Automated expense reports for reconciliation

Overview

Automated expense reports provide finance teams with a streamlined way to easily reconcile their organization’s virtual card spending. These expense reports for reconciliation ensure that you can easily review virtual card transactions associated with each account billing cycle, mark “reviewed,” and take action (add missing receipts / add expense categories / sync to ERP) in order to close the books. 

Watch the video for an overview of expense reports for reconciliation.

Note: Expense reports for reconciliation are currently only available on web.

 

How to set your reporting cycle

Owners and Admins can configure the reporting cycle date for each of their registered card accounts from the Expense Settings tab on the Organization Settings page (or on the Expense Reports tab on the Expenses page). 

 

1. From the Home page, hover over your profile and navigate to your Organization Settings. 
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3. Once on the Organization Settings, select the Expense Settings tab. You will see a list of your org’s registered accounts. 

4. Select the account you would like to configure the report cycle for.
   

You will be prompted to select the billing type that best aligns to your credit card billing statement. Extend allows you to choose between two reporting cycle types:

1. Monthly: This type of cycle starts on the 1st of the month and ends on the last day of the month, every month. For example, if you have a monthly billing cycle, this would mean that your billing cycle starts on the 1st of January and ends on the 31st of January. This means that all cleared virtual card transactions from the 1st of the month to the end of the month should be included in your billing statement.
   
   
2. Day of the Month: This type of cycle ends on the same day of the month, every month. This means that all cleared virtual card transactions from within those dates will be included in your billing statement. For example, if you have a day of month billing cycle—let’s say on the 12th—your billing would always end on the 12th of every month (or whichever date you select).

 

If an organization has multiple registered accounts, they will be able to set a reporting cycle for each of their registered accounts.

 

If needed, Owners and Admins can always update or modify their reporting cycle end date to ensure alignment with their credit card statement. They will be able to update the current and the one previous expense report from the Expense Settings at the top right of the page or from each account’s overflow menu. Any changes will apply to expense reports from that point forward.

How to view an expense report

Once a reporting cycle is set for a registered account, Owners and Admins will be able to immediately view an automatically generated expense report for all virtual card transactions related to the registered card. As transactions clear, they will automatically populate this current cycle report. 

 

1. To view your reports, navigate to the Expenses page from the main navigation and head to the Expense Reports tab. Owners and Admins will see a list of all the org’s registered accounts. 

 

2. To access a current report, select the row of the account they wish to view.
   

At any time, select the overflow menu on the right side to access historical expense reports or update an account’s report cycle settings.

3. When an Owner or Admin clicks into an expense report, they will see two key sections of the report:
   1. A high-level overview of the total spend for the reporting cycle in the module at the top of the report. A breakdown of physical and virtual spend is available on hover
   2. A list of cleared virtual and physical card transactions on the current statement cycle

 

Within the transaction list, each transaction will indicate:

1. Review status (either Pending Review, Flagged or Reviewed)
2. Any missing required receipt (if receipt rules have been enabled)
3. Any missing expense categories (if the org is integrated with an accounting platform)
4. If the transaction has been synced to the connected accounting platform (if the an integration is in place)

 

Note: Only organizations with a connected accounting platform—like Netsuite or Quickbooks Online—will be able to view and filter for missing expense categories. 

 

How to reconcile virtual card transactions

Once a reporting cycle is complete, Owners and Admins will receive an automated email notification—as well as a notification in their app Notification Center—letting them know the expense report cycle is complete and the report is ready for reconciliation. The alert will include a direct link to review the report.

 

When an Admin or Owner reviews an expense report, they will be able to take several actions:

• Mark a transaction "Flagged" as a reminder to take action
• Mark a transaction “Reviewed”
• Send receipt reminders on any missing required receipts
• Add or amend expense category tags
• Push transactions to their connected accounting platform
  
  

1. To reconcile transactions:
   1. At any time during the current reporting cycle or after the reporting cycle is complete—the Owner or Admin can select the transaction(s) they would like to review using the checkbox(es) on the left side of the cleared transactions list.
   2. When transactions are selected, a bulk action menu bar will appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing users to update the transaction status.

 

 

Owners and Admins can modify the transaction review status at any time. Once a transaction has been marked as Reviewed, it can be updated and reset to Pending Review or Flagged, as needed. 

