Setting up an Employee Account Checklist

Setting up an Employee Account Checklist

To onboard a new employee, follow this guide to set up their account in Emburse Spend. Use this checklist when a new team member joins your organization and needs access to submit or approve expenses. Complete each step in order to configure their profile, permissions, and card access before they begin expensing. You can send the invitation email immediately or delay it until you finish configuring their account.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

  • You are assigned an Administrator role in Emburse Spend.

  • You have a valid email address for the new employee.

Invite the Employee on the People Screen

  1. Select the ADMIN tab in the Emburse Spend sidebar.

    2. Emburse Spend sidebar with the Admin tab selected.

  2. Select People.

  3. In the upper right corner of the People screen, select + INVITE.

    4. People screen with People selected in the sidebar and the Invite button in the upper right corner.

  4. In the Invite Team Members dialog, enter the employee's email address in the Email ID field. You can invite one person or paste a comma-separated list of email addresses.

    5. Invite Team Members dialog with Email ID, Role, Managed By, Schedule Deactivation Date, Note, and Send invitation checkbox fields.

  5. Optional: Select the employee's Role from the dropdown. The default is Member.

  6. Optional: Select the employee's manager in the Managed By field.

  7. Optional: Set a Schedule Deactivation Date for temporary employees, or add a welcome message in the Note field.

  8. Leave Send an email invitation to user to access Emburse Spend now selected to send the invite immediately, or clear it to add the employee now and send the invite later.

  9. Select INVITE.

If you sent the invitation immediately, the employee receives an email to activate and set up their profile in Emburse Spend.

You can also add new users to Emburse Spend without sending the invitation email immediately. This option lets you assign a manager and add Team Fields to the employee's profile before they receive their invite.

Assign the Employee's Role

Determine what this employee will use Emburse Spend for:

  • If they primarily submit their own expenses, assign them the Member role.

  • If they approve their team's expenses, assign them the Manager role. Then open the profiles of their team members and assign the employee in the Managed By field.

  • If they approve expenses for a large number of employees, consider assigning them the Admin role.

See Roles and Permissions: Admins, Managers, Members, and Accountants for details on each role.

  1. On the People screen, select the EditPencil next to the employee's name.

    2. People screen with the Edit pencil icon highlighted next to an employee row.

  2. Select the employee's Role from the dropdown.

    3. Edit User Profile dialog showing Role, Approval Permission, Managed By, Delegates, and Team Fields.

  3. If the employee must final approve expenses, turn on Approval Permission.

  4. Optional: Select the person who should review the employee's expenses in the Managed By field.

  5. Optional: Add Delegates who can submit card expenses and reimbursements on the employee's behalf.

  6. Select SAVE.

  7. If you assigned the Manager role, open each team member's profile and assign this employee in the Managed By field.

For more information, see Manage Users on the People Screen.

Assign Team Fields

Determine which groups the employee belongs to. Are they in a specific location or department? Will they only work on certain projects? Assign them Team Fields so their expenses are automatically tagged with that information. Team Fields also prompt employees to enter required information based on their group.

Example: A new employee joins the Marketing department at your Boston office and works primarily on Project Alpha. On their profile, you might set Department to Marketing, Location to Boston, and Project to Project Alpha. Your organization may use different Team Field names and values.

  1. On the People screen, select the EditPencil next to the employee's name.

    2. People screen with the Edit pencil icon highlighted next to an employee row.

  2. In the Edit User Profile dialog, scroll to the Team Fields section.

    3. Edit User Profile dialog Team Fields section with dropdown fields for organization-specific values.

  3. For each Team Field displayed, select the value that applies to this employee from the dropdown. Available fields and options vary by organization.

  4. Select SAVE.

To assign Team Fields to multiple employees at once, use the bulk update feature on the People screen. See How to Bulk Update Your Team on Emburse Spend.

Assign a Card

If the employee uses a card, issue a card to them on the Team Cards screen as soon as possible so they do not accidentally submit card transactions as reimbursable expenses. This workflow applies to corporate and Emburse Cards programs.

Create and Assign Virtual Cards

Admins and managers may create and assign Virtual Emburse or American Express Cards for up to 10 employees at once in Emburse Spend. Admins may also issue virtual cards to themselves.

Administrators must issue cards that have the member's legal first and last names, as we can no longer issue physical or virtual cards that have place names, non-users, or locations in place of a first and last name.

For security purposes, only an assigned cardholder may view their full card number within Spend.

  1. Select Team Cards in your Admin or Manager sidebar.

    Admin sidebar with Team Cards selected

  2. Select Create Card.

    Managers can only create cards if enabled by your administrator.

    Team Cards screen with Create Card button highlighted

  3. Select Virtual Card.

    Create Card dialog with Virtual Card option selected

  4. Choose from recently created cards if you would like to use them as a starting point, a previously created Card Template, or choose Virtual Card if you would like to start from scratch.

