Some things in business suck, and nearly any business person will tell you that.  What makes a tool useful is its ability to make sucky things, well…not suck.  Expensify’s stated mission is just that: to make expense reports that don’t suck.

What’s the Problem?

Expense reports are tedious and frustrating.  If you don’t know, expense reports are forms that detail all the expenses an employee incurs because of a business event (trips, meetings, etc.).  Employees must save their receipts, and report every cost they encounter, e.g. hotel room, restaurant, and taxi services.  These receipts must be verified and filed, and the employees reimbursed, or given a tax deduction.  Of course, this process requires a lot of time, for both the employee and the management, to simply maintain, as well as monitor for fraud and other inaccuracies.

What is Expensify?

Expensify is the much needed cure for the traditional headache-inducing expense reporting process.

Expensify is a cloud-based expense report management system, with the goal of making the process easier for both employees, and their managers.  This tool is self-described as “the much needed cure for the traditional headache-inducing expense reporting process.”

Expensify allows users to enter their expenses digitally, including using their online card history.  Rather than painstakingly saving old, crumpled receipts, users can simply snap a picture of the receipt when they make the purchase, and upload it on the mobile app (supported on iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows) where it will be automatically scanned, and the information, as well as the picture, saved.

For administrators, Expensify saves time in many ways.  First, hundreds of transactions may be approved at once.  Managers can reimburse employees using Paypal, Direct Deposit, or payroll, all with no additional fee.  Finally, company policy is enforced on Expensify, including limits based on type of expense, as well as comments required for certain expenditures to explain.

Why Should Entrepreneurs Use It?

As entrepreneurs, we often want to be good at every aspect of our business.  Early on, this is even required, as there’s no one else to do the work.  For the entrepreneur with employees, Expensify is an absolute game-changer.

Expensify reigns in an extremely detailed, busy-work process.  When entrepreneurs find themselves, or other important company figures, spending valuable time on processes such as these, they have less time and ability to execute the broader vision of the company.  At the same time, when this process isn’t done well, quickly, or at all, employees become frustrated, leading to an unhappy work environment (no fun).

Bring the paperwork of expense reporting into the 21st century with Expensify.  It’s simpler, easier, cheaper (time is the only asset you can’t get more of), and more reliable than asking employees to save every single receipt from on the job.  It also saves you, the business-owner from having to be an expert in yet another task.  Some things suck, but expense reporting doesn’t have to.