Dictate in any app · Finance

Voice typing in Expensify

Expense reports get rejected over missing descriptions, not missing receipts. Typally works at the keyboard level, so anywhere Expensify accepts typing, it accepts your voice instead.

This is a vendor guide from the makers of Typally. Anything we say about Expensify is worth verifying — third-party features change without notice.
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In short

  • Expensify's own dictation: Receipt scanning and automatic categorisation.
  • What Typally does instead: works above the app rather than inside it — Expensify sees ordinary typed text.
  • Best used for: expense comments

Does Expensify have built-in dictation?

Receipt scanning and automatic categorisation. The comment field is typed.

Why dictate in Expensify at all?

Scanning a receipt is instant. Explaining why a forty-euro dinner was a business expense takes a sentence, and that sentence is the one thing an approver actually needs.

In practice people use it for: Expense comments, report descriptions, policy violation explanations, and approver notes.

How to dictate in Expensify

Nothing changes inside Expensify itself. Typally sits in the tray and types into the focused window:

1

Install Typally

Windows or macOS, then sign in. No card for the free tier.

2

Focus the Expensify field you want the words in

The cursor position is the whole instruction — Expensify routes the keystrokes from there.

3

Press and speak

Hold, talk, release. Long passages are fine.

4

Read it before you move on

The mobile flow is designed for speed and moves on quickly after a scan. On desktop, open the expense before dictating.

What Typally adds in Expensify

Typally types into the expense comment field, so the business purpose gets recorded while you are still in the taxi rather than reconstructed a week later. Approvers reject reports over missing justification far more often than missing receipts, and a spoken sentence removes that entirely.

What this looks like in practice

A sales team told to justify every client dinner starts speaking the business purpose while still in the taxi. Report approval time drops from a week of back-and-forth to same-day, because the approver stops having to ask.

One habit that makes it work better

Dictate the business purpose at the moment you photograph the receipt. A week later you genuinely will not remember who was at the dinner.

What to watch out for in Expensify

The mobile flow is designed for speed and moves on quickly after a scan. On desktop, open the expense before dictating.

Frequently asked questions

Does Expensify transcribe anything?

It reads receipts with OCR. The comment explaining the expense is typed.

What gets an expense report rejected?

Usually a missing or vague business purpose rather than a missing receipt.

Can I dictate approver comments?

Yes. The comment field is an ordinary text box.

Try it in Expensify

Start on the free plan (100 minutes a month, no card). Pro lifts the cap and adds meeting notes for $7.99/month.

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