How do I attach receipts to transactions in QuickBooks Online?

Which route fits how the receipt reached you?

Intuit's help for QuickBooks Online documents one route that works on a transaction you already have, three that bring a receipt into Receipts first, and an Attachments list that stores files. Start from how the receipt arrived:

Does the route attach to an existing transaction or create a new one?

Know which path you are on before you act, because only one of them can add a transaction to your books.

The transaction already exists. Attach the receipt from inside it. Intuit's attachments article gives these steps:

1. Open the desired transaction.
2. Select Attachments.
3. Browse and select the document you want to attach.
4. Select Open, then Save and close.

The same article lists the transaction types that take attachments, including bills, checks, credit card transactions, expenses, invoices, sales receipts and vendor credits, and says attachments cannot go directly on list items such as accounts. Put the receipt on the record of the purchase itself (the expense, check, card charge or bill), not on a later payment record, so the support sits where anyone reviewing that cost will look.

The receipt arrives first. Intuit's receipts upload article says QuickBooks extracts information from an uploaded receipt and creates a transaction for you to review, and that to add receipts to your books you review each one and either match it to an existing transaction or add it as a new one. Intuit's email article says the same for forwarded receipts: QuickBooks extracts info like dates and amounts to populate the transaction. Matching pairs the receipt with a transaction you already have; adding records a new one. Create expense in the Attachments list also creates: Intuit's attachments article says a new expense opens with the file already attached.

If the same purchase will also reach QuickBooks from a connected bank or card account, adding the receipt as new and then adding that bank item records the purchase twice. Preventing those duplicates is the subject of "How do I get receipts into QuickBooks Online without creating duplicate transactions?"

What if one receipt covers several transactions, or several receipts cover one?

Intuit's receipts upload article says each file should include only one receipt, and Intuit's email article says each image or file should contain only one receipt. So handle the other cases on purpose:

• Several documents for one purchase. Attach each file from inside the transaction, repeating the attachment steps, rather than sending them through Receipts as if they were separate purchases.
• One document for several transactions. Attach the same file from inside each transaction, and in each one's memo name the other transactions that share it.

Intuit's attachments article does not describe either case, so reopen the transaction after each attachment and confirm every file is listed.

Which files will QuickBooks Online accept?

The rules differ by route:

• Attaching inside a transaction. Intuit's attachments article lists PDF, JPEG, PNG, DOC, XLSX, CSV, TIFF, GIF and XML, and says file names cannot contain special characters.
• Uploading or snapping to Receipts. Intuit's receipts upload article says the receipt must be a PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF or PNG image, that images from a newer iPhone or iPad may need converting from HEIC, and that you should first remove sensitive information such as credit card numbers and government identifiers.
• Forwarding by email. Intuit's email article asks for PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF or PNG files and says the email attachment must be between 46KB and 20 MB; one email can carry several receipt images.

So a DOC, XLSX or CSV file can go on a transaction but not through Receipts; that list names neither DOCX nor XLS, so save those as PDF first. Only the email article gives a size limit; the other two give none and do not say what happens to an oversized file, so check the current article if a large one fails. If a file will not upload or never appears, check its type, its name and its size, then convert, rename, reduce or rescan it and try again.

How do you cut the work per receipt?

Three habits cut the work per receipt:

• Capture at the till. Intuit's upload article gives the mobile steps: in the QuickBooks mobile app, select Menu, then Receipt snap, then Receipt camera, photograph the receipt, and select Use this photo, then Done. Do it before you leave the counter.
• Route email to Receipts. Intuit's email article gives a one-time set-up: in Receipts, select Forward from email, create an address ending in @assist.intuit.com, select Next, confirm with Looks good and select Done. Then forward receipts from your sign-in email as they arrive. It adds that if you use Gmail, you can send incoming bills and receipts to that address automatically, though a Gmail address with a + sign may not register.
• Review in batches. Intuit's upload article says a browser or the app adds one receipt at a time, but the review can happen in one sitting: open Receipts and select the For review tab. Where QuickBooks finds matching transactions it shows the number of matches, and where it has identified a match you can skip the review and select Match. If you know a match exists that it missed, select Search manually.

