Hello everyone,
2017, like any year, had its fair share of ups and downs. We at Zoho Expense did our part to keep the smiles on our customers' faces by releasing a host of new features this year. As the new year rolls around, let us take a look at the major milestones we reached, and the other changes and additions we made, in Zoho Expense.
The QuickBooks family joined us
We introduced the QuickBooks Online integration in February, which was welcomed by many of our users. But we discovered there were quite a few people who wanted the desktop version of QuickBooks to be integrated with Zoho Expense as well. Your wish is our command, so we introduced the QuickBooks Desktop integration in November.
Corporate card feeds took the direct route
We made the process of importing corporate card feeds simpler, swifter, and more secure. Using Direct Feeds, transactions are fetched straight from card providers (Visa, MasterCard, and Amex), eliminating the need for a middleman altogether.
Splitting and itemizing expenses were born
We've given users the options to add more detail to their expenses with the help of itemization and split their expenses based on amount, days, or any other field.
The Zoho People integration managed employees and their expenses
We've lived up to our promise of being a part of the Zoho ecosystem by integrating Zoho Expense with our employee management software, Zoho People, in March. This gave users the ability to sync users, departments, and much more.
USA users caught a Lyft to quicker reimbursements
With online reimbursements powered by Forte, users from the US were given a faster way to reimburse employee expense reports — in 3-5 business days rather than the usual turnaround time of weeks or more.
Lyft users were also given the option to integrate Zoho Expense with their favorite business ride-sharing platform. All the user has to do is set up their business profile and select Zoho Expense as the expense management option. Whenever a ride is completed, a corresponding expense is added in Zoho Expense.
And India was empowered with a GST-ready edition of Zoho Expense
In July, we supported our Indian users during a sweeping tax regime change. The new GST-ready edition of Zoho Expense churns out GST-compliant expenses to make tax compliance a snap.
Minor additions and updates:
Expenses
We introduced negative expenses to give users a way to balance out overpayments.
Erroneous entries are a thing of the past with the help of Duplicate Detection.
Approvals
In January, we introduced the option to auto-approve or auto-reject an expense report based on custom criteria.
Later in the year, we introduced customizable approval flows for Advance Payments and added automatic approval/rejection there as well.
Analytics
Analytic Report Scheduling made it possible to receive analytic reports automatically.
Automation
Workflow automation took the Advance Payments module under its wing to enable users to set up various actions based on specific triggers.
Integration enhancements
It's now easier to get a clear idea of how much you have spent on capturing your leads. Improved integration allows you to run Zoho Expense analytics in Zoho CRM.
Early bird catches the worm: Features available for early access
Delegation
Grant access to colleagues to create and submit expense reports on your behalf while you are away.
Online reimbursements for Canada
Canadian users can test-drive the online reimbursements feature now.
VAT-ready Zoho Expense
With the advent of VAT in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Zoho Expense is geared up to support our users with VAT-compliant expense reporting.
We hope you had a great 2017. Here's to an even better, more feature-filled 2018! From all of us at Zoho Expense, we wish you a happy and joyous New Year!