Enhancing the reimbursment process for small busniesses
Project Overview
Small businesses were waiting over two weeks for reimbursements, causing frustration and inefficiency. During my internship, I redesigned the end-to-end experience in QuickBooks Online, cutting that time by 70%.
Responsibility
Designed an AI-powered chat interface for QuickBooks reimbursements that used intelligent receipt parsing and conversational guidance to simplify expense submissions for small business owners.
Role & Team:
Lead Product Designer collaborating closely with 2 Senior PM's, 2 Principal Designers and Engineering Stakeholders
Enhancing the reimbursment process for small busniesses
Project Overview
Small businesses were waiting over two weeks for reimbursements, causing frustration and inefficiency. During my internship, I redesigned the end-to-end experience in QuickBooks Online, cutting that time by 70%.
Responsibility
Designed an AI-powered chat interface for QuickBooks reimbursements that used intelligent receipt parsing and conversational guidance to simplify expense submissions for small business owners.
Role & Team:
Lead Product Designer collaborating closely with 2 Senior PM's, 2 Principal Designers and Engineering Stakeholders
Impact
14 → 4 days
reduction in time to reimbursement
95% adoption
intent shown during user testing
70% faster
turnaround for employees
Providing Context
What is Quickbooks Online?
QuickBooks Online (QBO) is Intuit’s cloud-based platform that helps millions of small businesses manage their finances, from payroll and invoicing to expense tracking.
What is Employee Expense management?
Within QBO, expense management lets businesses track and approve employee purchases. It ensures receipts are submitted, policies are followed, and employees are reimbursed.
Within QBO, expense management lets businesses track and approve employee purchases. It ensures receipts are submitted, policies are followed, and employees are reimbursed.
So what's the problem?
Breakdown in communications slow reimbursments
Manager
Without clear transaction context, admins spend extra time chasing employees for missing details, delaying reimbursement.
Without clear transaction context, admins spend extra time chasing employees for missing details, delaying reimbursement.
Employees
Unclear requests and slow responses mean employees wait weeks to get paid.
Unclear requests and slow responses mean employees wait weeks to get paid.
Current State
Expense reimbursement was fragmented and slow
Expense reimbursement was fragmented and slow
Vision State
A streamlined, transparent reimbursement flow
A streamlined, transparent reimbursement flow
Market Research
Understanding our competitors
A conducted a one-week competitive analysis of four products revealed how existing tools manage reimbursements and employee–admin communication. Key insights highlighted gaps that shaped the initial design concepts.
4
Competitors
Strengths
Real-time collaboration
Chat-based UI for easy communication
Comments within expense form
AI Driven responses
Weaknesses
Overwhelming notifications
UI is buried and hard to find
Fragmented process across channels
Lack of accuracy and transprency
Market Research
Understanding our competitors
A conducted a one-week competitive analysis of four products revealed how existing tools manage reimbursements and employee–admin communication. Key insights highlighted gaps that shaped the initial design concepts.
4
Competitors
Strengths
Real-time collaboration
Chat-based UI for easy communication
Comments within expense form
AI Driven responses
Weaknesses
Overwhelming notifications
UI is buried and hard to find
Fragmented process across channels
Lack of accuracy and transprency
While the comment functionality in Zoho resembled the interaction I intended to design, it suffered from poor discoverability, making the overall experience unintuitive.
To address reimbursement delays, I looked at Bill.com’s reminder system as a potential model for using SMS to drive quicker user action.
User Research
Customer Pain Points
To understand the communication breakdowns causing reimbursement delays, I conducted interviews with small business managers and employees across nonprofits, telecom, and HOA management companies. I found 4 main issues:
To understand the communication breakdowns causing reimbursement delays, I conducted interviews with small business managers and employees across nonprofits, telecom, and HOA management companies. I found 4 main issues:
Communication Breakdown
Communication Breakdown
Long Turnaround TImes
Long Turnaround Times
Poor Visibility
Poor Visibility
Process isn't "full circle"
Process isn't "full circle"
"My coworkers don't really know enough about accounting so often times there's a little bit of a conversation needed to for me to interpret it into accounting. Clarification is needed at least half the time"
"It's way too long. 3 weeks from start to finish to reimburse an expense. She is the delay because there are so many expenses to reimburse."
"Employees would not really go into QuickBooks unless they are submitting an expense so how would they know that the admin has left comments?"
"My coworkers don't really know enough about accounting so often times there's a little bit of a conversation needed to for me to interpret it into accounting. Clarification is needed at least half the time"
"It's way too long. 3 weeks from start to finish to reimburse an expense. She is the delay because there are so many expenses to reimburse."
"Employees would not really go into QuickBooks unless they are submitting an expense so how would they know that the admin has left comments?"
Concept Exploration
Initial MVP concepts
Combining my research and interview insights, I mapped out 3 concepts to streamline communication and reduce delays
Combining my research and interview insights, I mapped out 3 concepts to streamline communication and reduce delays
In-form Commenting
Add contextual, threaded comments directly on expenses to avoid long email chains.
