Note: This feature is only available on Full Lifecycle plans.

Before importing expenses, make sure:

**Important Note** When uploading a report from your accounting platform, opt for the most detailed / lowest level of granularity available. Instrumentl needs data at the expense/transaction level (not at the GL summary level).

The first time you upload a report format, you'll be asked to complete a short questionnaire.

After uploading your file, complete the questionnaire with details about your report structure. This one-time setup helps Instrumentl understand how your accounting report is structured so future imports can be processed automatically.

Our team will review the information and follow up within 7 business days if we need additional information or when your report format is ready to use.

Once setup is complete, you'll receive an email prompting you to return to the import process.

After Instrumentl recognizes your report format, you'll be asked to review the expense categories detected in the file.

Click the hyperlinked “X expense categories” and select which categories should be included in your imports. Exclude any categories that aren't relevant to grant spending.

Common examples of excluded categories include:

Once completed, then click Next → to map the categories.

Map each grant identifier detected in your report to the corresponding award in Instrumentl by clicking the drop down menu under Instrumentl Award and selecting the corresponding award.

You only need to map each award once - upon future imports we’ll recognize the grant identifier and remember the mapping. If your report contains multiple grants, you can map all of them during the same import process.

Map the expense categories from your accounting platform to the corresponding Funder Budget Category in Instrumentl by clicking on the drop down menu and selecting the category.

Imported Expense Category is the category (e.g. GL Account) from your accounting software. Funder Budget Category is the category from your award or funder approved budget in Instrumentl.

If a Funder Budget Category does not exist yet, click Edit Budget to add the category.

This mapping creates the connection between your accounting data and your funder-approved budget, allowing Instrumentl to generate Budget vs. Actuals reporting.

**Important Note** you cannot proceed with the mapping if you have not uploaded a budget. Learn how to upload your budget here.

Review the summary and finish the import.

Your expenses will be added to the appropriate awards and budget categories in Instrumentl.

To automate future imports, copy your organization's unique Instrumentl expense email address and configure your accounting platform to send reports to that address on a recurring schedule.

Most accounting systems support scheduled report emails, allowing you to automate imports daily, weekly, monthly, or on another cadence supported by your system.

Once configured, Instrumentl will automatically process incoming reports using your existing mappings.

The first time you upload a new report format, Instrumentl needs to understand how the report is structured. The questionnaire helps our team configure support for that format so future uploads can be processed automatically without reformatting.

After completing the questionnaire, we'll follow up within 7 business days with either:

This setup only needs to be completed once per report format.

In most cases, yes. Instrumentl can support reports from accounting systems that do not have a native integration, provided the report is formatted in the same way and includes the same data in the report originally shared.

Your report should include:

Reports should contain transaction-level data rather than summary totals.

Yes. Expense imports require an existing budget in Instrumentl.

If a budget has not been created, you'll need to set up your budget before the Import Expenses workflow becomes available.

Learn how to upload and parse your budget here.

Yes. A single report can contain multiple grants. During the mapping step, you'll assign each detected grant identifier to the appropriate Instrumentl award.

Yes. Even if you configure recurring imports, you can continue uploading files manually through the Import Expenses page.

If Instrumentl receives a file that is structured differently than the format originally configured for your account, processing will pause and you'll receive an email prompting you to review the change.

You'll receive an email explaining that the file couldn't be processed.

This may happen if:

You’ll receive an email explaining that you need to map items in order to process the expense report.

Typically this means one of the following:

Yes, if you click into the “Settings” section from within the Financials section you can modify your expense category filtering.

No. Instrumentl does not automatically deduplicate imported expenses.

If you upload or email a report containing transactions that have already been imported, duplicate expenses may be created. Review your reports carefully before importing to avoid duplicate records.

Reach out to our Customer Support team if you have any questions! Message us via the chat bubble when you're logged in, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.