Record Expenses Via the Browser Search Bar
Comments(5)
For some inexplicable reason we’re obsessed with making expense tracking as simple as possible. We spend days and nights thinking about it, and pore over your feedback to find new ways.
We might’ve found the simplest way yet – via your browser’s search box. If you’re using FireFox, Internet Explorer 7, or any other browsers that supports OpenSearch, you’ll have noticed a search bar at the top right hand side of your browser. Now you can enter your expense into that search box and hit enter to record it, from any web page, without even having to visit Xpenser.com .
The screencast below shows how to set it up and use it. If you’re screencast challenged, here’s how it works:
- In FireFox, go to Xpenser.com, and click on the icon on the left hand side of your browser’s search box. You’ll see an option for “Add Xpenser”. Select this. You should now see the Xpenser icon in the browser’s search box.
- In Internet Explorer 7, click on the down arrow at rightmost part of the browser’s search bar. You’ll see an option for “Add Search Providers -> Xpenser”. Click on this and add Xpenser. Now select Xpenser as the search engine by clicking the down arrow again and selecting Xpenser.
That’s it. Now you can add expenses from your browser search box from any web page with the minimal number of keystrokes.
[...] feature they’re talking about, by the way, is recording expenses via the browser search box. They’re right, that is [...]
How about making it work in IE 8.0? (sorry….not the smartest computer user)
Also how about putting up some screen shots of various report layouts.
My controller wants report with columns for various categories and sub-totalled by category
Michael,
Was there something in particular that wasn’t working with IE 8? It should all just work, please let us know if you find something broken.
Regarding report layouts: we’re working on improved reports at this very moment, drop us a line ( feedback@xpenser.com ) so we can get your feedback and requirements integrated.
I like it, but it isn’t something I would often use personally for two reasons.
a) My corporate laptop is screwed down so much I can’t change the search bar.
b) When I go on a trip, I come back with several receipts that I then scan and add to Xpenser, rather than just individual ones. So I’m always making entries en masse.
Having said that, I may try this feature from my personal netbook, just to see how it pans out, as I often lose these scraps of paper that pass for receipts.
So thanks.
Colin,
Not being able to change the search bar is pretty tight controls indeed. Fortunately there are plenty of other interfaces (email, SMS, IM, etc) you could use.
Regarding mass entry of expenses, you could jott them down in excel, save that as .csv, and import them into Xpenser, if you have a strong preference for that.
Please keep the feedback coming, we love to hear it.