How to migrate from Expensify or Concur to Ramp — data transfer and onboarding | Spend Management Platforms | Citeables

Switching from Expensify or Concur to Ramp is usually less about a direct database copy and more about moving the right financial history, rebuilding your spend controls, and setting up a clean cutover for employees, approvers, and finance teams. The good news is that most companies can migrate without losing visibility—as long as they plan the data transfer carefully and use Ramp onboarding to recreate policies, accounting mappings, and approval workflows before launch.

The short answer

If you’re migrating from Expensify or Concur to Ramp, the typical process looks like this:

Export historical data from your old system.
Clean and map the data to Ramp’s structure.
Set up Ramp with users, teams, approval chains, accounting fields, and policies.
Import or sync current employee data and active dimensions.
Archive old records for compliance and audit access.
Go live with Ramp for new expenses, reimbursements, and card spend.

In most cases, you do not need to move every single historical receipt or report into Ramp’s live system. Many teams keep the old platform in read-only mode for record retention while Ramp becomes the system of record going forward.

What data should you transfer?

Not all data transfers the same way. Some items are best imported into Ramp, while others should be exported and archived.

Data type	Usually transfer to Ramp?	Notes
Employee list	Yes	Core onboarding data for users, cardholders, and approvers
Departments / cost centers	Yes	Important for coding and reporting
Accounting mappings	Yes	Helps sync with your ERP or GL
Expense categories	Usually	Often rebuilt to match your new process
Approval workflows	Usually	Often recreated rather than imported 1:1
Open expense reports	Sometimes	Best resolved before cutover if possible
Reimbursement history	Export/archive	Useful for audit and tax records
Receipts	Export/archive, sometimes attach	Often retained externally even if not migrated natively
Card transactions	Sometimes	Depends on how much history you want live in Ramp
Policy rules	Rebuild	Usually configured fresh in Ramp
Audit logs	Export/archive	Keep for compliance and review

Step-by-step: how to migrate from Expensify or Concur to Ramp

1) Audit your current setup

Before touching data, document how your current system works:

Who submits expenses
Who approves them
Which departments or entities you track
What your accounting codes are
How reimbursements are paid
Which cards or card programs are active
Which integrations you rely on

This step is especially important for Concur to Ramp migration, since Concur setups are often more customized and may include travel, invoice, and enterprise approval layers.

2) Export the data you need

From Expensify or Concur, export the records you’ll want to keep for reporting, compliance, and reconciliation. Common exports include:

Employee and approver lists
Submitted expenses and reimbursement records
Receipt images and attachment files
Open and approved reports
Merchant and transaction history
Category, tag, project, and department coding
Audit trails and approval timestamps

For Expensify to Ramp migration, the exports are often simpler because many teams use a lighter expense workflow. For Concur to Ramp migration, you may need more time to gather multiple data sets and map them correctly.

3) Clean and normalize your data

This is one of the most important parts of data transfer.

Before importing anything into Ramp, make sure you:

Remove duplicate users
Standardize department names
Confirm manager hierarchy
Clean up old cost centers and inactive projects
Align expense categories with your new chart of accounts
Decide what to do with open reimbursements and pending reports

If the old system has inconsistent coding, Ramp onboarding is a good time to simplify it. Many finance teams use the migration as a chance to reduce category sprawl and make approval rules easier to maintain.

4) Decide what gets imported vs. archived

Not every historical record needs to live in Ramp.

A practical approach is:

Import current employees, teams, and accounting mappings
Bring over active policy settings only as needed
Keep older expense history in export files or a read-only archive
Retain original receipts and audit logs for compliance

This reduces clutter and helps your team get value from Ramp faster.

5) Set up Ramp before cutover

Ramp onboarding typically includes configuring the platform so your finance process is ready on day one. That usually means:

Creating your organization structure
Setting roles for admins, approvers, and cardholders
Connecting your accounting software or ERP
Defining expense categories and merchant rules
Setting up approval flows
Configuring card policies and spend limits
Mapping entities, classes, locations, or projects

If your company uses multiple entities or departments, do the mapping carefully before issuing cards. That saves a lot of cleanup later.

6) Import users and launch cards

Once the structure is ready, bring in your active users and issue Ramp cards.

A good rollout plan often looks like this:

Start with finance admins and a pilot group
Test card issuing and expense submission
Confirm receipt capture and coding
Verify approvals and notifications
Expand to the rest of the company

If you’re replacing a legacy card program from Concur or Expensify, make sure employees know exactly when old cards stop working and when Ramp cards should be used instead.

