Emburse Certify vs. Expensify

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Emburse Certify
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
Certify is travel and expense management software developed by the company of the same name in Maine, which merged with Chrome River in 2019 to form Emburse.N/A
Expensify
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Expensify automates the entire spend management process. Scan receipts, track mileage, submit and approve expenses, manage corporate cards, reimburse employees, pay bills, send invoices, and book travel. Built for individuals and companies of all sizes, anywhere in the world.
$5
per month per user
Pricing
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Collect
$5
per month per user
Control
$9
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup Fee$8 Expense reportNo setup fee
Additional DetailsCertify AP has volume based pricing based on processed invoices
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Considered Both Products
Emburse Certify
Chose Emburse Certify
They fail in every aspect to compete with Expensify, or any other program out there. We selected Certify because we were told it could help us and replace our very manual process.
Chose Emburse Certify
We narrowed our selection down to Certify and Expensify. I had our director of IT review both. He was extremely happy with the ease of use as well as the support we would receive through Certify. I believe his initial conversation was with "Mr. Happy. "Certify will know who …
Chose Emburse Certify
To be honest we haven't even looked at Expensify ever since we switched full time to Certify. At the time when we compared the 2 platforms, Certify came out on top due to its flexibility of use and customer support. Every once in a while an employee brings up a comparison but I …
Chose Emburse Certify
I believe for a large organization Certify is the least costly provider compared to other solutions. It is significantly better than using the likes of SAP's Concur ERP type platform. However, it is not as forward-thinking and cool to use like Expensify or Zoho. Again, you …
Chose Emburse Certify
Certify is similar to Expensify in terms of features and overall potential. Expensify, however, works exactly how I expected it to work when I first opened it. There was very little that I had to learn. Certify’s workflow and interface are a little different than I anticipated, …
Chose Emburse Certify
Easy to use on desktop.
Chose Emburse Certify
We chose Certify for ease of understanding, resources for training staff, multiple departments, and price.
Chose Emburse Certify
Originally we selected Certify because of favorable pricing and it met our basic needs. 5 years in we are again evaluating other products seeking direct integration with our accounting system, Intacct and potentially a solution that also offers time tracking.
Expensify
Chose Expensify
Expensify is much easier to use from what I hear. I was not at the company when they were using Certify but there were fewer automations and people did not like it.
Chose Expensify
Emburse has similar features but is very manual. You have to create a report of nothing will get submitted. The UI is also not delightful to use. Expensify makes the process much simpler, faster, and easier.
Features
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Expense Management
Comparison of Expense Management features of Product A and Product B
Emburse Certify
7.7
2 Ratings
5% below category average
Expensify
9.5
100 Ratings
16% above category average
Employee Expense Reporting8.42 Ratings9.799 Ratings
Corporate Card Reconciliation7.01 Ratings9.344 Ratings
Payment Management
Comparison of Payment Management features of Product A and Product B
Emburse Certify
8.0
2 Ratings
0% above category average
Expensify
9.3
94 Ratings
16% above category average
Customizable Approval Policies9.02 Ratings9.064 Ratings
Financial Document Management9.02 Ratings9.368 Ratings
Payment Status Tracking9.42 Ratings9.776 Ratings
Payment Audit Trail6.82 Ratings9.659 Ratings
Duplicate Bill Detection7.92 Ratings8.877 Ratings
Advanced OCR6.01 Ratings8.963 Ratings
Electronic Funds Transfer00 Ratings9.652 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Small Businesses
Dext
Dext
Score 9.7 out of 10
Dext
Dext
Score 9.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Precoro
Precoro
Score 8.9 out of 10
Precoro
Precoro
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Emburse Chrome River
Emburse Chrome River
Score 8.9 out of 10
Emburse Chrome River
Emburse Chrome River
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(57 ratings)
9.6
(166 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(10 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(41 ratings)
9.8
(67 ratings)
Support Rating
4.9
(5 ratings)
8.5
(44 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Emburse CertifyExpensify
Likelihood to Recommend
Emburse
Certify is not well suited for multi-dimensional ERPs. Although Certify 'offers' general ledger dimensions GLD, the use of them is extremely limited. Filtering on any GLD can only be done once. There is not the possibility for creating hierarchies with the dimensions. The only method of exporting is via a flat file or the open API, which I understand is quite limited. This software is for a smaller scaled business that is not trying to track across dimensions or create hierarchies. Data flow is one directional. I cannot emphasize enough the shortcomings of the reporting. The parameters are mostly based on expense dates rather than expense reports. There are entirely too many of them, and some of them perform the function!
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Expensify
This has been a game changer for our nonprofit organization. It is simple, it works well, and it empowers our people to be in control of their reporting properly. We spend enough that we typically don't pay anything for the service. A small organization may have to pay for the service without the cash back incintives cancelling out their fees.
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Pros
Emburse
  • Integration with Amtrav or other travel booking systems. Certify has a tight integration with travel systems that makes it feel nearly like one cohesive tool.
  • Easy expense options. Use OCR on receipts, import from credit cards and merge items, approve and inquire about expenses. Track your submissions.
  • Easy UI. Friendly and easy to navigate without getting lost.
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Expensify
  • Expensify is really good at providing a simple system to log your expenses.
  • Expensify does a great job at identifying possible reimbursement denials like duplicate expenses and errors in log.
  • Expensify stays up to date on reimbursement coding like those used for gas usage by mile
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Cons
Emburse
  • Reporting: I would like to see more chart availability from the program. We include various data points from Certify in our monthly financial statement package. Currently, we export data from the program and create our own pivot tables to create charts.