Which habit is worth setting up depends on how receipts arrive. If most purchases reach your books through the bank feed and paper receipts are few, attaching from inside each transaction as you categorize is enough; a steady flow of paper calls for Receipt snap, and mostly emailed receipts call for the forwarding address, automatic if you use Gmail.

When receipts come from several people. Lead with forwarding: Intuit's email article says receipts that users with permission send to your custom address all appear in Receipts for review, but each user must send from their QuickBooks sign-in email, and only one email can be registered per user for your company, so someone without a QuickBooks sign-in has no forwarding route of their own. Intuit's upload and email articles do not say whether receipts that different users snap in the app reach the same For review list, so have each other user snap one receipt and confirm it appears in the reviewer's For review tab before relying on their snaps. Have one person work that tab. Intuit's upload article adds that in QuickBooks Online Advanced employees can upload and submit receipts for expense claims, which you review before recording the transactions that match.

How do you confirm the receipt landed on the posted transaction?

A receipt waiting in Receipts is not in your books, and a file sitting only in the Attachments list supports nothing. End every review session with this check:

1. Open Receipts and look at the For review tab. Every receipt still there is outside your books; resolve it, or leave it only for a reason in the table below.
2. Open each transaction you matched or added and confirm the file appears under Attachments. If it does not, attach it from inside the transaction.

3. In the mobile app, check the Reviewed tab, which Intuit's upload article says shows the receipts you added to your books. If one went to the wrong transaction, swipe right on it to undo it and move it back to For Review, then open the transaction it had gone to, since that article does not say what undo leaves behind.

   If the image is still under its Attachments, handle it as in "When moving a receipt" below; if the receipt had been added as a new expense that is still there, void or delete that expense, following Intuit's void and delete article, before you match again.

4. Go to Settings, then Attachments, and look for files noted 'Not attached'; Intuit's attachments article does not show which listed files are on a transaction, so that note is your only marker. Attach each from inside its transaction, or use Create expense only for a purchase no connected bank or card account will bring in, then edit the note to name the transaction. For a card or bank purchase not yet in your books, wait and attach the file once it arrives.

What do you do with receipts that never find a transaction?

Work For review at every session, so Receipts does not become a second pile; the Search manually and Save receipt steps below are from Intuit's upload article:

For a backlog of receipts whose purchases are already recorded, forward them in batches and match every one; adding a backlog receipt as new records a purchase your books already hold. If you are working through the transactions instead, attach each receipt from inside its transaction.

How do you get from a transaction to its receipt, and back?

Use these paths:

• From the transaction. Open it and look under Attachments.
• From the Attachments list. In Settings, then Attachments, you can download a file, and Intuit's attachments article says you can edit a file's name or add notes there.
• From a receipt to its transaction. When you attach a file, name it or add a note in the Attachments list with the date, vendor and amount. To find the transaction later, type the vendor or amount in the QuickBooks Search field; Intuit's search article says suggested results and recent transactions appear under the search bar, and pressing Return shows a full-page view of transactions. For a transaction more than 2 years old, the same article says to select Advanced transactions search and adjust the date filter.

Who can add, view and remove attachments, including an outside bookkeeper?

Intuit's attachments, receipts upload, email, accountant users and custom roles articles do not say, role by role, who can add, view or remove attachments, or whether an invited accountant can use Receipts. Here is what they do say:

• Admins. Intuit's accountant users article says you must be a primary admin or company admin to invite users.
• Standard users. Intuit's email article says standard users can be given permission to forward receipts, by turning on the toggle for each user under Manage forwarding email in Receipts, and that sending documents needs standard user permissions with Vendor access at a minimum.
• Outside accountants. Intuit's accountant users article says accountant users have access to specific accountant tools to review your books and make corrections.
• Custom roles in Advanced. Intuit's custom roles article gives All bookkeeping access, in the Bookkeeping area, the rights to upload and export receipts and set up receipt forwarding. It says the Bank deposit level cannot view receipts, and All bookkeeping access cannot view the Audit Log used below to re-enter a deleted transaction.

