Why “rules and templates” are obsolete
Your current expense tool needs constant babysitting because it was built around the technology of 2015. Template OCR matches text patterns. New supplier formats break the templates. Mixed-rate VAT receipts don’t fit. Crumpled photos fail extraction. You end up doing the work the software promised to do.
ExpenseFlow is built on Claude Sonnet 4.6 vision AI, which reads context the way a human bookkeeper does. No templates. No per-supplier setup. Mixed-rate receipts code line by line. Crumpled photos still parse. New suppliers just work.
| Feature | Legacy OCR Dext, Hubdoc, etc | ExpenseFlow Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Template-based OCR (2015 era) | Vision AI that understands context |
| Setup time per client | 2 to 4 weeks (per-vendor templates) | 5 minutes (AI learns the chart of accounts) |
| New supplier appears | Create a new template manually | Just works, no template needed |
| Crumpled receipt photo | Extraction fails, manual entry | Reads the document as a human would |
| Tax compliance | Manual GST / VAT review per line | Line-level tax code applied automatically |
| Multi-jurisdiction | Single-country focus | AU, NZ, UK, SG, CA all built in |
| GST apportionment | Split claimable lines by hand | Statutory 50% caps auto-split, business-use % configurable |
| Industry-specific checks | None | Construction, hospitality, ecommerce, agencies, real estate, nonprofits |
| Approvals and roles | Per-seat access, no separation of duties | Five roles, per-row gating, firm-to-client assignment |
| Audit trail in ledger | Receipt image only | Source doc + approval history attached on sync |
| Your role | Verify, correct, re-categorise | Review exceptions, approve, sync |
Beyond capture: the compliance engine
Reading the receipt is table stakes. The work that eats your juniors’ afternoons is what happens next, and that is what ExpenseFlow automates and surfaces for review.
GST apportionment, split for you
Statutory 50% caps (CA and NZ entertainment) are auto-split per line into claimable and non-claimable halves with the right tax code and account, recorded in the audit trail and expanded on Xero sync. Variable business-use percentages (a ute, a phone) are configured once per account and applied consistently. The platform applies the rule; it never invents the number.
Industry tax traps, flagged
An industry layer surfaces the edge cases specific to each client’s trade: construction, hospitality, ecommerce, agencies, real estate and nonprofits. It flags for your review, never auto-posts, so a UK construction reverse charge or a blocked input-tax claim does not slip through.
Capture-time check library
Every document is checked for missing or illegal tax codes, cross-border versus domestic mismatches, province mismatches, whether a valid tax invoice is required, and registration-number capture. Findings land in your review queue alongside the source document.
Duplicate detection
Likely duplicate bills are flagged on both sides of the pair before they post, so the same supplier invoice does not get paid or claimed twice.
Practice controls, not just logins
Built for a firm with juniors, reviewers and clients, not a single shared password.
Roles and per-row approvals
Owners, finance admins, managers, employees and external bookkeepers, with each action gated per row. Managers approve their own reports; reporting lines can map many employees to many managers.
Separation of duties
Nobody approves their own work
A bookkeeper cannot approve a capture they entered. The control is enforced in the platform, not left to policy, so the review step stays a real second set of eyes.
Firm to client, unlimited seats
Assign staff to the client files they work on. Add unlimited junior staff and unlimited client submitters at no extra cost, because you are billed per client file, not per seat.
We do not just dump data. We respect your ledger.
Two-way sync that maps to your existing chart of accounts. No duplicates, no generic buckets, no clean-up later.
Live chart of accounts
We pull your specific GL codes and tax rates from Xero or QuickBooks Online on connection. No manual mapping required.
Closed-period lock respected
Once a period is closed in Xero or QuickBooks, ExpenseFlow respects the lock date. We never overwrite closed books.
Source document attached
The original receipt PDF or image is attached directly to the underlying Xero or QuickBooks transaction. Audit-proof compliance.
Scale your practice without hiring
When expense processing takes minutes instead of hours, you can take on more clients without taking on more juniors.
Capacity grows, payroll stays flat
Onboard 5 new clients next month without adding a junior. ExpenseFlow absorbs the volume; you absorb the revenue.
Key differentiator
Tax compliance is the work, not the bottleneck
GST / VAT applied correctly per line across 5 jurisdictions. Tax registrations captured and surfaced for review. BAS-ready from day one.
Close the books on day one
Because data is processed continuously, the books are practically closed before the month ends. No month-end fire drill.
Coverage across 5 jurisdictions
One platform handles tax compliance across every country your clients operate in. No per-country add-ons.
Live integrations
Two-way sync that respects your ledger
Xero and QuickBooks Online today. Sage, MYOB, FreeAgent and Reckon prioritised by practice demand.
Xero
LiveBills, expense claims, tax codes, tracking categories, contacts and attachments preserved end to end.
QuickBooks Online
LiveBills, expenses, supplier credits, classes, locations and multi-currency captures with full tax-code mapping.
Need another platform?
We prioritise integrations by request volume. Tell us your platform and the founder follows up directly.
Pricing built for your margins
Per client file. Not per user. Your client hires 5 new employees? Your bill stays the same.
Starter
1 to 10 clients
Professional (most popular)
11 to 30 clients
Practice
31+ clients
All tiers include a firm-wide document pool. Quiet clients offset busy ones. The per-client rate drops automatically as your firm grows.
See full bookkeeper pricing, profit calculator and FAQ
Common questions from bookkeepers
The FAQ below covers the questions practices ask most often before they commit. If yours is not here, the contact page routes straight to the founder.