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
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 the following permissions:
- Must be an Org Admin, IT Developer Admin, or Integrations Admin on Deel to set up this integration.
- Expensify Admin permissions for any policies to integrate with Deel
- A paid Expensify subscription in order to approve expenses and sync them to Deel
- Expensify Admin permissions can be complex.
Kindly note that Org Admin - Bookkeeper don't have access to set up Expensify integration.
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.
Create at least one policy for each currency that independent contractors and Deel EORs are invoicing.
For example, for Independent Contractors and Deel-EOR employees in European countries using Euros, Canada, and Brazil, 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. Also review all sync errors through the settings tab of the integration console.
To set your receipt policy, return to Expensify and access policies under Settings>Policies. Select the policy for Deel-EOR employees, and then click Expenses. Set the Receipt Required Amount to zero.
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
Search for, select Expensify and click New Connection to begin.
✅ Step 2 - Obtain your Expensify Partner Credentials
Expensify Partner Credentials will be used to authenticate your integration. These credentials are not the same as your expensify login and password.
To obtain credentials go to www.expensify.com/tools/integrations/ and sign-in. These 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 expenses to Deel, activate the policies configured in Expensify.
If policies haven't been configured yet, click exit and save progress. Return to the integration console at any time to continue and edit these policies later from the settings tab.
Deel will display all your Expensify policies here. Activate the policies connected with employees or contractors paid through Deel.
Once these policies have been selected, click Continue & Activate.
✅ Step 5 - Review Matched Users
In order for expenses to sync, establish a connection between all Expensify users and their corresponding profiles in Deel.
Deel will attempt to match users based on email addresses in both Expensify and Deel.
If group members are using the same email for both their Expensify and Deel profiles then Deel should match these profiles automatically.
Review 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:
People Match plugin
This plugin enhances the connection between Deel and Expensify by enabling you to quickly identify which users are synced and spot any unmatched accounts directly from the Expensify account profile. It provides a clear count of unmatched accounts at a glance.
By clicking on "See who they are here" a side panel will appear, displaying a detailed list of individuals along with the status of their accounts. You have the option to refresh the list or use the "Review & Match" button to manually align users, ensuring a seamless integration between Deel and Expensify.
Block Expense Submissions on Deel
To establish Expensify as the single source of truth and prevent duplication errors, block employees and contractors from submitting their expenses on Deel.
By enabling the Block Expense Submission toggle, employees and contractors will be unable to log expenses on Deel and they will instead be directed to log their expenses on Expensify.
To enable this feature, log in to 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, it is recommended to ensure all 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 the following information are captured from Expensify and input into the description field:
- Expensify Description
- Expensify Expenses Category
- Expensify Report ID
The dates from Expensify are mapped over 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.
Syncing Non-Reimbursable Expenses
This new setting allows users to disable the sync of expenses that are marked as Non-reimbursable in Expensify, ensuring that only relevant expenses are processed. Here's how to enable this feature:
✅ Step 1 - Open Expensify and head to the Plugins tab.
✅ Step 2 - Click on the "Manage" button, accessible for both Employer of Record (EOR) and Global Payroll (GP) configurations.
✅ Step 3 - Locate and toggle "Ignore Non-Reimbursable Expenses" on to enable the setting.
Note: If syncing expenses for both GP and EOR, enabling this setting will apply universally to both. This update is designed to streamline expense management processes, making it more efficient by focusing solely on reimbursable expenses.
About Synching Errors
Synching errors may arise if a file size exceeds limits and other issues related to your integration.
There'll be an alert 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 group member have taken steps to address the error, trigger a sync by clicking the sync button to verify that the error is resolved.
Frequently Asked Questions
[ACCORDION] How does one know which user profiles have not been matched to Deel?
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.
[ACCORDION] How frequently are expenses synched with Deel?
The integration will sync every 4 hours.Trigger a sync on demand by clicking the sync button in the integration settings. This is usefulif resolving synching errors or matching user profiles.
[ACCORDION] Which contracts and users are supported?
Deel supports expense synching expenses for both Deel-EOR and Independent Contractors but not shield contracts.
[ACCORDION] How are expenses approved?
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.
[ACCORDION] What happens if there's the need to un-approve an expense?
Once an expense is approved in Expensify it is synchronized to Deel and cannot be unapproved in Deel. Use the payment adjustment feature in Deel to correct for any un-approved expenses.
[ACCORDION] 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.
[ACCORDION] Can org admin - bookkeeper setup an expensify integration?
No, Org Admin - Bookkeeper don't have access to set up Expensify integration.