Expend FAQs: Everything you need to know

If you’re evaluating expense management software, you likely have questions about how it works in practice.

This page covers the most common questions about Expend, including company cards, expense claims, approvals, integrations, security, and pricing.

Whether you’re replacing spreadsheets or switching from another provider, these answers will help you understand how Expend fits into your finance processes.

FAQs with Expend media

General

What is Expend?

Expend is a UK-based expense management software that helps businesses control, capture, and approve expenses in one platform. It combines cards, expense claims, approvals, and accounting integrations to reduce manual finance work.

Expend is designed for businesses that want to replace manual processes with structured business expense software, especially finance teams managing growing spend. It works well for companies needing better visibility, control, and faster approvals.

Yes, Expend is built as small business expense software, helping teams control spend without complex processes. It reduces admin while keeping expense tracking simple and compliant.

Yes, Expend supports multi-site expense management with flexible controls for teams, locations, and approval structures. It’s designed as expense software for growing businesses that need scalable processes. You can add new members - or even entire teams - to your Expend account in a few seconds, so as your teams grow, so will your Expend account.

Expend is a spreadsheet expense management alternative that automates submission, approvals, and reporting in real time. Unlike spreadsheets, it reduces errors, removes manual tracking, and gives finance teams full visibility.

Expend focuses on combining policy control, approvals, and spend tracking in one platform, rather than just cards or reimbursements. You can compare directly using these guides:

Both. Expend is primarily expense management software, with added spend control features like cards and policies. It focuses on improving submission, approval, and accounting processes rather than just payment tracking.

Yes, Expend is primarily UK expense management software, supporting VAT handling and compliance requirements. It is designed to align with HMRC expectations for expense tracking.

Cards and Payments

Does Expend provide company expense cards?

Yes, Expend provides company expense cards UK that allow employees to spend within set rules. Cards can be controlled and tracked in real time.

Expend cards can be used anywhere that a Mastercard debit card is accepted, including millions of locations worldwide, and online.

Yes, Expend lets you connect business cards to expense software using Card Connect. This allows you to capture and manage transactions from existing Visa or Mastercard cards.

Card Connect is a feature that lets you connect Visa and Mastercard business card spending data feeds to Expend. It pulls transactions into the platform so they can be categorised, reviewed, and approved.

Yes, you can set company card spending limits based on user, team, or policy rules on Expend cards. This helps control spend before it happens. See how: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/2579963-spending-policies

Yes, Expend cards can be used for business spend abroad and overseas expenses. Transactions are tracked in real time within the platform.

Expend offers competitive FX handling, and depending on your plan, may provide 0% FX business card options. Check pricing for details: https://expend.com/pricing

Yes, Expend supports Apple Pay and Google Pay with Expend cards, allowing employees to make payments securely using mobile devices.

Lost or stolen cards can be frozen or cancelled instantly to prevent misuse. A replacement can then be issued quickly. Learn more: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/1280220-lost-card


Expend may be a good Spendesk alternative if your business wants flexible expense management across multiple payment methods, including Expend cards, connected business cards, mileage, reimbursements, receipts, approvals and accounting sync.

Yes, Expend supports virtual cards for subscriptions, allowing businesses to control and track recurring spend more effectively. Physical Expend cards can also be used for subscription payments.

Expenses, Receipts and Mileage

Can Expend manage mileage claims?

Yes, Expend includes mileage tracking software for business, helping employees log and submit travel expenses accurately with GPS tracking.

Yes, Expend provides an automatic mileage tracking app to simplify travel expense capture.

Yes, employees can use the mobile app for receipt upload and expense submission on the go.

Yes, Expend uses receipt scanning expense software powered by AI to extract key data from receipts and invoices.

Yes, receipts can be submitted using email receipts expense software and automatically processed. Learn more: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/3371990-submitting-documents-by-email-for-scanning

Expend can enforce rules for missing receipt expense claims, by reminding employees to attach receipts to their expense reports on a regular basis until completed. Expense policy controls can be set up to prevent submission until completed, too. This helps maintain compliance.

Yes, Expend supports splitting expenses across VAT rates and categories for accurate accounting. Learn more: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/2082788-split-an-expense

Approvals and Controls

Can Expend support multi-step approvals?

Yes, Expend provides expense approval workflow software with multi-step approval routing.

Yes, Expend supports team-based expense approval, allowing rules to vary by department or structure.

Yes, Expend acts as expense policy software, enforcing rules at submission stage. Spending controls can also be set up for Expend card users, setting budgets and controls of when cards can be used e.g. weekdays only.

Yes, Expend can enforce mandatory receipt expense software rules, ensuring required data is captured.

Yes, Expend includes a mobile expense approval app so managers can review and approve on the go.

Yes, finance teams can review expenses in bulk, speeding up approval and reducing manual effort.

