This guide will help clients that want to configure policies and sync expenses from Expensify to Deel for their EOR employees and independent contractors.
This one-way sync will establish Expensify as your single source of truth for all worker expenses.
In this article:
About the Expensify integration
Configuring Your Expensify Policies
Matching Your Expensify Profiles in Deel
Block Contractors and Employees from Submitting Expenses on Deel
How Does Expense Synching Work?
About the Expensify Integration
With Deel’s Expensify integration you can use Expensify’s approval flows to ensure your group gets paid on time through Deel.
This process will involve matching user profiles and expense policies in Expensify to user profiles and policies in Deel.
Once connected, Deel will scan for approved expenses for matched users who are included in any policies you have selected for this integration enabling Deel to pull those expenses into the platform for reimbursement.
This is a one-way sync. Expenses and receipts logged and approved in Expensify will be synched to Deel. But this will not enable expenses logged in Deel to be synched to Expensify.
Deel pulls data from Expensify several times during the day, but syncs aren't instantaneous. You can trigger a sync on demand by clicking the sync button in the integration settings.
Before you begin
Please ensure that you have the following permissions:
- You must be an Org Admin, IT Developer Admin, or Integrations Admin-Bookkeeper on Deel to set up this integration.
- Expensify Admin permissions for any policies you want to integrate with Deel
- A paid Expensify subscription in order to approve expenses and sync them to Deel
Expensify Admin permissions can be complex.
Please refer to Expensify’s Introduction to Integration and information about admin capabilities.
Configuring Your Expensify Policies
Before you begin setup up of the integration on Deel you must first correctly configure your policies in Expensify.
You need to take the following steps in Expensify.
You can learn more about creating and configuring Expensify policies in the Expensify Community Forum. You can access your policies in Expensify under the settings tab in the navigation menu.
✅ Step 1 - Synchronize your currencies
Deel requires that the report currency match the contract currency for each employee or contractor that will be submitting expenses. The report currency can be found in the policy settings under the reports tab in Expensify.
You should create at least one policy for each currency that your independent contractors and Deel EORs are invoicing you in.
For example, if you have Independent Contractors and Deel-EOR employees in European countries using Euros, Canada, and Brazil, you need to have at least three policies - one for each invoicing currency.
✅ Step 2 - Set receipt thresholds for Deel-EOR employees
Deel requires a receipt for every EOR employee expense reimbursed through the platform. For each policy covering Deel-EOR employees set the receipt requirement threshold to zero to ensure that the employee submitting the expense for reimbursement includes a receipt.
Expenses for Deel-EOR employees that do not include a receipt will generate a sync error. Group members will be notified of sync errors via email and through the platform. You can also review all sync errors through the settings tab of your integration console.
To set your receipt policy, return to Expensify and access your policies under Settings>Policies. Select the policy for your Deel-EOR employees, and then click Expenses. Set the Receipt Required Amount to zero.
✅ Step 3 - Verify user policies
Ensure that each user in Expensify is covered by a policy that matches the currency of that employee’s contract on Deel.
Connecting Expensify to Deel
✅ Step 1 - Select Apps & Integrations from your home page
Select Expensify and click New Connection to begin.
You must be an Org Admin, IT Developer Admin, or Integrations Admin-Bookkeeper to set up this integration.
✅ Step 2 - Obtain your Expensify Partner Credentials
Your Expensify Partner Credentials will be used to authenticate your integration. These credentials are not the same as your expensify login and password.
To obtain your credentials go to www.expensify.com/tools/integrations/ and sign-in to your account. Your credentials include a PartnerUserID and a PartnerUserSecret.
✅ Step 3 - Connect to Expensify
Return to Deel and enter your Expensify integration credentials.
Click Continue & Authenticate.
✅ Step 4 - Activate your policies in Deel
To sync your expenses to Deel you need to activate the policies you configured in Expensify.
If you haven't configured your policies yet, you can click exit and save your progress. Return to the integration console at any time to continue. You can also edit these policies later from the settings tab.
Deel will display all your Expensify policies here. You only need to activate the policies connected with employees or contractors paid through Deel.
Once you have selected the policies, click Continue & Activate.
