Question 1

What is Expense Kapture?

Accepted Answer

Student Expenses is a specialist software solution, designed to help Student Finance teams manage expense claims from their students.

The main function of the app is to sit as a bridge between the Student Management system (SUMS, MSL, Union-Cloud, MemPlus) and the financial accounting system (Iplicit, Exchequer, Access etc).  It's key role is to handle the student expense claim submission, approval, management and payment process, which ultimately results in a payment by the finance system.

Integrated with your SU system, the app automatically pulls in the students registered clubs and societies, and lets them create claims, add receipts and submit for group approval.  Approval requests are automatically sent to club approvers, treasurers and presidents, and when fully approved, we integrate with the finance system to generate accounting entries, ready to be paid.

With direct finance system integration throughout, students are notified of claim approval and payment. For group management, we also provide real-time income and expenditure reports to help them control finances.

The Student Expenses app is a mobile-first solution, with apps for iOS, Android, Mac, iPad, tablets and modern web browsers. On all platforms, the functionality is the same, but we typically adjust the screen layout slightly where we have room to make your UI experience even better.

Question 2

Where do I download the app?

Accepted Answer

The app is available on the mobile app-stores, as well as on the student expenses website.  We have apps available for iOS, Android, Mac, iPad, tablets and modern web browsers.  In all cases, the functionality is the same, but we adjust the screen layouts slightly where we have room to make the UI experience even better.

For links to the app locations, please visit the available apps (https://www.studentexpenses.com/available-apps)page.  Feel free to install the apps on all your devices, as this will provide you with true any device, any time access.

Question 3

Do I need a licence to use the app?

Accepted Answer

Student Union finance teams licence our solution and then make it available to their students to use.  You can download the app and explore using the demo login option, but to use the app for your actual student union claims, your Student Union or organisation will need to have subscribed to our service.

Individual users therefore do not need a specific licence, but your Student Union (or Organisation) does. If you are unsure whether your SU has a licence, please contact your SU team or drop us a message and we will review for you.

Question 4

Is there a demo version I can log in to without a licence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, all our apps have a built in demo mode that is available across all platforms (iOS, Android, Web etc).  At the login, simply select "Register or try demo", then select "Try demo login".  - For links to the app downloads, please visit our available apps (https://www.studentexpenses.com/available-apps)page.

When in the app, as a user or demo user, you can add claim entries, scan receipts with AI, add mileage with maps etc.  Using the demo mode will let you to get a feel for the app functionality.

Question 5

Can we use the app for our Student Services admin team expenses?

Accepted Answer

Although our app is designed for your students to enter expenses against their registered clubs and societies, you can also configure your SU system, and our app, to handle expense entry for your your admin team as well.

In order to handle this, you simply need to add an additional club/society on your SU system, and then set it to be available only to specific admin team users.  You can then then also configure who approves these expenses via group approval setup. Configuring your admin team expense this way, means that you then have all the controls that are available for your student's expenses.

For increased flexibility, you can add any number of groups and approval routes this way, so you could add groups "Student Admin - Finance", "Student Admin - HR" etc, so as to cover all configurations and approval routes.

Reimbursement wise, each Student Admin user will control their bank details via the app, in the standard way (via user/setup).  They will paid via the payment routines configured on the integrated finance system.

Question 6

First login: what is on the home screen?

Accepted Answer

Great - you have logged in, but you are not sure what is displayed on the home page screen.  In short, this home screen provides the headline information from other areas of the app - recent notifications, approval requests, and a visual analysis of your claims to date.

These areas can all be clicked, swiped etc - and the best way of thinking about these are that they are shortcuts to the "full" areas.  With notifications for example, we show your recent 3 messages, but click on the section header and you will go to the whole list. - Alternatively, you can also just navigate by the footer menu...!

Question 7

What email address do I use to sign in to the app?

Accepted Answer

When registering for the first time, you will usually enter your student email address and click register new user.  From this address, we will then look to match it with a licenced organisation site; and register you accordingly.

If we cannot match your email address, either because it is not a licenced SE site, or you are using a non student-union organisation email (Gmail, Outlook etc), then we will offer a list of universities for you to pick from. When you manually select your University, we will then attempt to then match it your Universities "manual" student email address list. (This is an option that some universities optionally configure for named users.)

If neither approach allows you to register, please contact your student admin team to investigate further.

Question 8

My account appears to be locked?

Accepted Answer

We treat your account security as a priority and as such, we adopt a temporary lockout feature for incorrect password attempts.

Our system will automatically lock your account for 30 minutes after 5 incorrect password attempts - on any device.

If you choose to reset your password (forgot password option), this will issue you with a new password to use and you have 24 hours to use this. Once used, this becomes your new password (rendering the old one invalid).

Note:
If you have temporarily locked your password with 5 incorrect attempts and then chosen to reset your password, you will not be able to use the new password until after the 30 minute lockout period.

Question 9

Can I install the app on all my devices?

Accepted Answer

Yes, feel free to install the app on all your devices.  You can then access your data from all your devices, so you have true any device, any time access.

Question 10

What is MFA (multi factor authentication)?

Accepted Answer

MFA is multi-factor-authentication and Student Expenses uses this security technology as standard. In short, MFA provides an extra level of security and is used when logging in to a new device (phone, laptop, browser etc) for the first time.

MFA with email will send a code to your registered email address and require you to enter it with the login details. Once in the application, you can enable SMS and Authenticator app support for MFA. but during registration, authentication by email is required.

Question 11

Can I enable face-id and touch id for faster login?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we fully support biometric authentication on mobile devices, so you can use face-id and fingerprint recognition to authenticate your user if your device supports it.

On mobile devices, we detect whether your device can support biometrics and, when initially logging in, ask if you would like to enable face-id/fingerprint authentication in the future.  If you select Yes, then we will attempt to use this next time you need to authenticate.

Irrespective of whether you initially enabled biometrics, you can manage the state of biometric usage in your own user app settings (on or off).  From the home page, tap your user avatar and select "change your settings".

Question 12

Why do I need to login again when returning to the app?

Accepted Answer

For advanced security, we ask a user to re-enter their password when returning to the app (from a background state or other app usage).  This is a user setting that can be changed in the user app settings, but we set this as a default (on) for security.

To maintain security, yet have a smooth re-authentication, we suggest enabling biometrics if you have it on your device. Enabling this will effectively automatically authenticate you (with face or touch) as soon as you switch back to the app.

Alternatively, if you wish to not use this feature, you can turn it off in user app settings.

Question 13

What image sizes are best for avatar and banner images?

Accepted Answer

Our apps are very visual and so we support the use of avatar and banner images where appropriate.  To get the best visuals within the apps, we recommend using the following sizes.

User and contact avatars
400 pixels by 400 pixels.

Mobile web banner (admin user, set site images)
1080 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall.

Web and desktop banner (admin user, set site images)
1584 pixels wide by 396 pixels tall.

Expense Kapture

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