To use Expend with QuickBooks, you need to connect your company's Expend and QuickBooks accounts and configure some syncing options. This only needs to be done once (but you can make changes in the future if necessary).
To set up your QuickBooks integration:
Go to Expend dashboard at app.expend.io.
In the dashboard menu, click Integrations, and then click QuickBooks.
Follow the steps to connect to QuickBooks and configure syncing. All setup and configuration for syncing Expend with QuickBooks is done on this page.
Before you start
Please note: You need a QuickBooks plan that is suitable for a limited company. The most basic plan that can be used is the “Simple Start” plan. The QuickBooks integration cannot be used with the “Self-Employed” plan (for sole traders).
Ensure that you have set up VAT in your QuickBooks account. In QuickBooks, click Taxes, and then click Set up VAT, if necessary.
When you set up the integration, Expend automatically creates an account named Expend Account in your Chart of Accounts. Please do not add an account in QuickBooks with this name.
1. Turn on QuickBooks syncing
The QuickBooks Syncing box shows whether Expend is currently connected to QuickBooks.
Connecting to QuickBooks
Click the Connect button to connect your QuickBooks account and your Expend account. You’ll be redirected to QuickBooks.
Sign in to your QuickBooks account and click Connect to authorise your data to be securely shared with Expend. You’ll be returned to the Expend dashboard to continue setup.
Disconnecting from QuickBooks
To disconnect and stop syncing, simply click the Disconnect button.
2. Set control accounts
Expend needs a number of new accounts in your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts. These are used to record transactions made with Expend cards, to record expense claims created in Expend, and to keep track of money loaded into your float account.
Note: This step only needs to be completed the first time you set up syncing.
The following control accounts are required:
Fund Control for transactions loading money to your float account
Uncategorised Expenses for Expend card transactions not yet assigned a category or for which the category isn’t mapped to a QuickBooks account
Rejected Expenses for transactions submitted as expenses but rejected during expense reviewal
You can create these accounts directly in your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts. We recommend creating new accounts instead of using existing accounts. Note the required account type for each:
Fund Control – Current Asset account in QuickBooks
Uncategorised Expenses – Expense account in QuickBooks
Rejected Expenses – Current Asset account in QuickBooks
To set the control accounts:
Create the accounts in QuickBooks as described above.
On the Expend dashboard, go back to the QuickBooks page.
Refresh the page so that the new accounts can be retrieved from QuickBooks.
Go to the Set Control Accounts box
For each control account, select the appropriate QuickBooks account from the drop-down list
Click Save.
3. Set tax mapping
In the Set Tax Mappings box, select which of the tax codes in QuickBooks should be the default for the VAT options in Expend. Click Save.
4. Set account mappings
When you submit an expense report for a transaction in Expend, you can select a category for that expense, such as Travel, Entertainment, Office supplies, and so on. Using the category you selected, Expend files it to the appropriate account in your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts. In this section, you can set up which Expend category maps to which QuickBooks account.
5. Expense Sync Settings
Specify at which point you want Expend card transactions to sync to QuickBooks:
The transaction is final, and you’ve approved or rejected it (default)
This is the recommended setting. The transaction is ‘final’ when the merchant has taken the funds. Once you’ve approved or rejected the expense report, and the transaction is final, we will sync it.The transaction is final
With this setting, the expense will sync when the transaction is finalised, without review (that is, without being approved or rejected).
Both options require the transaction to be final. This ensures that we sync the final amount (the amount can sometimes change, for example due to changes in FX rates) and also prevents reversed transactions from syncing.
6. Advanced settings
6.1. Expense reviewal
You may want to review and approve expense reports from your organisation’s Expend card users before letting them sync to QuickBooks. If so, set the slider for Require expense reports to be reviewed before syncing them to the ON position. Transactions will still sync, but expense details will only sync once an expense has been approved. If an expense is rejected, the transaction will be moved to the Rejected Expenses control account (see 2, above) so that it can be reclaimed from the cardholder.
Note: If you change this setting in the future without making other changes to your configuration, please make sure you still click Save to apply the change.
6.2. Start date
Under Sync expenses from specific date, enter the date from which expenses created in Expend should be synced. Expenses before this date won’t be synced to QuickBooks. If you don’t specify a date, all expenses will be synced. This will only apply the first time, when you set up your configuration.
7. Set Corporate Cards Mappings
Only for organisations using corporate cards.
For each card, select the payment account to use in QuickBooks for expenses raised from card transactions.
If you are setting up the integration for the first time, the relevant bank accounts may not be listed. If this is the case, please skip this section for the time being. Ensure all other fields are completed and click Save at the bottom of the page. You can then return here to set up your corporate card mappings.
8. Save your configuration
Click Save to finish and save your configuration. If you make changes in the future, your updated settings will apply to all new transactions and expenses.
Not an Expend customer? Learn more about our click-free QuickBooks integration here.