 

After all transactions on an expense report are marked “Reviewed”, the expense report status will update to “Reviewed”. If at any time a transaction on the report reverts to “Pending Review” or "Flagged" the expense report status will also revert to reflect the change with a status of “Pending Review.”

 

2. To push transactions to your accounting platform:

1. You can sync transactions to your connected accounting platform at any time during the current reporting cycle or after the reporting cycle is complete, simply select the transaction(s) you would like to sync using the checkbox(es) on the left side. 
2. When transactions are selected, a bulk action menu bar will appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing users to sync their transactions to their connected accounting platform. 

Once a transaction has been synced with your accounting platform, you can no longer edit the expense categories in Extend; this must be done in your accounting platform. You will, however, be able to modify the transaction review status in Extend.

FAQs

 

1. How do I set the reporting cycle for my registered accounts?

Users can set their reporting cycle for an account on the Org Settings > Expense Settings. Users can set a reporting cycle date for each registered account, choosing from options like monthly or a specific date of the month.

 

2. Can I modify the reporting cycle after setting it?

Yes, Admins and Owners can update reporting cycles at any time. Changes will apply to expense reports from that point forward.

 

3. Will physical card transactions be included in the expense reports?

Yes, physical card transactions are included in the expense reports. You can find them by filtering for transaction origin of "Physical". 

 

4. What actions can users take within an expense report?

Users can review transactions and mark them as "Flagged" or "Reviewed", send receipt reminders for missing receipts, add or modify expense category tags, and push transactions to a connected accounting platform.

 

5. How do I review transactions?

Select the transactions you wish to modify using the checkboxes. Use the bulk action menu bar to update the transaction status or sync transactions to your connected accounting platform.

 

6. Will I be notified when an expense report is ready for review? 

Yes, Owners and Admins will receive an email notification and notification in their app Notification Center when an expense report cycle is complete and the report is ready for review.

 

7. What should I do if a transaction status changes after marking it as “Reviewed”?

Users can update a transaction status at any time. Select the transaction(s) you would like to update and use the bulk action menu bar to update the review status.

 

8. What cycle should users choose?

Users will want to choose a reporting cycle that aligns with their credit card billing cycle to ensure the automated expense reports align with the credit card statement(s). Users can choose between a Monthly or Day of the Month reporting cycle in Extend.

Monthly: This type of cycle starts on the 1st of the month and ends on the last day of the month, every month. For example, if you have a monthly billing cycle this would mean that your billing cycle starts on the 1st of January and ends on the 31st of January. This means that all cleared virtual card transactions within the first of the month to the end of the month will be included in your billing statement.
Day of the Month: This type of cycle ends on the same day of the month, every month. This means that all cleared virtual card transactions from within those dates will be included in your billing statement. For example, if you have a day of month billing cycle set for the 12th, your billing would always end on the 12th of every month.

 

9. Where can I find my credit card billing cycle information to curate my automated expense reports in Extend?

Users should check their credit card billing statement in order to identify their cycle dates. The easiest way to determine the cycle is to look at their most recent credit card statement. The statement will list the start and end dates of the billing cycle, often near the top of the document. 

For example: If your billing cycle dates display as "Billing Cycle: May 1, 2024 - May 31, 2024," you should select the monthly cycle type. If your billing cycle dates display as "Billing Cycle: May 13, 2024 - Jun 12, 2024," you should select the day of the month cycle type for the 12th.

10. What if my credit card statement varies due to skipping weekends? 

To ensure automated expense reports align with your credit card billing statement, the report cycle end date will automatically skip ending on a weekend date. 

 

11. Can I look at a report before my cycle is complete?

Yes, Admins and Owners can view a report while it is in progress. 

 

12. How do I access past reports?

Users can access their historical reports at any time. To access their historical reports, users should click on the overflow menu of the account they would like to view. They can then select Historical Reports to be taken to a list of all of the reports for that account.

 

13. What if my report doesn’t match my statement?

If an automated reporting cycle doesn’t match a user’s credit card statement, Admins and Owners can use the report date picker to update the report cycle at any time. To update the cycle date of a report, users will select the updated end date from the date picker on the report. Changes will apply to expense reports from that point forward.