✅ Step 5 - Review Matched Users
In order for expenses to sync we need to establish a connection between each of your Expensify users and their corresponding profiles in Deel.
Deel will attempt to match users based on email addresses in both Expensify and Deel.
Because Expensify accounts are typically connected to a work email and Deel accounts are typically connected to a personal email your group can assist in this process by adding their work emails as an alternate email address to their Deel profiles.
If your group members are using the same email for both their Expensify and Deel profiles then Deel should match these profiles automatically.
Instructions for your group as well as additional information on using Expensify can be found in our articles:
You can review your matched and unmatched users now and click Finish & Go To Settings to complete the integration set-up.
This is how your your contract overview page will appear after expenses from Expensify are synced:
Matching Expensify Profiles in Deel
When your group members have added their alternate email to their Deel profiles, you can trigger a sync between Deel and Expensify by clicking the Sync button found under the settings tab.
Please note that currently Deel does not back-sync to Expensify. This means that expenses approved in Expensify before a user is matched to Deel will not be synched to Deel. Please ensure your users are matched in Deel before approving their expenses.
Block Expense Submissions on Deel
To establish Expensify as your single source of truth and prevent duplication errors, you should block your employees and contractors from submitting their expenses on Deel.
By enabling the Block Expense Submission toggle, your employees and contractors will be unable to log expenses on Deel and will instead be directed to log their expenses on Expensify.
To enable this feature, log in to your Expensify Integration console and select the Settings tab.
From here, enable the Block expense submissions in Deel toggle.
How Does Expense Synching Work?
For an expenses to be synched to Deel, all five of the following conditions must be met:
- The user profile must be matched
- The user must be covered by an Expensify policy activated in Deel
- The report that the expense is in must be 'final approved' in Expensify
- The currency that the report is in must match the contract currency of the user profile
- The integration must be active
For this reason, we recommend ensuring all your group members in Deel are properly matched to their Expensify profiles, and that they are covered by an expense policy before you approve any expenses.
Deel does not back-sync at this time. Any expenses approved for unmatched profiles or profiles not included in a policy will not be synched to Deel.
What expense data is synched to Deel?
When expenses are synched to Deel we are capturing the following information from Expensify and inputting it into the description field:
- Expensify Description
- Expensify Expenses Category
- Expensify Report ID
We are mapping over the dates from Expensify as follows:
- Expense date > date the expense was incurred
- Expense approval date > date of approval
- Expense submission date > the date the expense was synched to Deel
Deel is also importing supporting receipts documentation included in final approved expense reports.
About Synching Errors
Synching errors may arise if a file size exceeds limits and other issues related to your integration.
You will be alerted to the existence of a synching error through a notification on your Expensify Integration Console.
Selecting View Errors will open a list of all errors for all users connected to your group members on Deel and provide information on how to resolve them. Individual users will also receive an email from Deel advising them of a sync error.
Deel will sync with Expensify periodically throughout the day. When you or your group member have taken steps to address the error you can trigger a sync by clicking the sync button so you can verify that the error is resolved.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know which user profiles have not been matched to Deel?
You can view a list of unmatched profiles from the Settings tab in the Expensify integrations console. The section titled Employee Matching Status will display all matched and unmatched profiles. For unmatched profiles, please follow the steps in Connecting Expensify Users in Deel.
How frequently are expenses synched with Deel?
The integration will sync every 4 hours. You can also trigger a sync on demand by clicking the sync button in the integration settings. This is useful if you are resolving synching errors or matching user profiles.
Which contracts and users are supported?
Deel supports expense synching expenses for both Deel-EOR and Independent Contractors.
How do I approve expenses?
Deel only pulls approved expenses. Please review and approve expenses in Expensify in order to sync to Deel. There is no need to re-approve the expenses in Deel.
What happens if I need to un-approve an expense?
Once an expense is approved in Expensify it is synchronized to Deel and cannot be unapproved in Deel. You can use the payment adjustment feature in Deel to correct for any un-approved expenses.
Can an Expensify User be included in more than one policy?
Yes - provided that the currency for both policies matches the Deel contract currency for that user. If a user is included in two (or more) Expensify policies, Deel will sync to both - or all - of them.