Spendesk enables you to split your payables across multiple values of Cost Centers, Expense Categories or Analytical Fields. This feature is currently available from the Scale billing plans and over, for customers using file-based accounting exports and our native accounting integrations with DATEV and Xero. We are currently working on making this feature available for Quickbooks and NetSuite. 📖
💡 Please note that if you are using file-based accounting exports, you will need to opt-in to Analytical Split feature, by going to “Settings > Accounting > Accounting Integration” section and opting in. If you are an existing customer and are using file-based exports for purchase journals, please check out the section with changes in format of the exports before switching on the Analytical Split feature.
The 'why' behind this feature
It is very common that a business expense needs to be attributed to multiple business units or categories (e.g. expenses for a product showcase event might need to be split across Product Management, Sales and Product Marketing departments). Customers are now able to ensure that they capture an expense accurately, by splitting an expense across multiple Cost Centers, Expense Categories or Analytical Fields.
Where to split payables on Spendesk
Users are only able to split payables in the Bookkeep > Prepare section of the app.
The following table shows at which stages of a payable it can be split.
Request | Approve | Review | Prepare | Ready to be exported | Exported |
No → requester needs to provide the information relevant for splitting in the Description field. | No | No | Yes ✅ | No, but payables can be sent back to the Prepare tab. | No, exported payables cannot be changed. |
Ensure that a payable can be split on the relevant fields
All fields that can be used for splitting payables (i.e. Cost centers, Expense Categories and Analytical Fields) are automatically added to the purchase journal exports so that you do not miss out on any information.
💡 If you are using File-based Exports, then please do acquaint yourself with the updated file format changes so that you can import this information effectively into other systems (including accounting software).
While a payable can be split across multiple Cost Centers, Expense Categories and analytical fields, by default, these fields will be set up in the following manner.
Cost Centers : if a company has a Cost Center set up, then this field will always be available for splitting i.e. it is always splittable and this behavior cannot be changed.
Expense Categories : Expense Category field is set up as “Not Splittable” by default. If you want to change this behavior, you can go to Settings > Analytical Fields, and change the setting of the field to “Splittable”. You can always change this setting later as well.
Analytical fields : All analytical fields are set up as “Not Splittable” by default. If you want to change this behavior, you can go to Settings > Analytical Fields, and change the setting for each analytical field to “Splittable” individually. You can always change this setting later as well.
Communication with requesters
⚠️ We recommend letting ALL employees in your company know that they should provide detailed information about a payable that needs to be split in the description field. We have put together this template that you can email to all your employees.
Understand the feature using various use-cases
Let’s explore 3 different scenarios to understand how a payable can be split on different fields.
1. Different Cost Centers, Expense Categories and Analytical Fields
Let’s say your company hosted a product demo event, and you want to attribute the venue booking fees in the following way:
Field | Splittable | Values |
Cost Center | Yes | Sales, Product Marketing |
Expense Category | Yes | Business Development, Awareness Generation |
Project Code (analytical field) | Yes | Code-001, Code-100 |
This payable will be split this way ⬇️
2. Different Cost Centers, but same Expense Category and Analytical Fields
Let’s take the same example but with the following attributes:
Field | Splittable | Values |
Cost Center | Yes | Sales, Product Marketing |
Expense Category | Yes | Business Development |
Project Code (analytical field) | No | Code-001 |
This payable will be split this way ⬇️
3. Same Cost Center and Analytical Fields, but a different Expense Category
Let’s extend the example with following attributes:
Field | Splittable | Values |
Cost Center | Yes | Product Marketing |
Expense Category | Yes | Business Development, Awareness Generation |
Project Code (analytical field) | No | Code-001 |
This payable will be split this way ⬇️
Ensure that (sum of all splits) = payable amount
While splitting a payable into smaller blocks the controller will need to ensure that the sum of all net and VAT amounts across all blocks = the payable gross amount, in order to save the payable.
A summary block at the bottom of the payable helps users ensure that they are splitting the amount correctly, by indicating whether the sum matches the gross amount.
View or edit a payable in the All Payables page
Any payable that is split can be viewed from the All Payables page.
In order to edit a payable, users will need to click on the “Edit” icon and then click on the button to “Continue editing in Prepare”.
However, analytical split information of payables is not visible in the All payments page.
Impact of the Analytical Split feature on the Purchase Journals and 'All Payables' exports
🔴 This section is applicable only for existing customers who are already using a file-based purchase journal for their export.
So that you can export the Analytical Split information on each of your payables, we’ve made some updates to our Purchase Journal and All Payables export formats.
Any column customizations you have on your existing templates will remain, but there are some changes that you should be aware of.
For more information, click on the file type that you’re set up on. The collapsible section will open with more information.
Sage
Sage
💡If you are still using the 'Sage' file format, we encourage you to switch to the generic 'Double-entry' format, which offers the same results as Sage but with greater flexibility. In the 'Double-entry' format, additional columns are not added automatically. You will also have the option to choose which rows you want to display information on, or leave blank.
