COUNTA Mobile App - Expense Management

Last updated:  June 12, 2025

Video Tutorial

Expense management

Navigate to the Expense tab to manage your Expense Claims (aka Expense Reports). The screenshots below are in dark mode.  You can switch to light mode from the Home page.

Create a new expense claim

1. If you have existing Expense Claims, you will see them when you navigate to this page. Use the Filters  on the top-right of the page to zoom in on specific transactions.   Make sure to tap Apply filters.
2. If you don't have any existing expense claims or there are no expense claims that match the filters you applied, it will show a blank screen. 
   1. Tap New expense claim to create a new expense report. This will bring up a New expense claim page. 
   2. If you are not ready to enter expenses at this time, you can tap Save.
      
      
3. Once you save a new expense claim, COUNTA will generate a unique Expense Claim number.  When you're ready, simply tap the Un-submitted expense claim. This will bring up the Expense claim page.  Tap Add expense to enter a new expense line. 
4. A New expense page loads with the current Date.  Override the date if the expense is from a date in the past.  Click on the Receipt photo icon. The mobile app provides flexible options for managing receipts.  
   1. Take a photo - Capture a photo of your receipt on the spot.
   2. Upload photo - Choose a receipt from your device gallery. 
   3. Upload file - Choose a receipt from your device files
   4. Choose from App Library -  The app library will show unmatched receipts emailed to receipts@counta.com.
5. Once you have added the receipt, you have the option to attach any supporting documents, like proof of payment,  by clicking the on the Attachment icon. 
6. Populate the rest of the expense details.  
   

   Jobs are synced from Accountability, so you’ll always have the most up-to-date list.  Tap the right arrow to assign a Job.

   Task Type is the expense category.  Tap the right arrow to bring up a list of task types to choose from.   

   The Currency defaults to your office currency. Tap the right arrow to choose a different currency. 

   Enter the Expense currency amount. The COUNTA mobile app will automatically convert this amount in your home currency and display that value in the Amount including tax field. Tap the information icon to see the exchange rate.

   Don't forget to add a Description! Depending on your agency settings, this could be required. 
7. Expand or collapse the More Options section as needed: 
   
   If your Office is required to enter an Expense Location, choose from the list.  Otherwise, you will not be able to submit your Expense Claim.
   
   The Employee defaults to yourself.   If the expense was incurred on behalf of another employee, override the the default by choosing from the list of active Employees within the office(s) you have access to. 
   
   Use Note to to enter additional narrative or details about this expense, e.g. Attendees.  

Record Attendees for an Expense

You can add internal employees and/or external attendees to any expense line, making it easier to track group expenses. 

1. Expand "More options".  Your name is automatically added as an attendee. Click into the "Attendees" field to choose additional attendees. 
   
   
2. You will see two tabs:
   1. Employees:  This is for internal attendees and lists all active employees for your organization, sorted alphabetically by Employee Name.  
   2. Non-Employees: This is for external attendees and lists any contacts you have created in the app. 
      
      
3. To add internal attendees (Employees): 
   1. Scroll down the list or search for a specific employee 
   2. Click on the name to select it. You will see a green check-mark next to the name you've selected. 
   3. Click "Apply".
4. To add external attendees (Non-Employees) 
   1. Existing contact
      1. Scroll through the list or search for the contact's name 
      2. Click on the name to select it.  You will see a green check-mark next to the name you've selected. 
      3. Click "Apply"
   2. New contact
      1. Click "Add new".  This will bring up an "Add new attendee" form. 
      2. Populate the Name, Title, and Company of the external attendee
      3. Click "Add" on the top right or "Cancel" on the top left. 
      4. If you click "Add" the new contact is automatically selected.  
      5. Click "Apply"

Pin frequently used Jobs and Task Types 

When assigning a Job No. or Task Type to an expense, you can pin a job for an active project or retainer you're assigned to and commonly used expense categories (aka 'task types'). Pinned items appear on the top the next time you access the list within the same session (they're refreshed when you log out).

Mileage expense

The Mileage task type is pinned by default and appears on the top of the list.

If  you need to enter a personal vehicle travel expense, select this Task Type. The COUNTA app will display a specific form that includes the mileage allowance for your office.

Enter the number of Miles / Kilometres traveled. 

The COUNTA app displays the Cents per mile / Kilometre allocation for your office.

You can optionally enter your origin and destination in the From and To fields. 

Press Save. COUNTA will calculate the expense total based on your agency's mileage allowance and the total distance you entered.

Billable vs non-billable expenses

The job's billable status will determine whether an expense is billable or not.  This removes the onus on you, the user, to figure out whether to check a billable or non-billable box. This is a consistent feedback we got during our user research to make it easier for users to add and submit their expenses.

If your agency does not require a Job No. on expenses, any expense line entered with just a Task Type will be processed by the system as non-billable. 

Foreign currency expenses

COUNTA makes it easy for travelers to manage expenses across multiple currencies. For a foreign currency expense, tap on the Currency field and select a different currency and enter the Expense amount.  The app is synchronized with the Accountability platform and looks up the FX rate in real-time to calculate the reimbursable Amount including tax. To view the exchange rate used in the calculation, tap the Information icon. 

Submit expense claims for approval 

1. You can submit a single expense claim for approval once you have completed entering all of your expenses with the required receipts, job, and task type allocations. 
2. To submit multiple expense claims at one time, navigate to the main My Expenses page and click Submit all.