[App Request] Business Travel Expense Reimbursement

AggieMike88

AggieMike88

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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
For those who travel for their work or business, what app are you using to track travel expenses that your employer will reimburse you for?

In my pre-salvage yard days, I kept receipts in a small envelope and kept a running log on a small spiral note pad.

But in today's smartphone world, what app is a worthy replacement to that system?
 
We use Abacus. I can enter an expense on my phone and take a picture of it. Accounting approves the expense in Abacus then an ACH transfer is immediately made to my bank account via Abacus to reimburse.

Nice thing is that there is nobody wasting time cutting checks and I don't have to waste time depositing them.

https://www.abacus.com/

I don't use it much since I have a corporate card which I can throw any travel expense on and don't even need to keep a receipt. Somehow the accounting guys figure that part out.
 
jesse said:
I don't use it much since I have a corporate card which I can throw any travel expense on and don't even need to keep a receipt. Somehow the accounting guys figure that part out.
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Almost all hotels, restaurants, airlines... basically the expenses you deal with either provide level 2/3 transaction data (flight info for example) and are coded to a specific industry. This information can be downloaded by finance from the card issuer. Unless you have expenses crossing tax expense lines (e.g. taking employees out to lunch versus tacking a customer out lunch); finance can account for everything correctly.
The real issue audit controls, such that you are not using the company card for a trip to Disney Land. There are multiple ways to handle this issue, but this is where you are more likely to run into no receipt tracking problems.

Tim
 
My former company used Expensable. Hated it. Been gone 5 yrs though.

Current company...we fill out an Excel template when we get back, print it, and submit it with receipts. Then they cut a check. Probably a better way, but no extra infrastructure expense. We're so small I doubt investing in an app would pay off.
 
What's your mission? <- Aircraft oriented question

If it is for your stuff you can use HelloReceipts or the profoundly more expensive NeatReceipts.

If you're looking for a business solution to put your peeps on then we'll need to talk. There are many options, each with their own advantages depending on the back end system you are using.

You know how to find me :)
 
Ravioli said:
What's your mission?
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Personal business activity. The "other company" whose activity that creates the need to travel has stated they will pay my travel expenses.

I wanted to find a simple to use smartphone app (other than spreadsheet) that would allow for capturing the reimbursable expense at the time I do the transaction. Then at the end of the trip, provide a report that I send to them showing what I spent in each category. Capturing an image of the receipt would/should be an integral part of the app.
 
Company credit cards and about once a week I dig the receipts out of my pocket and dump them on my bookkeepers desk (Ok, maybe only every other week). I do write on the receipt, if it is a business lunch (who I was with and what it was for). When I was traveling a bunch (70%), I would separate each trip in to baggies (I usually kept those in my suitcase) and then dumped them on her desk. My brother has an app that he scans the receipt and then throws it away, but I don't remember the name. That is probably a better way of doing it.
 
Our company uses Concur for travel booking/expense reports. It's actually a pretty good system, which has apps for taking pics of receipts and logging any expenses.
 
John221us said:
My brother has an app that he scans the receipt and then throws it away, but I don't remember the name. That is probably a better way of doing it.
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This is essentially what I'm looking for. Since my need for reimbursable business travel is so infrequently, the other systems mentioned are a bit of overkill.
 
AggieMike88 said:
This is essentially what I'm looking for. Since my need for reimbursable business travel is so infrequently, the other systems mentioned are a bit of overkill.
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I asked my brother. He uses Expensify.com and likes it.
 
@AggieMike88 - I think HelloReceipts is your best bet. It'll handle it, and it is free. If that's too thin an app you can try expensables, and then you're into NeatReceipts.

[Don't quote me, but Excel might be the best thing]
 
Our company uses Expensable. It just went thru an upgrade and is not too bad to use once get used to it.
 
We have gone through a bunch and now use Expesnify and from the user side I freakin love it. I snap a picture of the receipt in the app as soon as I get it in hand then can toss the paper then just go in later and put them into a credit card expense report, reimbursement report, assign them to jobs...then all that spits out a PDF that you can archive and syncs with many of the major accounting softwares for the CPA to expense.

Also tracks milage reimbursements in a couple of ways plus we use it for pre diem tracking and reimbursements as well.

I am about to sign up for personal account to digitize all my personal expenses for tax time and to have a digital copy of receipts for purchases.
 
If you an iPhone person, I can HIGHLY recommend BizXpensTrkr. I've been using for almost 5 years and it is outstanding. I don't keep ANY receipts. You snap a picture of the receipt and can enter any details you want including customer, project, etc. Works great internationally and updates exchange rates daily. I submit my expense report monthly and it kicks out an Excel spreadsheet and a PDF with all the receipts numbered and tied to Excel sheet. If you want, you can develop a report format and it will just dump a PDF with everything listed with desired detail and all receipts. For on-line expenses, it is easy to save a PDF on you laptop and tie it to an expense. The developer is extremely active and any time I've had any issue, I drop him a note and he usually responds the same day. Other nice thing is you can set it up to auto-sync to Drop Box or Box, so if you'd ever lose your phone, you are at least not out all the expenses ... makes it easy to pitch the receipts. With such a glowing review, I should say that I'm not associated with them in any way, just a really happy long term customer. It's rare to have such a great experience with an app over such a long time.
 
When I was traveling, two of the companies used Concur and the other one annoyed the hell out of everyone by using paper. :)
 
I use Expensify and it's fine. Probably can do the ACH but we don't. More expensive versions remember your merchant names, which is nice.

I typically keep paper receipts until reimbursement. Surprisingly, my Visa Southwest card can't give me a copy of a receipt (unsigned), which is lame.
 
G-Man said:
I use Expensify and it's fine. Probably can do the ACH but we don't. More expensive versions remember your merchant names, which is nice.

I typically keep paper receipts until reimbursement. Surprisingly, my Visa Southwest card can't give me a copy of a receipt (unsigned), which is lame.
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This
 
We enter our expenses directly in the accounting system and follow up with the paper receipts.

Which reminds me, I need to do that right now.
 
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