Neo1 includes built in integration into online finance systems commonly used by SME customers, however it is not possibly to have built-in connectivity to all platforms, especially those which are installed locally on servers and not accessed online via web browser.
If you do use one of the following finance tools, please use the respective guides to easily integrate Neo1 and synchronize your finance and tax codes:
If you are using any other platform, please follow this guide to manually configure Neo1, to include setup of your Chart of Accounts, tax codes, accounting segments and expense policy.
Before we start let's clarify the terms in Neo1 - what these mean, and what data you need to source from your own Finance system.
Accounting - The tab within Neo1 which contains the Accounting Segments we need to configure
Accounting Segments - The unique data points in your Chart of Accounts where you need to capture values for each transaction. For example, a segment could be Account Code (also called PL Account, or Nominal Code), Cost Centre, Department, Client or Project. You are likely already capturing this detail in your finance system when you enter an expense or supplier invoice today. If not, now is a great time to consider what data has been missing from your existing setup.
Segment Values - These are the individual values which fall under an Accounting Segment. For example, if your Account Segment was Account Code, a segment value would be a single account such as Meals/Subsistence and it's associated code (i.e. 67001). As another example, if your Account Segment was Cost Centre, a Segment Value would be a single Cost Centre value currently used in your Finance system. You will need to know the code and name. The code is the value your finance system uses and will expect to see when you import extractions during the extract process.
Taxes - The tab within Neo1 containing the Tax Codes configured and available to use in your Neo1 setup. By default these are set up for your countries default but the codes may require an update to match your current setup.
Tax Code - The individual codes stored in Neo1. These are made up of a Code, Rate and Description. The Code should match the Tax Account/Code that your Finance system has configured today. The description is used in Neo1 to guide the user what code has been used for a transaction.
The following steps will take you through setting up Neo1 manually for your business.
Step 1: Plan your implementation
Gather the information needed from your finance system, and plan your implementation. You need to decide which Accounting Segments to use, and these should cover all of the data points you need to be able to post a transaction into your finance tool. If you wish to also assign spend to a project or client, include these as Accounting Segments you wish to setup.
An example would be:
Segment Number | Accounting Segment Name | Free Text or Closed List | Mandatory? | Parent Segment |
1 | Account Code | Closed List (a drop down of values) | Yes | |
2 | Cost Centre | Closed List (a drop down of values) | Yes | |
3 | Client | Closed List (a drop down of values) | No | |
4 | Project | Closed List (a drop down of values) | No | 3 (Client) |
Once you have planned your Accounting Segments, find out if you can export the Segment Values from your Finance system. If this is possible it will speed up your data entry into Neo1.
Finally, decide what Tax Codes or Tax Accounts your Finance system expects to see for each transaction so we can update the Taxes in Neo1.
Step 2: Create your Accounting Segments in Neo1
You can also explore setting dependencies between segments. This is optional advanced configuration, but as an example you could have a dependency set up between Client and Project, where projects valid only to a specific client will be displayed to a user to mitigate against any incorrect coding being submitted.
It is important this is done to ensure that spend management functions in Neo1 work correctly. When a user is inputting a new transaction for an expense they will need to select the Expense Type most appropriate which will then drive the correct coding and tax code automatically.
Step 4: Configure your Tax Codes in Neo1
Out of the box your Neo1 setup includes default zero rated tax codes relevant to your country, however you may want to edit the Tax codes to match those used in your finance system to make it easier to import transactions back in.
The below table helps to provide context to the default zero rated codes presented.
Tax Code Type | Scenario |
International Tax Code | Spend outside your home country. For example, if your registered office address is in the UK, spend outside the UK will be treated as international spend, and this Tax Code will be used as default. |
Domestic Zero Rated Tax Code | Spend in your home country, but for transactions which are zero rated. For example: flights, public transport. |
NA Tax Code | When tax is not relevant, for example a Mileage Claim, or the tax code has not been configured for the Expense Type (see Step 5 for instructions on how to do this) |
Step 6: Set User defaults
The final step once you have completed your finance system configuration is to add any defaults to user profiles. In this sample configuration, we will add a Cost Centre default to our user.
Start by going to Settings > Users. Click the pencil "edit" icon next to the appropriate user.
Scroll down to the Default Coding section of the profile, and select the Accounting Segment you are updating. Choose your Segment Value and click Done when you have added all defaults.
If you need any help or guidance on any of the above configuration please feel free to reach out to the Neo1 Customer Success team, by emailing help@neo1.com, and we will be happy to assist you with your spend management setup.