Relay's Expense Management tools collect receipts, categorize card spend, and sync transactions to your accounting software, and they're included on every Relay subscription plan.
What is Expense Management in Relay?
Expense Management is Relay's built-in workflow for tracking business card spend, collecting receipts from cardholders, and pushing categorized transactions into QuickBooks Online or Xero. It's designed to cut manual bookkeeping work while keeping documentation audit-ready.
You'll find it under the Expenses tab in Relay on desktop.
Who is this for?
Expense Management is available to every Relay customer with a Relay Visa® Debit Card or Relay Visa® Credit Card. Setup and administration require the right permissions:
Administrators and Managers on the account can enable Expense Management, set receipt policies, and manage every transaction
Super Administrator advisors (accountants or bookkeepers with elevated access) can enable and configure it on a client's behalf
Cardholders upload receipts and respond to receipt requests through the Relay mobile app or SMS
If you don't see the Expenses tab, ask an Administrator on the account to add the permissions you need.
How does Expense Management work?
Once turned on, Expense Management runs on a simple loop from purchase to accounting sync:
A cardholder makes a purchase on their Relay Visa® Debit Card or Relay Visa® Credit Card
Relay flags the transaction against your receipt policy (no receipts, receipts over $75, or all transactions)
The cardholder is prompted by email, SMS, or in-app notification to upload a receipt
Relay auto-matches the uploaded receipt to the correct transaction
An Administrator categorizes each expense with vendors, categories, and notes
Transactions and receipts sync to QuickBooks Online or Xero on the schedule you set
The workflow scales from a one-owner setup to a team with dozens of cardholders and a dedicated receipt admin.
What is included on each plan?
Every Relay plan includes the core Expense Management workflow. The Grow Plan and Scale Plan add automation for teams with more cards and more complex categorization needs.
Feature | Starter Plan | Grow Plan | Scale Plan |
Receipt collection (email, SMS, mobile) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Receipt documentation policies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Auto-matching receipts to transactions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Daily and monthly card spending limits | Yes | Yes | Yes |
QuickBooks Online and Xero sync | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Spend policies (merchant and category controls) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Custom accounting categorization rules | No | Yes | Yes |
Split transactions across categories | No | Yes | Yes |
The Scale Plan will also add out-of-policy request flows, auto-locking cards for missing receipts, and custom CSV exports as those features roll out.
How do I turn on Expense Management?
You'll set up Expense Management once from the Expenses tab. Plan on 5 to 10 minutes.
Before you start:
Sign in to Relay on desktop (setup isn't available in the mobile app)
Confirm you have Administrator or Super Administrator permissions
Have your QuickBooks Online or Xero login ready if you plan to connect accounting
Setup steps:
Sign in to your Relay account at app.relayfi.com
Open the Expenses tab in the left navigation
Follow the guided setup prompts in the Expenses dashboard
Choose a receipt policy: no receipts required, receipts required on transactions over $75, or receipts required on all transactions
Connect QuickBooks Online or Xero if you want automatic accounting sync
Once setup is complete, cardholders receive their first receipt request the next time they use their card.
What should I do next?
Three quick wins right after turning on Expense Management:
Share your receipt inbox. Every Relay account gets a unique email address for forwarding receipts. Share it with cardholders so supplier confirmations flow in automatically.
Push cardholders to the mobile app. Uploading a receipt from a phone right after the purchase is the fastest path to a clean books month.
Assign a receipt admin. One person watching unmatched receipts and following up keeps the queue from stacking up.
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