Using IPSA Online

You will receive an email inviting you to activate your account.

Select the Get Started button when you are ready to begin – the link will be active for 30 days.

The Microsoft sign in page appears.

If you have already set up your Microsoft account please go to the “logging into your account” section.

If you do not have a Microsoft account already, you will need to create one. Complete the registration process including adding a mobile phone number to receive a text code.

From your parliamentary network account homepage you will be able to access the IPSA site by clicking on the IPSA icon.

To provide a more secure login we will require a mobile phone number to which a code can be sent.

To add a phone number to your account, select United Kingdom (+44) and type in your number without the 0 at the beginning.

Select Next.

Type in the code that has been sent to you in a text message.

Select Verify.

The IPSA site will appear.

Click the Get Started link in the original email IPSA sent you.

Enter the password you set for your Microsoft account and select Next.

You will then be directed to your parliamentary network account homepage. From here you will be able to access the IPSA site by selecting on the IPSA icon.

Once you have used it for the first time, we recommend that you save it as a favourite so you can easily access it in the future.

Type in the code that has been sent to you in a text message.

Select Verify.

The IPSA site will be displayed.

Open IPSA Online.

The Favourites drop-down will list any pages you have marked as a favourite.

The Recently used drop-down will list recently used pages in order of most recent.

This is your Resource ID. You will need to provide this when you phone IPSA’s phonelines.

Alerts are displayed here.

If you receive any tasks, such as a returned claim or an overtime request to approve, they will be displayed in the Task manager. Select this to display and organise lists.

The Search box allows you to find specific screens quickly and easily. Start typing to see a list of pages or forms.

Open IPSA Online.

On the right-hand side of the main menu, you can access any pages you have marked as Favourites.

Below this you can access any pages you have recently used in order of most recent.

Using the app will only start claims and upload receipts on behalf of the user logged into the app. For example, a proxy cannot upload receipts on behalf of their MP using the app.

Open the Google Play or Apple App Store and search for Unit4 Expenses.

Install the app.

The first time you open the app, the first screen will ask for a URL.

Enter this URL: https://ipsa.myqtcloud.com/BusinessWorld-webservices/service.svc

Tap Continue.

You will then be directed to the UK Parliament Digital Service login screen. Use your parliamentary login details as normal.

When you first begin using the app, a number of pop ups will appear asking for various permissions. These are required to allow the app to use the camera, stored images, Google Maps/GPS and to send notifications to your phone.

It is up to you whether to allow them, but functionality will be greatly reduced if you do not allow at least some of them. If you have been advised for security reasons to turn off GPS and tracking information on your phone, this will mean you cannot use the GPS or Maps feature of the app to make Mileage claims.

Open IPSA Online.

Tap the add icon. (Android only, iPhone users start on step 2)

Tap the expenses icon.

A list of expense types is displayed. Scroll through the list and tap on the relevant one.

The Date field populates automatically with today’s date. Tap the field to amend this.

Tap the Description field and add a description for the expense.

Tap the Amount field and add the cost of the expense.

Tap the camera icon to add an image.

You will now have the option of taking a picture of the receipt with your camera, or selecting an image already taken in your picture gallery.

After you have taken a picture or selected an image, tap Save or the save icon.

The expense will save on your IPSA Online account to be completed when you log in on your computer.

On the menu, select Your employment.

Select Expenses.

Select Reimbursement claim (MP).

If you work in a MP’s office, you can claim your own expenses by selecting Reimbursement claim (Staff).

All subsequent steps are the same.

In the On behalf of resource box, select who the claim should be paid to. This box only appears if you are the Proxy or MP.

If an MP started the claim on their phone app, a proxy can find this by selecting the MP in the On behalf of resource box.

In the Reference box, type a short description applicable to all lines on the claim form.

The description should be something you can use to easily identify the claim at a later date (for example, when looking to access a draft claim).

