B2B finance SaaSSoftware only

Expense management software testing

FintechAssuranceLabs engineers test expense reporting software, the category of products like Expensify and SAP Concur. Test scope covers receipt capture and OCR extraction, expense policy rules, mileage and per diem calculation, approval flows, reimbursement payments, and ERP export. FintechAssuranceLabs engineers check expense outputs against IRS accountable plan rules, EU VAT refund requirements, and Canadian input tax credit rules.

What breaks in expense policies, reimbursements, and tax outputs

An expense reporting platform charges a subscription per user. Approved reports become payroll entries, tax recovery claims, and ledger postings, so one wrong rule or rate table repeats for every user on the plan. Sources in this section were checked on 2026-09-16.

High-cost per diem rate applied all year (US). The per diem engine stores Denver as high-cost without its seasonal dates. IRS Notice 2025-54 sets high-low rates of $319 for high-cost localities and $225 for other CONUS localities for travel from 1 October 2025, and lists Denver as high-cost only in October and from 1 April to 30 September, yet the engine pays $319 for a January night. The $94 above the amount deemed substantiated is treated as paid under a nonaccountable plan and is subject to withholding in the payroll period of the reimbursement (26 CFR 1.62-2(h)(2)(i)(B)(2)). Payroll and tax calculation testing delivers the rule change regression suite for rate tables.
Mileage rate chosen by submission date (US). The IRS business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile from 1 January to 30 June 2026 and 76 cents from 1 July 2026 (IRS, updated 28 July 2026). A rate picked by report date pays June miles submitted in July at 76 cents. Rev. Proc. 2019-46 section 7.01(1) deems substantiated only the lesser of the allowance or the standard rate times business miles, so 3.5 cents per June mile becomes wages under 1.62-2(h)(2)(i)(B).
Travel advance left open after the trip (US). The platform pays a $1,500 advance, the employee substantiates $1,100, and no workflow step requests the $400 back. Excess not returned within a reasonable period is treated as paid under a nonaccountable plan (1.62-2(c)(3)(ii)). The fixed date safe harbor treats a return within 120 days after the expense as reasonable (1.62-2(g)(2)(i)), and the $400 is subject to withholding no later than the first payroll period after that period ends (1.62-2(h)(2)(i)(A)).
VAT refund data exported in the wrong currency (EU). For a German company's Budapest hotel invoice, the refund export copies euro amounts from the card statement and leaves the supplier VAT number empty when OCR cannot read it. Directive 2008/9/EC Article 8(2) requires, per invoice other than an importation document, the supplier's VAT identification number or tax reference number, and the taxable amount and VAT in the currency of the Member State of refund. Under Article 15(1), an application counts as submitted only when all information under Articles 8, 9, and 11 is filled in, and the deadline is 30 September of the year after the refund period. For a 2025 refund period, the customer has until 30 September 2026 to correct the forint amounts and VAT numbers.
GST/HST credits claimed from incomplete receipts (Canada). OCR misses the supplier's registration number on a CAD 240 hotel receipt, and the export still marks the tax as an input tax credit. Section 3(b) of the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations requires the registration number of the supplier or intermediary when the total shown is $100 or more and less than $500. Excise Tax Act subsection 169(4) allows the credit only when the registrant obtained that information before filing the return, so the customer's return claims credits its records do not support.

Licence flag and the evidence buyers and tax authorities ask for

Expense reporting software carries the licence flag "no": evidence goes to enterprise buyers and their auditors, and outputs must match tax rules on substantiation, allowances, and digitised receipts. Sources in this section were checked on 2026-09-16.

Enterprise buyers and auditors

SOC 2 report and security questionnaires. Card feeds and receipt images can contain full card numbers, which are account data in PCI DSS scope. Evidence we produce: SOC 2 processing integrity tests (PI1.2 to PI1.5) for capture, policy checks, approval, and export, and access tests per role.
SOC 1 report. SOC 1 covers controls likely to be relevant to user entities' internal control over financial reporting (AICPA). Evidence we produce: approval and export completeness control tests.
Data processing terms. Receipt images, trip locations, and bank details are personal data, and EU buyers ask for Article 28(3) processor terms under GDPR. Evidence we produce: retention and deletion tests per record type.

United States: substantiation and imaged receipts

Documentary evidence is required for any lodging expenditure while traveling away from home and for any other expenditure of $75 or more, except transportation charges when evidence is not readily available (26 CFR 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii)). Rev. Proc. 97-22 accepts imaged records from a system that transfers them accurately and completely, indexes them, and reproduces legible and readable hardcopies; paper originals may be destroyed after the taxpayer tests that system and sets procedures for continued compliance. Evidence we produce: a rate matrix by travel date and locality, safe harbor timer tests, and image legibility and retrieval results.