    Create Virtual Card screen showing recently created cards and card templates

    For more information on how to create a Card Template, visit the following help center article: Create and Manage Emburse Card Templates.

  5. Complete the card details and select Issue Card.
  • Employee: Choose up to 10 members from the dropdown menu to assign a Virtual Card to. It can be helpful to order multiple cards at once if you are planning for upcoming travel or pre-approved purchases that will be completed by multiple team members.
  • Card Purpose: Describe how the card will be used.
  • Budget: Choose how much can be spent on this card in USD. This will apply a cap to how much the card owner can spend on the card. Managers cannot create cards for an amount higher than their Max Limit Per Card.
  • Frequency: Determine whether the card has a recurring budget, and how often the balance is reapplied.
  • Start and End Date: Determine the time period when the funds will be available on the card. If you choose a recurring frequency, the budget will be reapplied until the end date you select. Mark the Start Date as the current day you are creating the card, and add one day to the End Date as the card could be deactivated up to 4 hours before the specified end date.

Virtual Cards can only be issued to individuals who already have an Emburse Spend account. Before issuing a card, you can invite employees to Emburse Spend.

Create Virtual Card form with budget and frequency fields and Issue Card button

Once virtual cards have been created and activated, team members can use and manage their cards on the Cards screen.

Virtual cards cannot be reassigned. Admins may only cancel the card and create a new card for the other user.

Virtual card details will be displayed in Emburse Spend both on the web and in the mobile application for online purchases and the card can be added to Apple Pay for iOS or Google Pay on Android for in-person spending.

Create and Assign Physical Cards

Admins and managers may create and assign Physical Emburse Cards in Emburse Spend. You may create physical cards ad hoc as needed or bulk order physical Emburse Cards. Each member may only have one physical Emburse Card assigned at a time.

In alignment with enhanced security protocols, only the cardholder in possession of the physical card may access the full card number. Administrators no longer have visibility into full card details for other cardholders.

It is not possible to issue physical cards for your American Express Card Program via Emburse Spend.

  1. Select Team Cards in your Admin or Manager sidebar.

    Admin sidebar with Team Cards selected

  2. Select Create Card.

    Team Cards screen with Create Card button highlighted

  3. Select Physical Card.

    Managers can only create physical cards if enabled by your administrator.

    Create Card dialog with Physical Card option selected

  4. Choose from recently created cards if you would like to use them as a starting point or choose Physical Card if you would like to start from scratch.

    Create Physical Card screen showing Custom Physical Card and recently created templates

  5. Complete the card details and select Issue Card.
  • Employee: Choose the team member who will be responsible for using the card and expensing card transactions.
  • Card Name: Describe how the card will be used.
  • Budget: Choose how much can be spent on this card in USD. This will apply a cap to how much the card owner can spend on the card. Managers cannot create cards for an amount higher than their Max Limit Per Card.
  • Frequency: Determine whether the card has a recurring budget, and how often the balance is reapplied.
  • Start and End Date: Determine the time period when the funds will be available on the card. If you choose a recurring frequency, the budget will be reapplied until the end date you select.
  • Allowed Merchant Category Groups: This field is optional. It will prevent users from using their cards at any type of merchant except those in the merchant category groups selected here.
  • Shipping Address: Input the address that the physical card should be mailed to. This can be your office or directly to the cardholder, as long as it is within the US.
  • Shipping Method: Choose if you would like expedited card shipping (4-5 business days) for an additional cost of $13.00 + optional signature verification for $3.00.

Any cards issued to individuals without an account will initiate an invitation to Emburse Spend. Their card will be shipped after they accept the invite to Emburse Spend.

Create Physical Card form with shipping address, shipping method, and Issue Card button

Once a card is received and activated, team members may use and manage their cards on the Cards screen. Physical Emburse Cards can be used anywhere major credit cards are accepted.

If your card program is Emburse Cards, the cardholder must accept Terms and Conditions before the card activates. Only the cardholder can accept Terms and Conditions. See Activate a Physical or Virtual Emburse Card for the full activation flow.

To help train them on the card expense workflow, send them this article to review: How to Submit Corporate Card Transactions.

To assign an unassigned card (typically from a deactivated user), use the Card Programs screen. See Assign from the Card Programs Page in Assign Corporate Cards to Users.

Review the Employee's First Expense

It is good practice to confirm your employee understands how to use Emburse Spend early on.

  1. Review their first expense.

  2. Confirm whether they submitted an individual item or totalled up their expenses and submitted one expense for the month.

  3. If they are having trouble with the Real-Time Workflow, direct them to Uploading Receipts and other resources in the Expenses section of the Help Center.

Completion Note

Employee account setup is complete. The employee is invited (or pending invite), their role and Team Fields are assigned, any required card is issued, and you have reviewed their first expense submission approach.

Was this article helpful?