Advanced Expense Reporting

First of all let’s clarify what expense reporting is and what it is not.

1. Expense report management is not a simple task if you would like to do it properly.
2. Expense report software is not an accounting software and if you think your accounting software is capable of what a good expense reporting software can do think again!
3. Expense report software is not travel management software.

Basically, expense reporting is composed of three basic parts:

1. Pre-trip activities – Expense Approval Process
2. Trip activities – Incurring expenses
3. Post-trip activities – Expense Reporting Process

At Web2Expense we focus on parts one and three because there are a number of excellent companies out there for part two, like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity just to name a few.

Pre-trip activities – We believe this is the step where a lot of companies and organizations misses the boat because they do not do a good job in planning the expense activity which will take place in a trip.

Post-trip activities – This is where what has been planned in pre-trip meets the actual spending. Digital receipts is a big part of expense report automation so is the flexibility of the system you are using.

Web2Expense can automate your expense approval and expense reporting processes end-to-end.

Basically, Web2Expense can give you the upper hand when managing your expenses.

Watch the following videos and understand why?

• ACME MEDICAL Expense Report Business Scenario
• ACME MEDICAL Expense Report Implementation Part 1
• ACME MEDICAL Expense Report Implementation Part 2
• Expense Approval – Employee Perspective

Got questions? Post them to this blog or visit our portal to learn more.

PS. Did we mention that you can use Web2Expense on your mobile device like Apple iPhone?

Mileage Expense Tracker – Why did we create it and why free?

In this blog I would like to give a little bit of the drive and the motivation behind creating the Mileage Expense Tracker.

Well those of you who have visited our site and signed up for the MET know that it is a free and useful tool to keep your mileage expenses and record your business trips. By doing so you cannot save 15% or more on your car insurance, but you can save a lot of money on your taxes. 

However, I must admit, my drive for creating a tool such as MET was not about saving money.

Here is the story.

When I was working as an independent consultant (making a lot of money for my standards) my accountant Ken always asked for my business miles. Honestly, I never kept a good record of them (none to be exact). Therefore, I never claimed any of my business mileage expenses.

I was busy making money, right?

No, I was wrong and stupid.

Once you make money you may as well keep as much of it as you can.

None of the reasons so far explain the reason for the creation of Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker. The reason was my accountant’s small black leather covered notebook.

Every year in February I go and see my accountant Ken; he is a CPA by the way.

For some reason, every year Ken takes out (from his shirt pocket) his small black leather covered pocket notebook and waves at me and asks “Semih, did you bring the record of your business miles with you?” And as you may have guessed it by now my answer was always ‘no’. I always said “Ken I have not kept a record of my business miles.” He shakes his head, adjusts his glasses again and returns back to the other pages that I kept very neatly for my taxes throughout the year. I always felt like a kid who did not do his or her homework. Though I always wanted to shout back at him and say “Ken don’t treat me like a kid I am 48 years old and I always keep excellent records for all my other expenses.”, I never did.

Well I hated that and I intended to change it. Therefore, I asked our lead developer Hakan how much effort it would take to create a mini version of Web2Expense – Travel Expense Report Management Software. When I heard the amount of energy required to do so, I jumped on the project. I want to have something better than the small, black, leather-covered notebook. Well, we did.

Here it is, now you know, the real story behind the Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker.

Why free?

This software is free and can save you a large sum of money.  In my case, I could have used some of that money that went to IRS for my son’s college tuition.

Semih

P.S. For the next year I am planning to send my mileage expenses to Ken as a spreadsheet attachment. You can do the same because now you can export to Excel (One of my friend’s suggested the feature).

To Expense or Not To Expense

To Expense or Not To Expense

 When it comes to mileage expenses or travel expenses you need to keep good records for your claim.

As the 2008 mileage expense rate increased to 58.5 cents per mile business usage of your personal car can become a major federal income tax deduction. With today’s mileage expense rate 10,000 miles equate to $5,850.

However, there is a catch. If you do not keep good records and get audited this claim can be hard to prove. Take a look at Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker, a free expense tracking tool to keep track of your mileage expenses.  You will be happy you did…

PS. Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker is Apple iPhone compatible.

New Features of Mileage Expense Tracker

Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker just got better. Some of the added or improved features include:

• Guided sign up process
• Parking and toll expense types added to mileage expense report(s)
• All new gas calculator added to the menu so that you can calculate how much gas you spend each mile
• Gas calculator also keeps track of your overall gas expense

Best of all Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker is FREE! Sign up and start using it today.

iPhone users please use this link to sign up.

For questions and suggestions feel free to leave us a comment.

New iPhone Interface For Mileage Expense Tracker

Web2Expense – Mileage Expense Tracker has a new look and feel optimized for iPhone users.

New iPhone Look and Feel

You can either use this link to sign up directly or access the iPhone link in Mileage Expense Tracker home page.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions.

The Cost Of Mileage Expense Reporting

After July 1, 2008 when you use your personal car or truck for business you are allowed to deduct 58.5 cents mileage expense from your taxes. This may seem like a lot. 

If you drive your car 10000 miles you can claim upto $5,850 as a mileage expense at year end.

However, if you do not own a car like the Toyota Prius the gasoline cost really takes a toll on this figure, take a look this calculation:

•  Assuming that you buy regular unleaded at $4.00 per gallon and your car gets 20 miles per gallon, your cost per mile is 20 cents. This is a conservative estimate these days.
• Regularly run and maintain your car costs for $1000/year and assuming 10K/year of business miles add another 10 cents to the equation.
• What about the car loan? $400 per month makes $4,800 per year and with usage of the 10K another 48 cents is added to the equation.
• Add them up 20 + 10 + 48 = 78 cents.
• If you are thinking about investing in a mileage logging system, think again!

Consider using Web2Expense Mileage Expense Tracker, it is free and very effective. You can even use it on your iPhone. Keep your records religiously every 100 miles adds $58.5 to your expense report. That can add up to big expense deduction on your 1040.

What can YOU do in return?

Since we are a for-profit organization and we sell Web2Expense – Travel Expense Report Management Software as a service to small, medium, and large businesses. You can help us to spread the word.

Happy expense reporting.

IRS Mileage Expense Rate For The Second Half Of 2008

The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The new mileage expense rates which are valid between July 1 and December 31 of 2008 are as follows:

For business: 58.5 cents
For moving: 27 cents
For medical: 27 cents
For charity: 14 cents (unchanged)

If you would like to track your mileage expenses visit Web2Expense Mileage Expense Tracker page. It is a free and very effective tool to track your mileage expenses accurately.

How to sign up for free Web2Expense Mileage Tracker account?

By watching this video on Screencast you can learn how to sign up for your free Web2Expense Mileage Tracker account.

Mileage Expense Tracker Is iPhone Compatible And Free

Mileage Expense Tracker(MET) is an iPhone compatible free mileage expense tracking software.

You do not need to download any software to use it. Just sign up and start enjoying an advanced mileage tracking system for free!

If you have any issues with MET when using it on your iPhone post an entry to this blog.