Intuit's attachments article says you can remove attachments from the Attachments list; download a copy before you do. It does not say whether that also removes the file from its transaction.

Where an outside bookkeeper codes in the same books, split the work by route: the owner or staff capture with Receipt snap or forwarding, and the bookkeeper works the For review tab and checks attachments on posted transactions. Before relying on that split, have the bookkeeper sign in under their own login, open Receipts and the Attachments list, attach one receipt to one transaction and open the attachment on one posted transaction; if any step is unavailable to them, have an admin review their access under Settings, then Manage users, first.

What happens to the attachment when the transaction is edited, voided, deleted or matched?

Intuit's articles on attachments, receipts and voiding or deleting do not say what becomes of an attachment when its transaction is edited, voided, deleted or matched to a bank or card item, or whether it can be moved, so the steps below are precautions, not documented behavior. Intuit's void and delete article says voided transactions are zero and show as void in your records, while a deleted transaction is removed everywhere except the audit log, which you can use to re-enter it. Protect the receipt around each change:

• Before deleting. Download the receipt, and after you re-enter or replace the transaction, attach it again and confirm it shows.
• After editing or voiding. Reopen the transaction and confirm its attachment is still listed.
• After a match to a bank or card item. Reopen the transaction and confirm the attachment is still listed; if not, attach the file again.
• When moving a receipt. Intuit's attachments article documents removal only through Delete in the Attachments list and does not say whether that also takes the file off its transactions. Rename a downloaded copy so the list tells the two apart, attach it to the correct transaction and confirm it shows there; then delete the original from the list and reopen both transactions to check what each shows.

Why must the captured image be complete and readable?

The IRS's Publication 583 lists receipts among the supporting documents a business keeps and says it is important to keep them because they support the entries in your books and on your tax return. It says all requirements that apply to paper books and records also apply to electronic storage systems, which include any system that keeps records by electronic imaging. Such a system must index, store, preserve, retrieve and reproduce the stored books and records in legible format, must provide a complete and accurate record of your data that is accessible to the IRS, and is subject to the same controls and retention guidelines as the paper originals.

An accepted upload shows only that QuickBooks took the file, so make each image fit to serve as the support:

• Capture the whole document, including vendor, date, items, total and payment method, with no edge cut off.
• Photograph it flat, in good light and in focus, and scan a long receipt to a single PDF, since each file should hold one receipt.
• Open the attached file from its transaction and read the date and amount before you move on.
• Cover the sensitive details Intuit's upload article asks you to remove, such as card numbers and government identifiers, and leave everything else readable.

Publication 583 allows paper originals to be destroyed only once the electronic storage system has been tested to establish that it reproduces them in compliance with IRS requirements, and procedures are established to ensure continued compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. It adds that when you replace paper books and records you must maintain the electronic storage system for as long as it is material to the administration of tax law, and that you remain responsible for retaining any other books and records required to be retained. If the system falls short, it says you may be subject to penalties for non-compliance unless you keep the paper originals in a way that lets you and the IRS determine your correct tax. It points to Revenue Procedure 97-22 for details, so keep paper receipts until you have met those conditions.

What if your screens do not match these steps?

Every route here depends on QuickBooks Online's current screens and on your edition. When a label or menu is not where a step says, work through these in order:

1. Check your view. Intuit's email article says there are two types of user views in QuickBooks Online and to make sure you are on Business view.
2. Check your edition. Intuit's upload article says the Receipts feature is limited on QuickBooks Online Free and QuickBooks Online Lite and points expense claims to QuickBooks Online Advanced; Intuit's custom roles article is written for QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite. Intuit's email article lists QuickBooks Ledger, Online Advanced, Essentials, Plus, Simple Start and Solopreneur, not Online Free, Online Lite or Solopreneur Plus; on those, confirm forwarding appears in Receipts before relying on it.
3. Open Intuit's current help article for the feature by its title: Add or delete attachments in QuickBooks, Upload your receipts to QuickBooks, or Email receipts and bills. Note when it was last updated and which products it lists, and follow its steps as they now read.
4. Treat a label that has moved as moved, not removed, until that current article says otherwise.