  • Dashboard feature: It would be nice to be able to use the data for a specific date and then be able to print that information.
  • Can't think of another one. As stated before, they listen to their customers so prior issues have been addressed and implemented.
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Expensify
  • Make it easier to submit multiple receipts/files in one expense
  • Often times I get a warning that the value of a receipt doesn't match what I manually I inputted. So making Smart scanner a little smarter, essentially.
  • It would be fun to see stats about my expenses
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Likelihood to Renew
Emburse
No answers on this topic
Expensify
We like using the tool and we receive positive feedback from employees and management who use the tool. It saves time and helps us concentrate on the value adding activities so we are very likely to keep using Expensify in the future
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Usability
Emburse
If the integrations with our card programs had succeeded, I expect [Emburse] Certify would have worked well for expense submitters and approvers. During the short time that the American Express Business integration was active, transactions flowed smoothly, and the expense reporting and receipt matching functions were quite good. The [Emburse] Certify mobile app was particularly powerful and easy to use.
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Expensify
Works great, no significant issues. Easy to use platform that just works without issues. I also like that I can access the reports on my computer and on the app, which allows me to create reports from my computer but input data from the app. Makes it super easy for work
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Support Rating
Emburse
The measure of support is how well they respond when you really need them, like when the system is not performing correctly. We have been on the platform less than a year, and there have been at least 2 instances, where the platform was down. The 2nd time was the day before out fiscal year end. And they need a development website. When they are making changes to your LIVE instance, and things go wrong, the client is the first to know about it! I've come to understand that Certify has tiers of support. Those in tier 1, barely know more about the software than the users. I sent a request for a report that shows expense reports currently pending approval and after 5 days of back and forth I was told to build it myself.
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Expensify
Our rep has been amazing. He has built custom reports for us that have been very time consuming and difficult. Our reps are also currently looking into new submission solutions for us that we are excited about. They came up with this and recommended it on their own without me complaining about an issue. They are about our success and are very excited about the product they offer.
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Implementation Rating
Emburse
No answers on this topic
Expensify
The implementation process went rather smoothly, linking it to the bank and cards was handled easily. without too many unnecessary steps. Getting the accounts setup did take some time, but that would be true with any organization. All in all things went smoothly and I was very pleased with the setup and implementation process
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Alternatives Considered
Emburse
Before Certify, there was only manual expense reports entered for our company. This took too much time for employees too finish and caused a delay of efficiency. With Certify, it is easier to access and finish each report with the right amount of effectiveness and efficiency it needs. Certify is really helpful in saving a lot of time for employees that do not have time.
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Expensify
I find Expensify easier to use than Avaza and Concur. With Expensify I like the user interface, and you only need to click on expenses or start a new report and you can start adding expenses. Avaza is more of a timesheet tool, where you select projects you are working on and enter hours. You can submit hours on Expensify and don't need to make as many selections, although Avaza allows administrators to add more details. I like Concur because it allows you to book travel as well, and I like the interface but from my understanding, it is more expensive.
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Return on Investment
Emburse
  • The organization and automatic flow of the expense report to approvers and then AP saves time for all. The user has agreed that it is easier and quicker to prepare the expense report and the managers and AP department finds the automated process to be quicker and more efficient. Time saved is money saved.
  • Certify can recognize if a duplicate expense is submitted or if an expense is submitted too late to be reimbursed according to our policies. This prevents us from reimbursing an expense in error.
  • We use a customized report to track a specific type of expense that gets submitted by our sales team. There is a limit on what can be spent on specific expenses that fall into an entertainment category and the report helps us to stay within the limits. Previously, without this tool, we had spent so much more time manually tracking these expenses and had gone over the limits, creating a deficiency in our processes.
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Expensify
  • From my perspective within the sales team, Expensify delivered a positive impact on our efficiency and productivity.
  • Time saved by our sales team. The instant receipt scanning and streamlined report submission mean less time spent on administrative tasks.
  • Faster Reimbursement: Expensify's efficient workflow, including the flagging of potential issues and automated submissions, has reduced the time it takes for me to be reimbursed avoiding awkward liquidity issues.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Emburse Certify Screenshots

Screenshot of Certify Homepage - User interface for all users that includes a quick view of their expenses, pending expense reports and approval requests.Screenshot of Certify Mobile - Snap photos of receipts on the go and upload them instantly to your virtual Certify Wallet.Screenshot of Certify Travel - Now, corporate travel is even easier. Introducing Certify Travel, your end-to-end corporate travel solution to simplify bookings for employees while helping your company manage travel practices and costs. All for one low monthly fee and no booking fees! Certify Travel is easy to use, yet it is also a powerful enhancement to your company’s expense management system.Screenshot of Certify Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of Certify AP- manage cashflow with accounts payable automationScreenshot of Certify AP- streamlining employee purchasing

Expensify Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboard used to manage expenses, book travel, reimburse employees, and create expense reports.Screenshot of corporate cards. The Expensify Card offers cash back on every US purchase.