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APSense documentation

Key concepts

APSense is built around a few fundamental building blocks that help you move from a pile of receipts to a finished expense report. Understanding how these pieces fit together ensures you can track your spending accurately and get reimbursed faster.

Workspaces

Workspaces are the highest level of organization in APSense. They provide a logical “container” to separate different areas of your financial life. By default, every account starts with a Personal workspace.

You use workspaces to ensure that data from one part of your life doesn’t mix with another. For example, you might have a “Consulting” workspace for your freelance work and a “Real Estate” workspace for property management. Each workspace maintains its own independent list of:

  • Expenses: Transactions specific to that business or category.
  • Reports: Groups of expenses ready for submission.
  • Settings: Custom categories or payment methods unique to that workspace.

Expenses

An expense is the atomic unit of data in APSense. It represents a single transaction where money was spent. There are three primary ways you create an expense:

  • Receipt Scanning: You use your camera to capture a physical receipt. APSense processes the image to extract the data automatically.
  • Mileage Logs: You track a business trip either manually or via GPS. APSense calculates the reimbursement amount based on your configured mileage rates.
  • Manual Entry: You type in the details for transactions that don’t have a traditional receipt, such as a cash tip or a verbal agreement.

Every expense tracks essential data points like the vendor, the date, the amount, and the category (e.g., “Meals” or “Travel”).

Reports

Reports are containers used to group multiple expenses together for a specific purpose, such as a monthly reimbursement or a specific project’s budget.

The power of reports lies in their lifecycle:

  1. Active: You are still adding expenses to this report. It acts as a “draft.”
  2. Submitted: You have sent the report to an approver or accounting department. The expenses in this report are now “locked” to prevent accidental changes.
  3. Approved/Rejected: The reviewer has made a decision. If approved, the report moves toward reimbursement. If rejected, you can edit the expenses and resubmit.

You can set a Default Report for any workspace. When you scan a new receipt, APSense automatically assigns it to your default report, saving you several taps during high-volume entry.

AI-powered extraction

APSense uses a combination of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to eliminate manual data entry. When you upload or scan a receipt, the system “reads” the image to identify key information.

  • Smart Extraction: The AI looks for the vendor name, the total amount (including tax and tips), and the transaction date.
  • Confidence Scores: The system assigns a confidence level to its findings. If the AI is unsure about a mangled or blurry receipt, it flags the fields for your review.
  • Smart Categorization: Over time, APSense learns your habits. If you frequently categorize “Starbucks” as “Meals,” the AI automatically suggests that category the next time you visit a coffee shop.

Need help?

If you have questions about managing your workspaces or reports, please reach out to us: