Insights Overview
Insights Overview
Insights provides pre-built reports that help you understand spending patterns and trends without exporting data or creating complex custom searches. Each Insight is a suggested search that groups and analyzes your expense data automatically.
Who can use Insights
Insights are available to Workspace Admins, Approvers, and Auditors. Some insights are also available to all workspace members depending on their permissions.
Access Insights on both web and mobile:
Web:
Click Reports in the left navigation, then view suggested searches under the Insights section.
Mobile:
Tap Reports from the navigation tabs on the bottom, then tap the hamburger menu in the top-right corner. View suggested searches under Insights.
Available Insights
Top Spenders
Shows which employees submitted the highest total expenses in the last month. Use this to:
- Identify high or unusual spenders
- Monitor employee-level spending trends
- Make decisions about expense policies
Learn more about the Top Spenders report
Top Categories
Shows which expense categories had the highest total spend in the last month. Use this to:
- Understand where most money is being spent by expense type
- Compare spending across categories like Travel, Meals, and Office Supplies
- Make budget allocation decisions
Learn more about the Top Categories report
Top Merchants
Shows which merchants or vendors received the highest total payments in the last month. Use this to:
- Track vendor spending patterns
- Identify opportunities for volume discounts or negotiations
- Monitor subscription and recurring service costs
Learn more about the Top Merchants report
How Insights work
Each Insight is powered by Expensify’s search query engine using grouping filters and operators. The reports:
- Automatically group expenses by relevant dimensions (employee, category, merchant, time period)
- Calculate totals and counts
- Sort results to show the highest values first
- Update dynamically as new expenses are added
By default, Insights show data from the previous calendar month and display the top 10 results.
Viewing modes
Insights can be displayed in two formats:
Bar Chart View
The default view for most Insights. Shows a visual bar chart with grouped data, making it easy to compare values at a glance.
Table View
Shows the same data in a traditional table format with rows and columns. Useful for detailed analysis or when you need to view more data points.
To switch between views:
- Open any Insight report
- Click View in the top navigation
- Select Bar chart or Table
Customizing Insights
While you can’t modify the suggested Insight searches directly, you can:
- Apply additional filters - Add date ranges, workspaces, or employee filters
- Create custom searches - Use the same grouping operators to build your own reports
- Export underlying data - Expand groups and export individual expenses to CSV
To create a custom report based on an Insight:
- Start with an Insight as your template
- Modify filters to match your needs
- Click Save search to save your custom version
Learn how to use search operators and grouping
Grouping options
Insights use these grouping operators to analyze expenses:
- group-by:from - Group by employee (who submitted)
- group-by:category - Group by expense category
- group-by:merchant - Group by merchant or vendor
- group-by:tag - Group by expense tags
- group-by:month - Group by calendar month
- group-by:week - Group by calendar week
- group-by:quarter - Group by fiscal quarter
- group-by:year - Group by calendar year
You can use these operators in custom searches to create your own insights and analyze spending from different perspectives.
View all available search operators
FAQ
Can I export Insights data?
Insights reports can’t be exported with their grouped totals directly. However, you can:
- Expand each group to show individual expenses
- Select the expenses you want
- Click Export to CSV
What Insights are available?
Expensify offers multiple Insights reports to help you analyze spending from different perspectives:
- Top Spenders - Analyze spending by employee
- Top Categories - Analyze spending by expense category
- Top Merchants - Analyze spending by vendor
You can also create custom reports using search operators and grouping filters.
How often do Insights update?
Insights update in real-time as expenses are added, modified, or approved. The data you see reflects the current state of your expenses.
Can I change the time period for an Insight?
Yes! Use the date filters to adjust the time period. Common options include:
date:this-monthdate:last-monthdate:year-to-datedate:this-quarter- Custom date ranges
Who can see my workspace Insights?
Only users with the appropriate permissions can view Insights:
- Workspace Admins can view all workspace data
- Approvers can view data for employees they approve
- Auditors can view all workspace data
- Regular members can only view their own submitted expenses
