We are excited that you have chosen Emburse Professional as your new cloud-based expense management software. With Emburse Professional, enjoy many additional features such as ReportExecutive, various Analytics reports, and API access.
This Self-Implementation Guide will help guide you through implementing your company based on our past customers’ experiences and a few recommendations from the Emburse Professional Customer Success Team.
Implementation
All setup takes place on the Configuration page which is accessed through the gear icon.
1. Add your Departments. Think of Departments as your groups of employees, who may have different permissions. Click View and Edit Departments to get started.
- Create them individually, or use the bulk upload tool to upload a list from .csv format
- Continually edit your departments as needed.
2. Add your Expense Categories. Expense categories are the accounts that users will code their expenses to. Click View and Edit Expense Categories to get started.
- Create them individually, or use the bulk upload tool to upload a list from .csv format.
- You'll be required to identify an expense type for each category. Each expense type will determine what details are required when a user uses that expense category.
- Continually edit your expense categories as needed.
3. Add General Ledger Dimensions (optional). General Ledger Dimensions are custom fields, necessary for your company's business and reporting of expenses. Examples can be fields for Project, Customer, or Cost Center, if you require them. Enter Employee, Expense Report, and/or Expense Level General Ledger Dimensions.
4. Define your policies. Policies can continually be updated, but a recommended few to start are:
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Workflow: choose Flexible or Locked.
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Receipt requirements, submission and approval, credit card treatment, approval email alerts, allocations, and processing queue policy are all within the View and Edit Policy page.
5. Add Mileage Reimbursement Rates. Determine the reimbursement rate(s) your company will use for recorded mileage expenses.
If your company has a few different rates based on locations, vehicles, or even the type of trip they are taking, add as many reimbursement rates as you need. You'll just need a separate mileage expense category for each one, so that Emburse Professional knows when to use which rate.
6. Add your Users. Within View and Edit Users, you'll have the option to add each user individually, or add several in bulk.
Welcome emails will automatically send when a new user is created, unless the Do not send a Welcome Email checkbox is selected. To send welcome emails at a later time, see Sending Welcome Emails.
7. Enter Credit Cards (optional). Emburse Professional Supports corporate credit cards, small business credit cards, and personal credit cards. Credit card numbers can be entered by both the user for any card, and also the administrator (for corporate credit card integrations only).
- For a user to add a credit card, or an administrator to add on a user's behalf: see Adding a Credit Card.
- To bulk-import corporate credit cards for your users: see Using the Bulk Credit Card Import Tool.
8. Send Welcome Emails. Welcome emails contain a user's login credentials, so this is the final step!
Please Note: Welcome emails will automatically send when a new user is created, unless the Do not send a Welcome Email checkbox is selected and sent at a later time.
Accounts Payable Integrations
One of the most important things for an Administrator or Accountant is transferring data from Emburse Professional to your AP system. Emburse Professional has integrations with common AP systems available that allow you to move data with only a few clicks.
In addition to integrating with QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Netsuite, and Sage x3, our team can create a Custom Output File for you to use. Contact Support for more information.
Getting Started
Be sure to communicate to your users about our training sessions, tutorials, and Support options found by clicking question mark icon to set them up for success right from the beginning. Emburse Professional Support can be reached at 888-925-0510, via email at support@certify.com, and live chat in this Help Center.
In addition, this Getting Started article is a great place to start!
Reporting
As you continue to move forward with Emburse Professional, use Reporting to monitor expense patterns and policy compliance. This key information can help shape your policies in the future. A few recommended reports are:
Accounts Payable Report: Use this report for Accounting needs.
The Enterprise Dashboard: Use this report for a snapshot summary into the whole organization's accruals and spend in real-time.
Expense Policy Review: Use this report to review policy violations and find policy patterns.
Expense Reports Pending: Use this report to monitor employees and their usage; find unsubmitted expenses, draft reports, and reports pending in approval workflow.
Expense Detail Review: Use this report for specific details about a single, or group, of expenses.
PCard Reconciliation Report: Use this report to reconcile your credit card expenses to your bank statement.