---
title: "Introduction to Capture Expense"
slug: "introduction-to-capture-expense"
updated: 2026-04-22T15:01:27Z
published: 2026-04-22T15:01:27Z
canonical: "help.cintra.co.uk/introduction-to-capture-expense"
stale: true
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.cintra.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction to Capture Expense

Capture Expense is a comprehensive desktop and mobile application that allow staff to raise, submit and approve expenses at any time and from any location.

Capture Expense offers a mobile/tablet version which is fully-featured and allows employees to capture receipts, raise, view and submit expenses. Line managers and finance can also [use the mobile app](/capture-expense/docs/capture-expense-app) to approve expense claims.

> All the features available to the desktop version are also available to mobile, except administration and maintenance tasks.

Capture Expense integrates all major Accounting, Payroll, and HR systems. It also:

- Supports BACS payments.
- Provides information to be fed in, such as users, projects, cost centres.
- Pull user records in from existing HR or other existing staff record systems.

| Task | Link |
| --- | --- |
| Receipt Management | - Upload digital receipts using your mobile app, email, Teams, or What’s App. Note: OCR is used to read the receipt and pre‑populate the form. - Automatically match to any credit card transactions. - Split the receipt into multiple expense categories. |
| Journey Calculator | - Automatically calculate distance based on input way points using Google’s API Distance Service. - Use HMRC’s advisory rate (updated every 3 months) or your own rates. - Override calculated distance and get the percentage difference. |
| Policy Control | - Set spending limits for each unique user. - Create warnings for expenses which are out of policy. - Control number and level of approval stages. - Duplicate protection, vehicle mileage checks and alerts. |
| Compliance | - VAT records come pre-built with the software and include full UK and EU rates. - Ensures your organisation reclaims the correct amount of VAT. - Increases VAT reclaim success by up to 34%. |
| Corporate Cards | - Automatically generate card expenses for review. - Works separately from cash expenses, ensuring account balances can be reconciled. - Provides real‑time exchange rates based on date of claim. |
| Carbon Emission Tracking | - Calculate emissions for: - Fuel consumption - Hotel stays - Flights - Travel by bus, train, car, etc. |