You can add tracking details to expenses and individual expense items. Tracking groups and options can be imported from, and synced with, your accounting platform (QuickBooks or Xero), or you can create separate tracking groups and options in Expend.
When you complete an expense, your tracking groups are available on each expense item (under Tracking). Each group contains options, and you can select an option to assign it to your expense item.
Before you start
QuickBooks users
Only QuickBooks Plus users will have access to classes and tracking.
Ensure that the following are On in your settings:
Advanced > Categories > Track classes
Expenses > Track expenses and items by customer
Expenses > Make expenses and items billable
Getting started
In the sidebar menu, go to MANAGE, click Settings, and select Tracking Groups.
NOTE: A Client group is present by default.
Setting up your Clients group
If you have connected your accounting platform to Expend, you can import your Customers into the Clients group. Alternatively, you can manage a list of clients in Expend.
QuickBooks users: If you have Projects associated with Customers, these will also be imported into the Clients group.
Under Client, click Settings.
In the drop-down list, choose the source of your list of clients – either your accounting platform (QuickBooks or Xero) or Expend.
Click Update.
You can change the source of the options in the Clients group, if required, by following the same steps.
Adding a client
If you manage your clients in Expend (that is, you didn’t import them from your accounting platform), you can add clients in the web app:
Under Client, click + Tracking Option.
Under Option Name, enter the name of the client
Click Create.
The new client will now be available as a tracking option on expenses and can be assigned to expense items.
Adding tracking groups and options
You can import tracking groups and their options from your accounting platform, or create groups and options in Expend. Imported groups are synced, so that when you make changes on your accounting platform, these changes will be reflected in Expend when the systems are synchronised. Please note that changes aren’t synced immediately.
What can be imported?
QuickBooks: You can import Projects, Customers and Classes from QuickBooks. Projects and Customers will be imported to the Client tracking group. All classes and their sub-classes will be imported as a single tracking group into Expend.
Xero: You can import Tracking Categories and their options from Xero. A tracking category in Xero corresponds to a tracking croup in Expend.
Importing tracking groups and options
On the Tracking Groups page, click + Tracking Group in the upper right corner.
In the drop-down list, select your accounting platform.
Select the group to import.
Click Import.
Making changes to imported groups
To add or change any of the options in an imported group, please visit your accounting platform and make the necessary changes there. Expend will retrieve changes when the systems are synchronised.
Creating tracking groups and options in Expend
If you create a tracking group in Expend, you can manage everything in the Expend web app, and changes will be available immediately to users. You can also import a list of options from a CSV file. While the options can be assigned to expenses, they aren’t currently synced to accounting platforms that are connected.
To create a group:
On the Tracking Groups page, click + Tracking Group in the upper right corner.
In the drop-down list, select Create in Expend.
Enter a name for the group.
Click Create.
The group will now be visible on the Tracking Groups page.
To add an option:
Find the group on the Tracking Groups page and click + Tracking Option.
Enter the option name. This is the value that users will be able to assign to an expense item.
Click Create.
The group will now be available in the tracking group to which it belongs.
Importing options from a CSV file
You can import a list of options from a CSV file to an Expend tracking group. Below is an example of a file that can be imported:
The CSV file format is as follows:
The first line is a header line and won't be imported.
Each line contains the tracking option and a status (
true/yesorfalse/no).The status is optional; you can leave it out and have just the tracking option.
The value of the status field affects tracking options as follows:trueoryeswill enable an existing option.
Or, if the option doesn't exist yet, it will be added to the list of options.falseornowill disable an existing option.
But, if the option doesn't already exist, it won't be imported in this case.
To import options from a CSV file:
Optional: Click + Tracking Group, select Create in Expend, enter a name, and click + Create.
Go to the tracking group and click Import Options.
Click inside the Click to Upload CSV box and select the file to import.
Check the preview and, if it looks correct, click Confirm Import.
Managing your groups and options
Renaming groups and options
For Expend groups only, you can rename the group and individual options.
To rename a group, click the Settings button below its name. You can change the name on the form that opens. Click Update to apply the changes.
To rename an option, click Edit next to the option name. You can change the name on the form that opens. Click Update to apply the changes.
For imported groups, changes need to be made on the accounting platform. These changes will be synced to Expend when the systems are synchronised.
Making a group unavailable
To temporarily prevent users from being able to select any options in a group, you can disable it.
On the Tracking Groups page, find the group you want to make unavailable.
Click the Settings button below the group name.
Click Disable.
Users will no longer be able to select any options from the group. The option will no longer be available to users. If an option from the group was assigned to an expense item previously, it will remain assigned.
To make all the options in a group available again, click Settings and then click Enable.
Hiding individual options
For Expend groups only, you can make individual options unavailable to users, while other options in the same group remain available.
Click Edit next to the option name.
Click Disable.
The option will no longer be available to users. If the option was assigned to an expense item previously, it will remain assigned.
To make an option available again, click Edit next to the option name and then click Enable.
Archiving groups
Archiving a group will completely remove it from Expend and you will no longer see it in the web app.
On the Tracking Groups page, find the group you want to archive.
Click the Settings button below the group name.
Click Archive.
The group will no longer be available in the web app, and also not to users when creating or editing expenses. However, any options from the group that were assigned to expense items previously will remain assigned unless a new option is selected.
If you archive a group that you imported from your accounting platform, you will be able to import it again.