As such, try to avoid references that could be applied to more than one claim (for example, "Payment card reconciliation") and instead make each reference unique (for example, "Payment card reconciliation – October 2022").

Select the phone icon in the Expense transactions pane on the right-hand side of the screen.

The orange number on the icon shows you how many expenses and mileage claims from the Phone App are waiting to be submitted.

If there is no orange number, there are none waiting to be submitted.

Tick the relevant expenses from the list.

Select Import transactions.

Remember, although Payment Card and phone App transactions appear on the same list, you can only add phone App transactions to this form. Payment Card transactions will show as “Invalid Category”.

The expenses appear in the claim form. Select the chevron icon at the end of each expense line.

Complete the missing information in the fields that appear for each claim line.

Once all claims lines are complete, select Submit in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Tap the add icon. (Android only, iPhone users start on step 2).

Tap the mileage icon.

Tap Enter route manually (iPhone only).

Tap on From and To and enter the location for each.

Tap the tick icon or Done.

You will be presented with a map of the journey, tap Done (iPhone only) or the three dots icon and then Done (Android only).

Tap the Description field and enter the relevant information, including the parliamentary reason for the journey and list any stops.

Tap Save or the save icon.

The expense will save on your IPSA Online account to be completed when you log in on your computer.

Tap the add icon.

Tap the GPS icon.

Begin your journey. The GPS will record your route on the app.

When you have completed your journey tap STOP.

If you are “stitching” several smaller journeys together, tap RESUME when you are ready to continue your journey. Continue tapping STOP and RESUME until you have completed your journey(s). Otherwise continue to Step 6.

When you have completed your journey(s), tap the tick icon.

The app will take a moment to configure your claim and then display the Expense details screen.

Tap the Description and enter the relevant information, including the parliamentary reason for the journey.

Tap the save icon.

The expense will save on your IPSA Online account to be completed when you log in on your computer.

Tap the mileage icon.

Tap Start.

You will have to allow location services if this is your first time using the App. Otherwise go to step 5.

Tap Start.

Begin your journey. The GPS will record your route on the app.

When you have completed your journey tap Stop.

If you are “stitching” several smaller journeys together, tap RESUME when you are ready to continue your journey. Continue tapping Stop and RESUME until you have completed your journey(s). Otherwise, continue to Step 8.

When you have completed your journey(s) tap Done.

The app will take a moment to configure your claim and then display the Expenses details screen.

Tap Save.

The expense will save on your IPSA Online account to be completed when you log in on your computer.

Open IPSA Online.

The Budget vs Expenditure charts give a graphical representation of your budgets. The blue column displays the budget at the start of the year and the red column will increase as the budget is spent.

Uncapped budgets such as travel will not contain a blue column.

Hover the mouse cursor over the relevant column to find out an exact figure of a budget or total spend.

The Budget vs Expenditure table displays your budget information in numerical figures.

The table contains a Committment column which will display any payments IPSA makes on a regular basis that can be forecast (such as rent). This will mean the figure in the Remaining column can be much more accurate.

This dashboard also gives you the ability to view a breakdown of a budget’s spend. You can do this by selecting Select link and selecting one of the options. You may need to scroll to the right of the box to see this option.

The Claims in Progress table displays all claims that have been submitted to IPSA and are in the process of being approved.

If a claim has been submitted to IPSA, to the MP or the Proxy the status will show as Approval in progress. If a claim has been created and saved, but not submitted, the status will show as Draft .

Once a claim has been paid, it will no longer appear in this dashboard.

Using the Select link drop-down list will give you the option to drill down and see further details about your claim. You may need to scroll to the right of the box to see this option.

In the Claim no column you can enter the claim number and select search to show the details for a specific claim.

The Unreconciled Payment Card Lines table displays all payment card lines you have not yet reconciled, grouped by month.

Using the Select link drop-down list will give you the option to see further details of a month’s transactions.

The Description column will show the name of the supplier and is information provided by Barclaycard.