European Union: VAT invoices and refund data

Article 178(a) of the VAT Directive makes holding an invoice a condition of deduction, and Article 233 requires authenticity of origin, integrity of content, and legibility of each invoice until the end of its storage period. Article 220a allows simplified invoices up to EUR 100. Under Article 10 of Directive 2008/9/EC, the Member State of refund may require an invoice copy when the taxable amount is EUR 1,000 or more, or EUR 250 or more for fuel. Evidence we produce: extraction results per invoice type and refund export validation.

Canada: input tax credits and vehicle allowances

The Input Tax Credit Information Regulations add required fields at totals of $100 and $500. The CRA lists 2026 reasonable per-kilometre rates of 73 cents for the first 5,000 km and 67 cents after in the provinces (CRA, modified 19 January 2026), and treats a flat-rate allowance not based on kilometres, or a flat rate combined with a per-kilometre rate for the same use, as taxable (CRA, modified 6 March 2026). IC05-1R1 allows disposal of paper source documents imaged according to the latest national standard. Evidence we produce: field tests per amount band and allowance classification tests.

Expense reporting test scenarios

Extract date, total, tax, currency, and tax number from receipts with DD/MM and MM/DD dates, faded thermal paper, and two currencies, checked per field against labelled synthetic receipts.
Split a hotel folio into lodging, meal, and telephone amounts, as 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii)(A) describes, and require a receipt for lodging at any amount and for other expenses of $75 or more.
Apply policy rules per employee group: category caps, per-attendee meal limits, and one receipt submitted twice.
Compute per diem by travel date and locality across the 1 October rate change, seasonal high-cost periods, and partial days, and send any excess to payroll.
Compute mileage by date driven across the 1 July 2026 US rate change and the Canadian 5,000 km tier, and flag a flat allowance paid on top of a per-kilometre rate.
Route approvals by amount and cost centre, and test self-approval, an approver removed by the HR feed, and a report edited after approval.
Send substantiation reminders at 60 days, return requests at 120 days, and quarterly statements for the periodic statement method.
Pay reimbursements by ACH and SEPA credit transfer, process a return for a closed account under Nacha rules, and confirm that the ledger entry reverses once.
Export approved reports to the ERP with tax codes and foreign currency amounts at the card statement rate (FX rate guide), replay the export, and confirm no duplicate journal; ERP and accounting integration testing delivers the duplicate and missing record report.

Integrations and protocols to cover

Receipt capture. Mobile uploads, emailed and PDF receipts, and document extraction APIs with a confidence score per field.
Card and bank feeds. Visa Commercial Format and Mastercard Common Data Format files from commercial card issuers, and open banking account information APIs.
Rate sources. The GSA per diem API, US Department of State foreign per diem rates, and exchange rate feeds.
HR and identity systems. HR feeds and SCIM provisioning for approvers and cost centres.
Reimbursement rails. Nacha PPD credits in the US, SEPA credit transfers as ISO 20022 pain.001 in the EU, and Automated Funds Transfer files in Payments Canada Standard 005 format.
ERP and payroll exports. Journal entry and AP invoice APIs, flat general ledger files, and payroll imports with taxable reimbursement amounts.

Standards

Services

Guides

Sample deliverable

Sample, synthetic data

calculation reference matrixCalculation reference matrix: proration, APR, supplemental withholding, vesting, per diem, and tax line rounding