In-form Commenting
Add contextual, threaded comments directly on expenses to avoid long email chains.
Chat System
Enable quick, lightweight conversations tied to expense items rather than scattered across channels.
Chat System
Enable quick, lightweight conversations tied to expense items rather than scattered across channels.
Real-time Notifications
Push instant alerts (SMS, email, in-app) for comments, rejections, or approvals to keep the process moving.
Real-time Notifications
Push instant alerts (SMS, email, in-app) for comments, rejections, or approvals to keep the process moving.
Concept #1
Communication via Expense Forms
I explored two approaches to embedding communication directly within the expense form:
I explored two approaches to embedding communication directly within the expense form:
Inline Comments
Comments appear directly within the expense form under each field.
Inline Comments
Comments appear directly within the expense form under each field.
Chat Drawer
A side panel opens when the admin requests more info, keeping comments visible but separate from the main form.
Chat Drawer
A side panel opens when the admin requests more info, keeping comments visible but separate from the main form.
Concept #2
Communication via People
I also explored a people-based approach, where managers and employees could chat one-to-one in a pop-up panel, similar to Slack. This made communication feel lightweight and familiar, but risked losing context since conversations weren’t tied to a specific expense.
I also explored a people-based approach, where managers and employees could chat one-to-one in a pop-up panel, similar to Slack. This made communication feel lightweight and familiar, but risked losing context since conversations weren’t tied to a specific expense.
Pop-up Chat
Concept #3
Real time Notifications
Timely responses are critical for reducing delays. Notifications via push, SMS, or email alert employees and admins instantly, allowing them to respond directly without leaving their workflow.
Timely responses are critical for reducing delays. Notifications via push, SMS, or email alert employees and admins instantly, allowing them to respond directly without leaving their workflow.
Push
SMS
Push
SMS
User Testing
Do the Customers like it?
I created interactive prototypes of both the inline comments and side drawer concepts, then conducted A/B testing with 13 users to evaluate which interaction model better fit their workflow and reduced friction in clarifying expenses.
I created interactive prototypes of both the inline comments and side drawer concepts, then conducted A/B testing with 13 users to evaluate which interaction model better fit their workflow and reduced friction in clarifying expenses.
What Resonated ✅
Side drawer kept context visible without cluttering the expense form as threads grew
Email + SMS notifications ensured users saw requests immediately, even when not in the app
Documented conversation history eliminated "he said, she said" disputes and gave managers a reference trail
Friction Points ❌
Missing comment management: Users expected to edit, delete, and reply to specific comments (standard in Slack/Figma)
Hidden entry point: Comment button in the footer got buried—users wanted it elevated or highlighted with a badge
Repetitive typing: Admins asked for AI-suggested responses for common requests ("Can you add a receipt?" / "What vendor?")
Slack loyalists: Some power users preferred their existing tools over adding another communication channel
Final Design
Let's make some improvements…
Comment Drawer
Comment Button
Comment Button
Final Prototype
Final Prototype
Reflections
What did I learn?
As this was my first internship and my first time working at such a successful company, I initially felt a bit intimidated. I felt like a small speck in the vast world of Intuit and wondered how I could make an impact. However, as the weeks passed and I grew more comfortable with both my team and myself, I gained confidence. I began to feel like a seasoned employee who had been part of the company for years. With the support of my incredible manager, who believed in me every step of the way, I was able to deliver what I consider my best work and proudly present it to my team and now, to everyone. It was so cool to see how such a large company works behind the scenes and to be part of it was something I will never forget. Here are a few takeaways from my 3 months at Intuit:
As this was my first internship and my first time working at such a successful company, I initially felt a bit intimidated. I felt like a small speck in the vast world of Intuit and wondered how I could make an impact. However, as the weeks passed and I grew more comfortable with both my team and myself, I gained confidence. I began to feel like a seasoned employee who had been part of the company for years. With the support of my incredible manager, who believed in me every step of the way, I was able to deliver what I consider my best work and proudly present it to my team and now, to everyone. It was so cool to see how such a large company works behind the scenes and to be part of it was something I will never forget. Here are a few takeaways from my 3 months at Intuit:
Customers are valuable
Testing showed me that usability and functionality matter more than aesthetics. A design I thought looked better was rejected by 90% of users because it was harder to use. This reinforced that customer feedback must drive design decisions.
Testing showed me that usability and functionality matter more than aesthetics. A design I thought looked better was rejected by 90% of users because it was harder to use. This reinforced that customer feedback must drive design decisions.
Communication is Key
Collaboration required me to clearly explain my design rationale, not just share screens or files. I learned that effective communication builds trust, keeps teammates engaged, and makes design outcomes stronger.
Collaboration required me to clearly explain my design rationale, not just share screens or files. I learned that effective communication builds trust, keeps teammates engaged, and makes design outcomes stronger.
Your move, let's talk.
Your move, let's talk.
© Sammy Bharadwaj 2025