Managing Transaction Expenses with Data Matching – Tropic help center

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Overview

Data Matching → Expenses helps you track and manage supplier-related expenses by linking transactions to the right suppliers. By integrating with ERP and identity platforms, it provides a clear view of spending, helping you match transactions, track shadow spend, and filter expenses by date or supplier.

With Data Matching → Expenses, you can:

Match transactions to suppliers for accurate spend tracking.
Find and resolve unmatched expenses to ensure financial accuracy.
Track shadow spend by identifying expenses from suppliers without contracts.
Filter spend data by fiscal year or date range for financial reporting.
View expense data from ERP and identity platforms to understand supplier costs.

Prerequisites

To use Data Matching → Expenses, you need an active integration with an ERP system or identity platform. Supported integrations include:

These integrations allow Tropic to pull expense transactions and provide a centralized way to match them to suppliers.

How to Match Expenses to Suppliers

Accessing Transaction Expenses

Navigate to Integrations --> Data Matching tab, then select the Expenses category.
You'll see a list of transactions imported from your ERP system, including expense dates, source suppliers, and amounts.

Review Transactions

Transactions are categorized as Matched, Unmatched, or Ignored.
You can filter transactions to focus on specific spending data.

Match Unmatched Expenses

Expenses that aren’t linked to a supplier appear in the Unmatched section. These need to be assigned to the correct supplier for accurate spend tracking.
Click Match, search for the correct supplier in the form, and confirm the match
If an expense doesn’t need to be matched, you can choose to Ignore it, which removes it from the list of transactions requiring review.

📌 If your supplier isn’t listed, check that it exists in Tropic’s supplier database or review ERP integration settings.

Confirm and Save

Once matched, the expense will now be linked to the selected supplier and reflected in spend reports.
Once a supplier is matched, future transactions from the same source will be automatically assigned to that supplier.

Using Rule-Based Matching & Ignoring

Automatically Matching Future Transactions

When matching an expense in the Unmatched tab, you have the option to create a rule that will automatically match future transactions with similar details.

📌 How to Create a Rule for Matching Transactions:

Go to the Unmatched tab and click Match on a transaction.
In the Match Transaction form, enable "Make rule for matching transactions." This creates a rule so that future transactions with the same Source Supplier and Description pattern are automatically matched to the selected Tropic Supplier.
Select the correct supplier, review the details, and confirm the match.

Example:

A credit card transaction appears as "MASTERCARD - PAYMENT FOR LOOM"
If you enable the rule and set "Loom" as the supplier, future transactions containing "MASTERCARD - PAYMENT FOR LOOM" will be automatically matched to Loom instead of Mastercard.

Ignoring Transactions Automatically

You can also create rules to automatically ignore transactions that contain specific keywords in the description.

📌 How to Create a Rule for Ignoring Transactions:

Go to the Unmatched tab and click Ignore on a transaction.
In the form, enable "Make rule for ignoring transactions."
You can add a description filter to apply the rule only when a transaction contains specific keywords.
Confirm the rule to automatically ignore future transactions that match the filter.

Example:

If your organization doesn’t track flower purchases, you can set a rule to ignore transactions containing "1-800-Flowers" in the description.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

Q: Why am I missing expense data?
A: Make sure your ERP integration is active and up to date. If data is still missing, try syncing the integration manually:

Go to Integrations → Manage.
Click Sync Data to refresh the latest transactions.

Q: Why do I see duplicated or mismatched expenses?
A: If transactions are appearing under the wrong supplier, you may need to adjust supplier mappings:

Go to Data Matching → Expenses and review Matched transactions.
If necessary, remove incorrect matches and reassign them to the correct supplier.

Q: What happens if I don’t match an expense?
A: Unmatched expenses remain in the Unmatched category and won’t be reflected in supplier spend reports. Regularly review unmatched expenses to ensure data accuracy.

Q: Where does Tropic pull expense data from?

A: Tropic integrates with ERP systems like NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, and Sage Intacct to import transactions.

Additional Resources

Learn more about navigating and utilizing the Supplier Overview page for detailed supplier details.
Explore our documentation on Fiscal Year Reporting to align your spend data with financial periods.
For more detailed information, guides, and support, visit our Help Center.