Any repayments due to IPSA will be displayed in Repayments due. This can include payment card lines submitted as Not claimed to be repaid.

Any Fees charges or Deposit loans taken out with IPSA will be displayed here.

Any registered addresses with IPSA will be displayed here.

This will include the Lease end date.

The system will notify you 60, 30 and 15 days before and five days after the lease expires, or until action has been taken. These alerts will include instructions on steps you need to take.

Any equipment that must be disposed of should the MP leave office will be displayed here.

If you would like to add a note against any items to help keep track of your equipment or if you no longer have anything on the list, please contact us.

You can use the Asset Details Report in your IPSA Online dashboard to view these transactions and any attached receipts to aid identification.

For more information, visit Running the Asset Details Report.

For further General Election-specific guidance on what to do if you are leaving Parliament, visit Disposal of office furniture and equipment and Disposal of IT equipment.

If you would like to export a report from your dashboard to PDF, select Export.

In the pop-up window that appears, select the option below the Custom heading.

If no Custom option is available, select the Defaultoption under the Predefined heading.

To mark a specific pages as Favourites, select the heart icon in the top right-hand side of the page until it is highlighted.

Any tasks that you need to action will be displayed as a number within an orange square against the Task management icon (tick symbol) in the Application Tool Bar at the top of the screen.

Select the tick symbol to open the Task Management Quick View.

Select Go to Task management at the bottom of the quick view. This will open up the full view.

Select Sort and group by at the top of the task list.

A pop-up window opens. In the first drop-down, select Process name and tick Group by.

In the second drop-down, select Workflow step and tick Group by.

Select OK.

The list of tasks will now be grouped into blocks of processes (for example: expenses, specific forms, leases) followed by the step stage in the process (for example: MP Approval, corrections needing to be made, reason required).

Task management also offers you a way of viewing tasks based upon the Process or the Step in the process they relate to. These can be selected at any time using the buttons on the bottom left side of the screen.

Choose how you would like to group the tasks by

The selected group will then be shown with a blue highlight.

Based on the selected grouping, a number of buttons are displayed below showing the task groups and how many of each type need to be dealt with. Select the button which matches the tasks you wish to view.

Only those types of task are displayed in the list on the right-hand side.

If you wish to view the entire list of tasks again, select All tasks in the top left-hand corner.

Open IPSA Online.

Any tasks that you need to action will be displayed as a number within an orange square against the Task management icon (tick symbol) in the Application Tool Bar at the top of the screen. The quick view is a useful way to have a look at your tasks. They can be organised into categories if you have several to look at.

Select the tick symbol to open the Task Management Quick View.

The Task management quick view is displayed.

Select Group by at the top of the task list.

On Level 1, from the drop-down, select Process.

On Level 2, from the drop-down, select Step.

The list of tasks will now be grouped into blocks of processes (for example: expenses, specific forms, leases) followed by the step stage in the process (for example: MP Approval, corrections needing to be made, reason required).

Select the task you wish to open.

Open IPSA Online.

Using the left-hand menu, navigate to Common and then Reports.

Select MPD Fixed Asset Details.

The Asset Details Report will run.

Now select the Transaction number you want to view.

The Registration of invoices tab will open.

The period defaults to the period of the claim and needs to be changed to the most recent one.

To select this, click into the cell and press the Spacebar to select the most recent period.

For example, in the screenshot below “March 2020” was deleted and the Spacebar was pressed so that May 2024 and June 2024 appeared.

Because in this example June 2024 is the latest period, that is the one that should be selected.

Use the General tab to view the original claim line description, and any additional information provided when the claim was submitted.

To view the receipt, select the Expenses tab.

Then select the text on the line for which you want to view the receipt, this will highlight the row in blue.

Do not select the tick box.

Select the Paperclip icon in the top right of the screen to view any attached receipts for the relevant claim line.

Navigate to the Travel receipts folder to view all receipts attached to the claim.