Accounting and Finance

Does Expend integrate with Xero?

Yes, Expend offers a Xero expense management integration to sync expenses automatically. Learn more: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/788602-set-up-your-expend-integration-with-xero

Yes, Expend provides QuickBooks expense management integration for seamless accounting sync. Learn more: https://expend.com/quickbooks-page

Expend supports multiple systems through expense software accounting integrations and CSV exports, including Business Central, Sage Intact, Sage Cloud, NetSuite, Zoho Books, and Workday.

Yes, Expend allows CSV export for flexible reporting and data sharing. Learn more: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/2971300-csv-export-formats

Expend helps manage VAT through accurate capture and categorisation, supporting VAT expense management software processes.

Yes, Expend supports month-end expense reconciliation software, helping finance teams close faster with cleaner data.

Yes, Expend simplifies company card reconciliation by linking transactions, receipts, and approvals in one place.

Yes, Expend supports expense management for accountants managing multiple clients.

Reporting and Visibility

Can I report spend by team, user, category or project?

Yes, Expend provides detailed business spend reporting across multiple dimensions.

Yes, Expend provides real-time company card reporting, so finance teams can see transactions as they happen across all users and cards. This gives immediate visibility into spend, helping identify unusual activity, track budgets, and avoid surprises at month end.

Yes, Expend supports department expense tracking, allowing you to group and monitor spend by team, cost centre, or business unit. This makes it easier to manage budgets, compare performance, and understand where money is being spent across the organisation.

Yes, Expend enables board-level expense reporting with exportable data that can be used in finance reports and board packs. You can generate summaries of spend by category, team, or timeframe to support decision-making and financial oversight.

Yes, Expend allows subscription spend review by tracking transactions at a supplier level, including recurring payments. This helps businesses identify unused subscriptions, control SaaS costs, and improve visibility over ongoing spend.

Security and Compliance

Is Expend secure?

Yes, Expend is built with strong expense management software security standards, including secure data handling, controlled access, and protection of funds and transactions. The platform is designed to meet regulatory requirements and safeguard both financial and user data.

Yes, Expend supports two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security when accessing accounts. This helps protect against unauthorised access by requiring a second verification step alongside login credentials.

Expend follows GDPR requirements as GDPR-compliant expense management software, ensuring employee data is handled securely and transparently. Data is protected through secure storage, controlled permissions, and strict access controls.

Yes, Expend provides a complete expense software audit trail, recording every action taken across expenses, approvals, and transactions. This gives finance teams full visibility for compliance, reporting, and audit purposes.

Cards can be cancelled and access removed quickly as part of the employee leaver card process. Learn more: https://help.expend.com/en/articles/2075206-cancelling-an-expend-card

Expend helps prevent company card fraud through a combination of real-time controls, transaction monitoring, and user-level restrictions.

Onboarding

How much does Expend cost?

Pricing depends on your plan and usage. See our expense management software pricing here: https://expend.com/pricing

No, there is not a setup fee.

Most businesses can get started with Expend quickly, depending on how they plan to use it. For example, if you’re using Card Connect or out-of-pocket reimbursements, setup can often be completed in under an hour. More advanced configurations - such as expense policies, approval workflows, and accounting integrations - may take longer, but are supported with onboarding guidance to ensure everything is set up correctly.

Yes, Expend provides expense management onboarding support to help teams get set up quickly and correctly. This includes guidance on configuring policies, approvals, and integrations, as well as step-by-step video tutorials available on our YouTube channel to support each stage of setup and adoption. Visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@expend929

Yes, we can help you move from manual tracking to a more controlled, automated process.

Yes, Expend supports migration from platforms such as Pleo, Soldo, Expensify, Spendesk, and Payhawk. Finance teams can transition users and processes into Expend, helping minimise disruption while improving control and visibility.

Contact Information

How do I book a demo to learn more?

Simply enter your details and we will be in touch to introduce ourselves and learn about your business. Alternatively, you can enter your details then book a time using the calendar.

Absolutely! We don’t use chatbots - our UK based customer support team is made up of real people ready to help you with your questions. We have a 100% customer satisfaction rating that is consistent month on month - and has been for years! You can check out our glowing reviews on Trustpilot and Reviews.io.

Yes, we have a UK based Customer Care team who are available through your mobile app and dashboard, just tap the Chat icon to start a conversation.

We also have a library of help videos available on our Youtube channel, or you can find step-by-step help guides and video tours under the 'Resources' section on our website, available 24/7.

We are available Monday to Friday between 9am - 6pm. If you need support outside of these hours, you can find answers by searching our help guides or watching our tutorial videos.

If you have a complaint, you can contact our Customer Support team via Live Chat, who will do their best to resolve it for you. Customer complaints about Expend Prepaid Mastercards are subject to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can find out more at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/.

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