Expensify is a software company that develops an

expense management Expense management refers to the systems deployed by a business to process, pay, and audit employee-initiated expenses. These costs include, but are not limited to, expenses incurred for travel and entertainment. Expense management includes the poli ...

system for personal and business use. Expensify also offers a business credit card called the Expensify Card.

History

Expensify was founded in 2008 by current CEO David Barrett. Barrett, a native of

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, and a graduate of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, began programming at the age of six. He was involved in numerous tech companies prior to Expensify, including Red Swoosh, for which he developed the file transfer technology. Red Swoosh was later purchased by

Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. is an American content delivery networkJ. Dilley, B. Maggs, J. Parikh, H. Prokop, R. Sitaraman, and B. Weihl. (CDN), cybersecurity, and cloud service company, providing web and Internet security services. Akamai's Inte ...

. Barrett has said he founded Expensify because of his "hatred" of expense reports--the company's slogan is "Expense reports that don't suck!" The company has completed several rounds of

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

funding, raising $1 million in 2009, $5.7 million in 2010, $3.5 million in 2014, and $17 million in 2015. Expensify has offices in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

;

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

; London, U.K.; Melbourne, Australia; and

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on US Highway 2 across the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan ...

, an office opened in a nod to Barrett's Michigan roots. The company, which expanded its operation in Michigan in 2014, partnered with Gogebic Community College to offer scholarships to students in the area. In July 2015, CEO David Barrett addressed

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

on behalf of the app industry, speaking to a House, Health, and Technology subcommittee. In November 2017, the company faced allegations that it had exposed some customers' personal information to contractors manually entering receipts through Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. Expensify acknowledged that a bug allowed fewer than 200 receipts to be visible to certain company contractors using Mechanical Turk to test a new feature under development. The company halted the test. The company went public on 11 November 2021 under the ticker EXFY.

Products

Expensify has developed a reporting expense mobile and web application available in the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

and Android marketplaces. The app tracks and files expenses such as fuel, travel, and meals; once users photograph receipts,

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

identifies the merchant, date and amount of the transaction, then automatically categorizes and saves the expense. It also allows users to create receipts from online purchases that can be submitted for reimbursement. Expensify allows users to download expense reports based on user transactions. It also integrates with other financial applications and can also automatically import expenses incurred with partner companies.

Expensify Ventures

Expensify launched a venture capital arm, Expensify Ventures, as part of a $17 million round of funding the company received in early 2015. Expensify Ventures makes strategic investments in early-stage travel, payments, and finance start-ups.

Political activism

On 22 October 2020, Barrett sent emails to all Expensify customers and non-customers on Expensify's marketing list worldwide, urging them to vote for U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden. He argued that the ongoing existence of U.S. democracy itself depended on Biden's winning.

Awards and recognition

* Tabby Award, 2018 * Readers Choice Award-Expense & Travel Management Solutions,

CPA Practice Advisor ''CPA Practice Advisor'' is a technology and practice management resource for accounting and tax professionals. It is offered in online digital and print versions, with six print issues per year (Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec) and 11 digital issues ...

, 2018 * Forbes Cloud 100, 2016 * World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies,

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

, 2015 * Tabby Award, 2015 * Top 10 Free Mobile Sales App, Inc. Magazine, 2014 ''

References

External links

*
Expensify Ventures official website
{{Finance links , name = Expensify Inc. , symbol = EXFY , reuters = EXFY.N , bloomberg = EXFY:US , sec_cik = 1476840 , google = EXFY , yahoo = EXFY Software companies of the United States American companies established in 2008 Software companies established in 2008 Companies based in San Francisco Expense management Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area 2021 initial public offerings Companies listed on the Nasdaq 2008 establishments in California