new expense, but you can also remind them to pay you by making a comment in the Report History section of your Processing report or chatting with them on new.expensify.com.
FAQ
Do I need a business bank account to use the Free Plan?
You will need a US business checking account if you want to enable the Expensify Card and set up direct ACH reimbursement. You will need to take a few steps to verify your business bank account and connect it to Expensify. You will also need to set aside some time and have your ID ready. If you’re not in the US, you can still use the Free Plan, but the Expensify Card and direct reimbursement will not be available.
Can my workspace have more than one Admin?
The Expensify Workplace only allows for one admin (the workspace creator).
I am on a paid plan, can I switch to a Free Plan?
You can set up a Free Plan, but you must honor any active subscription you have also. If you’re on a paid plan, it is likely you want more functionality than what the Free Plan offers such as a direct connection with an accounting integration and approval workflows.
Can I get cashback on Expensify Card purchases if I have a free plan?
You can get 1% credited back to your settlement account once you spend over $25,000 per month across all cards and 2% when you spend over $250,000!
Can I switch the workspace currency on the Free Plan? It looks set to USD
Yes, you can change the currency of the Free Plan by going to Avatar > [Workspace Name] > General settings > Default currency.
We do require a US business bank account for reimbursements and Expensify Card settlements though, so if you have a business bank account linked to your account, then the currency of the Free Plan will be USD.
Is a free plan available to people outside the USA?
Yes! You can use the free plan anywhere in the world to track expenses, send invoices etc. Just remember, anything that requires a verified business bank account (such as ACH reimbursement and the Expensify Card) is only available to those with a US checking account!
Can I integrate the free plan with my accounting package?
No. In order to use our accounting sync, you will need to update to a paid plan
With the Free Plan, can I add my own categories?
Categories are standardized on the Free Plan and can’t be edited. Custom categories and tags or accounting system integration are available on a paid plan.
With the Free Plan, can I export reports using a custom format?
The Free Plan offers standard report export formats. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to create a custom export format.
Can I change the mileage rate or unit used for distance tracking?
Yes. The workspace admin can access the rate and unit settings by going to Avatar > [Workspace name] > Reimburse expenses > Track distance.
Can I add non-Expensify cardholders to my Workspace?
Yes. You can invite any user to your Workspace. Just click invite and enter their email and they will be invited to download the app and join!
Expenses are automatically shared with the admin on a Processing report on the Free Plan, can I change this?
No. Expense reports submitted on the Free Plan are set to submit automatically and do not allow for approvals. Different Scheduled Submit settings are available on our paid plans.
How do I give a user I invited to my Workspace an Expensify Card?
You can give a user an Expensify Card by going to the Company Cards Page on expensify.com and setting a card limit >$0. Please note that in order to give a user a card, they must be using a private company email address (i.e. name@companyname.com NOT name@gmail.com)
Can I use a different bank account to the one I have added for some of the features in the workspace?
No. The bank account you have added will be used to issue corporate cards, reimburse expenses, collect invoices, and pay bills!
Can I upgrade my Free Workspace to a Paid Workspace or do I need to create a new one?
There is no way to upgrade a workspace, so you would need to create a new Workspace. Paid workspaces have more functionalities than what the Free Plan offers, such as a direct connection with an accounting integration and approval workflows.
Can I create more than one Processing report at a time?
No. To keep things simple, we only allow one Processing report per user at a time. If you need to have more than one report at a time, our paid plans support unlimited reports.
A user has added an expense I need to change before I pay it, how do I let them know?
Users can edit and delete expenses on Processing reports. If you need something changed, let them know by commenting in the Report History section of the report on expensify.com or by chatting with them in new.expensify.com.
Can I ‘Reopen’ a report once it’s Reimbursed or Closed?
No. Once an admin reimburses or closes a report, it cannot be ‘reopened’, but you can always comment on a report to add context.
I accidentally reimbursed a report too soon. Can I cancel the reimbursement?
Depending on how quickly you report it to us, we may be able to help cancel a reimbursement. Chat Concierge to see if we can help cancel a reimbursement.
As an admin, can I edit users’ expenses and delete them from reports?
No. Only users can edit and delete expenses on the Free plan. Admin control of submitted expenses on a workspace is a feature of our paid plans. If you need something changed, let the user know by commenting in the Report History section of the report on www.expensify.com or by chatting with them in new.expensify.com.