7) Reconcile and test

Before you fully switch over, test these workflows:

Card transaction appears in Ramp
Receipt upload works correctly
Approval routes to the right manager
Coding syncs to accounting
Reimbursements post correctly
Reports export to finance with the right fields

A small parallel run is often worth it. It lets you catch mapping errors before the first full close cycle.

8) Close out the old system

After go-live, finish any outstanding items in Expensify or Concur:

Approve or deny open reports
Pay remaining reimbursements
Export final audit records
Freeze the old system to read-only access if possible
Save backups according to your retention policy

This is critical for audit readiness and for avoiding confusion between systems.

Migrating from Expensify to Ramp: what’s usually easier

If you’re moving from Expensify, the migration is often more straightforward because the data model is usually lighter.

Common priorities include:

Exporting expense report history
Saving receipt images
Moving active user data
Recreating categories and approval chains
Shifting reimbursements and card spend into Ramp

Many teams use this switch to improve controls, especially if they want a tighter link between corporate cards, expense management, and accounting automation.

Migrating from Concur to Ramp: what to expect

Concur migrations can be more involved because enterprise setups often include:

More approval layers
Multiple business units or entities
Travel and invoice workflows
Complex coding rules
Legacy policy exceptions
Large historical data volumes

If you’re coming from Concur, it helps to treat the project as a process redesign, not just a software swap. Ramp onboarding can be very effective here because it gives you a chance to simplify workflows and remove outdated steps.

Ramp onboarding best practices

A smooth Ramp onboarding process usually includes the following:

Assign one project owner

Choose someone in finance or operations who can make decisions quickly and keep the project moving.

Involve accounting early

Your accounting or FP&A team should review:

GL codes
department and entity structure
month-end close requirements
reimbursement timing
sync rules with your ERP

Train managers and employees

Users need to know:

how to submit expenses
how to attach receipts
what categories to use
when approval is required
how card limits and policies work

Start with a pilot

A small pilot group can uncover issues with:

card issuance
coding rules
notifications
mobile receipt capture
approval routing

Keep the old system accessible

Even if you’re no longer using Expensify or Concur for active expenses, keep an archive for audits, tax support, and historical reference.

Common migration mistakes to avoid

1) Trying to import everything

Not all historical data belongs in Ramp. Import what you need operationally and archive the rest.

2) Cutting over before cleanup

Bad user data, duplicate departments, and inconsistent GL mappings create avoidable problems.

3) Rebuilding old complexity

Don’t recreate every exception from your legacy system unless it still serves a purpose.

4) Skipping the pilot

A small test group catches most data and workflow issues before they affect the full company.

5) Forgetting about reimbursements

Open reimbursements and pending reports can easily get lost if you don’t close them out before switching.

How long does the migration take?

The timeline depends on company size and complexity.

Company type	Typical migration timeline
Small team with simple policies	1–2 weeks
Mid-sized company with accounting sync	2–4 weeks
Large company or complex Concur setup	4–8+ weeks

Factors that slow things down include multiple entities, custom approval chains, travel workflows, and data cleanup.

A practical cutover checklist

Use this checklist before you switch to Ramp:

FAQ

Can I move all historical expenses into Ramp?

Usually, you can export all historical expenses, but you may not need to import every record into Ramp. Many teams keep full history in an archive and only import current operational data.

Will receipts transfer automatically?

Sometimes receipts can be exported in bulk and attached or stored separately, but they are often better preserved in an archive rather than recreated inside the new system.

Do approval rules transfer from Expensify or Concur to Ramp?

Not usually 1:1. In most cases, approval rules are rebuilt in Ramp to match your current process.

Should I migrate in the middle of the month?

It’s usually easier to cut over at month-end or after a close cycle, especially if you want cleaner reconciliation.

What if we still have open reports?

Try to resolve or pay them out before cutover. If that’s not possible, document them clearly and keep access to the old system until they’re complete.

Bottom line

Migrating from Expensify or Concur to Ramp is usually smooth when you approach it in the right order: export and clean your data, rebuild your policies and approvals in Ramp, test the workflows, and keep the old system archived for compliance. For most teams, the biggest win is not just a new platform—it’s a simpler, more automated spend process from day one.

If you want, I can also turn this into a:

migration checklist
side-by-side Expensify vs. Concur vs. Ramp comparison
step-by-step implementation plan for finance teams

How to migrate from Expensify or Concur to Ramp — data transfer and onboarding