Calculation reference matrix: proration, APR, supplemental withholding, vesting, per diem, and tax line rounding
Case ID	Calculation and rule	Inputs	Reference value	System value	Result
CALC-01	Mid-cycle plan upgrade proration; plan terms prorate the old and new plan prices by whole days remaining in the billing period	Old plan 30.00 per 30-day period; new plan 90.00 per 30-day period; upgrade effective at 00:00 on day 11, leaving 20 days	40.00	40.00	Pass: the system charges 60.00 for the new plan and credits 20.00 for the old plan, matching the reference
CALC-02	APR on a closed-end loan with an origination fee; actuarial method under 12 CFR 1026, appendix J; the APR shall be considered accurate if it is not more than 1/8 of 1 percentage point above or below the reference under 12 CFR 1026.22(a)(2)	Principal 10,000.00; origination fee 300.00 withheld from proceeds; note rate 9.00%; 36 monthly payments of 318.00; amount financed 9,700.00 under 12 CFR 1026.18(b)(3)	11.09%	9.00%	Fail: the system solves the APR against the 10,000.00 principal instead of the 9,700.00 amount financed, 2.09 percentage points below the reference; critical; blocks release
CALC-03	APR on a closed-end loan with an origination fee; actuarial method under 12 CFR 1026, appendix J; the APR shall be considered accurate if it is not more than 1/8 of 1 percentage point above or below the reference under 12 CFR 1026.22(a)(2)	Principal 5,000.00; origination fee 100.00 withheld from proceeds; note rate 12.00%; 24 monthly payments of 235.37; amount financed 4,900.00	14.05%	14.00%	Pass: the system APR is 0.05 percentage points below the reference, inside the 1/8 of 1 percentage point tolerance
CALC-04	Federal income tax withholding on a supplemental wage payment at the flat rate; IRS Publication 15 (2026), section 7: if income tax was withheld from regular wages in the current or immediately preceding calendar year, the employer can withhold a flat 22% on supplemental wages identified separately	Bonus 5,000.00 paid separately from regular wages; income tax withheld from regular wages in 2026; supplemental wages before the payment 20,000.00; employer elects the flat rate	1,100.00	1,100.00	Pass: the system withholds 22% of 5,000.00, matching the reference
CALC-05	Federal income tax withholding on a supplemental wage payment that crosses 1,000,000.00 in the calendar year; IRS Publication 15 (2026), section 7: the excess over 1 million is subject to withholding at 37%, without regard to the employee's Form W-4	Bonus 50,000.00 paid separately from regular wages; supplemental wages paid in 2026 before the payment 980,000.00; employer elects the flat rate for the amount up to 1 million	15,500.00	11,000.00	Fail: the system applies 22% to all 50,000.00 instead of 22% to 20,000.00 and 37% to 30,000.00, so 4,500.00 is under-withheld; critical; blocks release
CALC-06	Stock option vesting with a one-year cliff; grant agreement vests 25% at the first anniversary, then 1/48 of the grant monthly on the commencement day, or on the last day of a month without that day	Grant of 48,000 options; vesting commencement 2025-01-31; cliff date 2026-01-31; vested balance requested as of 2026-02-28	13,000 options	12,000 options	Fail: the system skips the February vesting event because February has no 31st day, so 1,000 vested options cannot be exercised; high; blocks release
CALC-07	Per diem allowance for meals and incidental expenses under the high-low method; IRS Notice 2025-54, section 5, paragraph 1: 86.00 per day for a high-cost locality; Rev. Proc. 2019-48, section 6.04(1): the payor may allocate three-fourths of the rate to each partial day of travel	Travel to Boston/Cambridge, a high-cost locality from October 1 to September 30 under Notice 2025-54, section 5, paragraph 2; departure 2026-08-10; return 2026-08-12; lodging reimbursed on receipts; payor policy uses the three-fourths method	215.00	258.00	Fail: the system pays 86.00 for the departure and return days instead of 64.50 each, so the allowance is 43.00 above the reference; high; blocks release
CALC-08	Taxable interest on a return rounded to whole dollars; Form 1040 instructions (tax year 2025): if you have to add two or more amounts to figure the amount on a line, include cents when adding and round off only the total	Three interest statements of 120.40, 80.40, and 45.40 for line 2b; return set to whole-dollar rounding	246	245	Fail: the system rounds each statement before adding, so line 2b is 1 below the reference; medium; release allowed with the defect scheduled for the next release

Amounts use XTS, the ISO 4217 code reserved for testing, with rule thresholds stated in US dollars applied at one XTS per dollar. Loans, employees, grants, trips, and returns are generated test records, and every reference value was computed outside the system under test.

Questions

What is expense management?

Expense management is the process a business uses to record, check, approve, reimburse, and account for money that employees spend on its behalf, such as travel, meals, and mileage. Expense management covers receipt collection, checks against a written expense policy, manager approval, payment to the employee, and posting of each expense to the general ledger with its tax treatment.

What is expense management software?

Expense management software captures receipts and card transactions, extracts receipt fields with OCR, applies the company's expense policy, routes expense reports for approval, pays reimbursements, and exports approved expenses to an ERP or accounting system. Expense management software also calculates mileage and per diem allowances from rate tables that the business or a tax authority sets.

What is receipt OCR?

Receipt OCR is optical character recognition applied to a photo, scan, or PDF of a receipt to extract fields such as merchant name, date, total, tax amount, currency, and supplier tax number. Expense software uses receipt OCR to prefill expense lines. A receipt OCR error in the date, currency, or tax number changes the reimbursement amount or the tax a business can recover.

Scope your expense platform testing

Send your policy rules, receipt capture pipeline, rate tables, reimbursement rails, and ERP connectors, and we return a test scope with the evidence enterprise buyers request.

Scope your testing