On our Sage format Purchase Journal, we have 4 changes you should be aware of:
1) Automatic columns for splittable values
As a reminder, with Analytical Split, you are able to split payables across Cost Centers, Expense Categories and any other Analytical Field that you add to your account. To split on these values, you need to mark them as ‘Splittable’ in Settings (see above for more information on this).
To ensure that this analytical information is exported in your Purchase Journal without any gaps, you need to have a column for all of your ‘Splittable’ values in your Purchase Journal template. To make sure there are no missing columns, we will automatically add these to your Purchase Journal for you.
Cost Centers are all ‘Splittable’ by default so will be automatically added to your Purchase Journal template as soon as you turn on the Analytical Split feature.
Expense Categories or Analytical Fields are ‘Non-Splittable’ by default. But when you mark an Expense Category or Analytical Field as ‘Splittable’ then it’s automatically added as a column in your Purchase Journal template.
These columns are automatically added after the Cost Center column, so that your Purchase Journal is easy to read when there is Analytical Split information on a payable.
For example, below we have set up a new Analytical Field and made it splittable:
When we navigate to our Purchase Journal Export Template (Settings > Exports > Purchase Journal Template > Edit), we can see the new column has been added:
2) Cost Center value moving from “G” (general) row to its own “A” (analytical) row
To ensure that your Analytical Split information is correctly imported to Sage, we have moved the Cost Center value onto its own analytical row in the Purchase Journal.
You can identify an analytical row in Sage where the Type column = “A”.
Here’s an example of what a payable would look like a Sage Purchase Journal before the change.
Here we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200, which is being allocated to:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”.
Before the change:
After the change:
Notice that the Cost Center now sits on its own analytical row.
3) Cost Center value no longer duplicated on Tax and Account Payable Credit rows
Similar to point #2 above, to ensure that your Analytical Split information is correctly imported to Sage, we have removed the Cost Center value from the Tax account debit line and the account payable credit line.
Before the change:
After the change:
4) More analytical blocks = more rows in the Purchase Journal
The way we export analytical information in your Sage Purchase Journal is through the use of the Type “A” rows (analytical).
Here’s an example of a payable with analytical information on a single dimension (no Analytical Split):
In this example above, we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200 inclusive of VAT. From an analytical point of view, we have Cost Centers and Expense Categories set up and have set up an extra Analytical Field called “Project”. You can see these columns on the right-hand side.
Using the Type “A” rows we are allocating this payable to the following analytical values:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”
If we wanted to take this payable and create an Analytical Split over 3 dimensions, it would look like this:
Notice we now have 3 ‘blocks’ within the Purchase Journal. This example is splitting the payable over 3 Cost Centers, 2 Expense Categories and 1 Project.
Cegid
Cegid
💡If you are still using the 'Cegid' file format, we encourage you to switch to the generic 'Double-entry' format, which offers the same results as Cegid but with greater flexibility. In the 'Double-entry' format, additional columns are not added automatically. You will also have the option to choose which rows you want to display information on, or leave blank.
For our Cegid format Purchase Journal we have 4 changes you should be aware of:
1) Automatic columns for splittable values
As a reminder, with Analytical Split, you are able to split payables across Cost Centers, Expense Categories and any other Analytical Field that you add to your account. To split on these values, you need to mark them as ‘Splittable’ in Settings (see above for more information on this).
To ensure that this analytical information is exported in your Purchase Journal without any gaps, you need to have a column for all of your ‘Splittable’ values in your Purchase Journal template. To make sure there are no missing columns, we will automatically add these to your Purchase Journal for you.
Cost Centers are all ‘Splittable’ by default so will be automatically added to your Purchase Journal template as soon as you turn on the Analytical Split feature.
Expense Categories or Analytical Fields are ‘Non-Splittable’ by default. But when you mark an Expense Category or Analytical Field as ‘Splittable’ then it’s automatically added as a column in your Purchase Journal template.
These columns are automatically added after the Cost Centers column, so that your Purchase Journal is easy to read when there is Analytical Split information on a payable.
For example, below we have set up a new Analytical Field and made it splittable:
When we navigate to our Purchase Journal Export Template (Settings > Exports > Purchase Journal Template > Edit), we can see the new column has been added:
2) Cost Center value moving from “G” (general) row to its own “A” (analytical) row
To ensure that your Analytical Split information is correctly imported to Cegid, we have moved the Cost Center value onto its own analytical row in the Purchase Journal. You can identify an analytical row in Cegid where the Type column = “A”.
Here’s an example of how a payable would look in a Cegid Purchase Journal before the change. Here we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200, which is being allocated to:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”.
Before the change:
After the change:
Notice that the Cost Center now sits on its own analytical row.
3) Cost Center value no longer duplicated on Tax and Account Payable Credit rows
Similar to point #2 above, to ensure that your Analytical Split information is correctly imported to Cegid, we have removed the Cost Center value from the Tax account debit line and the account payable credit line.
Before the change:
After the change:
4) More Analytical blocks = more rows in the Purchase Journal
The way we export analytical information in your Cegid Purchase Journal is through the use of the Type “A” rows (analytical).
