This article is for: finance teams, admins and approvers.
Need your expenses outside Factorial, to book them, reconcile the month or answer an auditor? Export the list you see as a CSV, build an advanced export with the columns your accounting software expects, or download a PDF with the receipts. For month-end and accounting, use the advanced export.
What you need: the Can view and download expenses permission. You only export the expenses that permission lets you see (your own, your team's, a legal entity or the whole company).
Quick export of the list you see
How to use
- Go to Spending > Employee expenses > Expenses.
- Use the filters, search and columns to show exactly the expenses you want.
- Click the ⋯ button at the top right of the list and choose Export to CSV.
Advanced export for accounting
How to use
- In Spending > Employee expenses > Expenses, click Advanced export. The panel Export data from Expenses opens.
- Under Choose export format, pick XLSX (Excel) or CSV. Tick Include documents to get the receipts too.
- Under Set filters, choose which expenses go in. Expense type, Status, Document date and Owner are there by default; click Add filter for more.
- Under Customize export columns, the usual columns are already there, including ledger account, exchange rate, approval date and alerts. Click Add column for more.
- Optional: change a column's Export label to match your accounting software, or drag columns into order.
- Click Export. You'll see "Exporting data. We'll notify you by email as soon as it's ready." When it's ready, a notification says "Your expenses export is ready". You get the file by email, or from Recent exports at the top of the same panel.
Download expenses and receipts as PDF
How to use
- In Spending > Employee expenses > Expenses, select the expenses you want.
- Click Export to PDF in the bar at the bottom. You'll see "Download requested successfully. You will receive an email with the exported PDF."
Tips and Best Practices
- Match your accounting software's import file. Rename and order the columns the way your software expects, so the file imports without editing.
- Export by Document date for your books. It's the date on the receipt. Use Approval date if you only book approved spend in the month it was approved.
- Map your categories to ledger accounts first. Then every expense carries its Ledger account number automatically. See How do I make expense categories map automatically to ledger accounts?.
- Want the numbers without a file? Ask One, for example "total approved expenses by cost centre last quarter". See How do I see what my company spends?.
Related articles: Which ERP and accounting connections does Factorial offer? · How do I send expenses to my accounting software? · How do I send expenses to DATEV? · How do I close the month in Expenses? A checklist for finance · How do I group expenses from one trip?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
The export email never arrived.
Open Advanced export again and look at Recent exports. Each export shows its Status (Processing, Ready or Failed). If it's Ready, click Download. If it's Failed, try a shorter date range or untick Include documents, then export again. Check your spam folder too.
Some expenses are missing from the file.
- You only export what your permission lets you see. Ask an admin if you need a wider scope.
- Check the filters: a filter that doesn't apply to an expense type leaves those expenses out (for example, a mileage-only field).
- Check the date filter: Document date, Created date and Approval date are different dates.
"Ledger account number" is empty for some expenses.
Their category had no ledger account when the expense was created or last edited. Changing a category's ledger account only applies to new or edited expenses, not to old ones.
My company no longer uses Expenses and I need the data.
Contact our support team. Tell them which period you need.
FAQ
1. Can I download more than 12 months of expenses?
Yes. The advanced export has no 12-month limit: set the Document date filter to the full range you need. For very large ranges with receipts, export a year at a time so each file stays manageable.
2. Can I filter expenses by the date they were paid?
Not as a filter. Add the Paid date column to your advanced export (with the Status filter set to Paid) and filter by it in your spreadsheet. Card charge date is a different date: it's when the bank settled a card payment.
3. Can I schedule an export to run automatically?
No, exports are run by hand. To send expenses to your accounting software without exporting, see Which ERP and accounting connections does Factorial offer?.
4. Which formats can I use?
CSV and Excel (XLSX) for lists, and PDF for expenses with their receipts.
5. Why does the export show two legal entities?
Expense legal entity is where the expense is booked. Owner legal entity is where the employee belongs. They're usually the same, but not always.
6. Can I see amounts in one currency?
The file shows each expense in its own currency (Document amount) and in the currency it's paid back in (Reimbursable amount), with the Exchange rate. See Expenses in another currency.
7. Which dates and filters can I use in the advanced export?
Dates: Document date (the date on the receipt), Created date, Report date (sent for approval), Approval date and Card charge date (when the bank settled a card payment). You can also filter by status, type, currency, owner, payment, pending approvals, category, legal entity, team, project and budget.
8. Which columns are most used for accounting?
- Accounting: Ledger account number and Ledger account name (the ledger account of the category, not a bank account), Category, Subcategory, Cost centres, Expense legal entity, Payroll cycle.
- Amounts: Document amount and Document currency (as on the receipt), Reimbursable amount and Reimbursable currency (what is paid back), Exchange rate.
- Tax: up to five tax lines, each with Base amount (n), Tax rate (n) and Tax amount (n).
- Vendor: Vendor name, Vendor TIN.
- Dates: Document date, Approval date, Paid date (when the expense became Paid), Card charge date.
- Approval: Approval level (1–5) date and Approval level (1–5) Approver, Rejection reason.
- Expense: Expense identifier, Document number, Internal reference, Link to Factorial, Alerts.
9. How do I find a column in the advanced export?
Click Add column. Columns are grouped into sections, each with a short description, and you can search them. The advanced export includes tax lines, ledger accounts, cost centres, approval dates and, with Include documents, the receipts.
10. How do I export a whole expense group as one PDF?
Open the group and click Export to PDF.
11. When should I use the quick CSV export, and when the advanced export?
Use Export to CSV when you just need the expenses on your screen in a spreadsheet, for example "all pending travel expenses of my team": the file has the columns and filters you set on the list. Use Advanced export for accounting and month-end: you choose the format, the date range, which expenses go in and which columns come out, with your own column names so the file matches your accounting software's import template.
12. Can employees export their own expenses?
Yes. Employees export their own expenses the same way from My spending, with Export my expenses.
13. When should I use the PDF export?
When you need each expense together with its receipt, for example for an audit or to send to someone who doesn't use Factorial. The PDF arrives by email.
14. How do I export expenses with their receipts?
Two ways. In Advanced export, tick Include documents to get the receipts with your CSV or Excel file. Or select the expenses in Spending > Employee expenses > Expenses and click Export to PDF to get each expense with its receipt in a PDF. Use the first for your accounting, the second for an audit or to share.
15. Can I send expenses to my accounting software instead of exporting a file?
Yes, if your software is one of the connections Factorial offers. See Which ERP and accounting connections does Factorial offer? and How do I send expenses to my accounting software?