Here’s an example of a payable with analytical information on a single dimension (no Analytical Split):
In this example above, we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200 inclusive of VAT. From an analytical point of view, we have Cost Centers and Expense Categories set up and have set up an extra Analytical Field called “Project”. You can see these columns on the right-hand side.
Using the Type “A” rows we are allocating this payable to the following analytical values:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”
If we wanted to take this payable and create an Analytical Split over 3 dimensions, it would look like this:
Notice we now have 3 ‘blocks’ within the Purchase Journal. This example is splitting the payable over 3 Cost Centers, 2 Expense Categories and 1 Project.
Double Entry
Double Entry
For our Double Entry format Purchase Journal you keep full flexibility, you just need to have in mind two elements:
1) Make sure you add the appropriate columns to your template
As a reminder, with Analytical Split, you are able to split payables across Cost Centers, Expense Categories and any other Analytical Field that you add to your account. To split on these values, you need to mark them as ‘Splittable’ in Settings (see above for more information on this).
To ensure that this analytical information is exported in your Purchase Journal without any gaps, you need to have a column for all of your ‘Splittable’ values in your Purchase Journal template.
These column won't be automatically added to the Purchase Journal and you need to modify your export to add these columns if they are not already there.
2) More analytical blocks = more rows in the Purchase Journal
The way we export Analytical Split information on your payables is by splitting the payable over multiple lines.
Here’s an example of a payable with analytical information on a single dimension (no Analytical Split):
In this example above, we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200 inclusive of VAT. From an analytical point of view, we have Cost Centers and Expense Categories set up and have set up an extra Analytical Field called “Project”. You can see these columns on the right-hand side.
Using a single row and populating the Cost Center, Expense Category and Project columns we are allocating this payable to the following analytical values:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”
If we wanted to take this payable and create an Analytical Split over 3 dimensions, it would look like this:
Here we are splitting the payable over the 3 dimensions, creating the associated tax account debit line for each analytical block.
Single Entry
Single Entry
For our Single Entry format Purchase Journal you keep full flexibility, you just need to have in mind two elements:
1) Make sure you add the appropriate columns to your template
As a reminder, with Analytical Split, you are able to split payables across Cost Centers, Expense Categories and any other Analytical Field that you add to your account. To split on these values, you need to mark them as ‘Splittable’ in Settings (see above for more information on this).
To ensure that this analytical information is exported in your Purchase Journal without any gaps, you need to have a column for all of your ‘Splittable’ values in your Purchase Journal template.
These column won't be automatically added to the Purchase Journal and you need to modify your export to add these columns if they are not already there.
2) More analytical blocks = more lines in the Purchase Journal
The way we export Analytical Split information on your payables is by splitting the payable over multiple lines.
Here’s an example of a payable with analytical information on a single dimension (no Analytical Split):
In this example above, we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200 inclusive of VAT. From an analytical point of view, we have Cost Centers and Expense Categories set up and have set up an extra Analytical Field called “Project”. You can see these columns on the right-hand side.
Using a single row and populating the Cost Center, Expense Category and Project columns we are allocating this payable to the following analytical values:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”
If we wanted to take this payable and create an Analytical Split over 3 dimensions, it would look like this:
Here we are splitting the payable over the 3 dimensions, creating a line for each analytical block.
All Payables Export
All Payables Export
For our All Payables export format we only have 2 changes you should be aware of:
1) Automatic columns for splittable values
As a reminder, with Analytical Split, you are able to split payables across Cost Centers, Expense Categories and any other Analytical Field that you add to your account. To split on these values, you need to mark them as ‘Splittable’ in Settings (see above for more information on this).
To ensure that this analytical information is exported in your All Payables Export without any gaps, you need to have a column for all of your ‘Splittable’ values in your export, so we automatically add these to your export for you.
Cost Centers are all ‘Splittable’ by default so will be automatically added to your All Payables Export as soon as you turn on the Analytical Split feature.
Expense Categories or Analytical Fields are ‘Non-Splittable’ by default. But when you mark an Expense Category or Analytical Field as ‘Splittable’ then it’s automatically added as a column in your All Payables Export.
2) More analytical blocks = more lines in the Purchase Journal
The way we export Analytical Split information on your payables is by splitting the payable over multiple lines.
Here’s an example of a payable with analytical information on a single dimension (no Analytical Split):
In this example above, we have a single payable to LinkedIn for €1200 inclusive of VAT. From an analytical point of view, we have Cost Centers and Expense Categories set up and have set up an extra Analytical Field called “Project”. You can see these columns on the right-hand side.
Using a single row and populating the Cost Center, Expense Category and Project columns we are allocating this payable to the following analytical values:
Cost Center = “Marketing”
Expense Category = “Brand”
Project = “Talent initiative Q3 2023”
If we wanted to take this payable and create an Analytical Split over 3 dimensions, it would look like this:
Here we are splitting the payable over the 3 dimensions, creating a line for each analytical block.