Features
Tips and tricks for all main features of SparkReceipt
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AI Fields: extract custom data from your documents
Define your own AI Fields to automatically pull extra details — like supplier VAT IDs, project codes, or serial numbers — from receipts and invoices that the standard scan doesn't capture.
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AI Processing Rules and Sender Rules
Two ways to teach SparkReceipt how to handle incoming scanned email — free-form AI Processing Rules that shape what gets recognised, and Sender Rules that auto-approve or auto-reject specific senders at the approval stage.
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AI-based chart of accounts import
Upload any chart of accounts or P&L spreadsheet and let SparkReceipt's AI turn it into a structured category tree — no manual reformatting required.
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Approval circulation for receipts/documents?
SparkReceipt has no multi-step approval flow, but every document has a review status (Pending, Needs attention, Reviewed, Rejected) that Admins, the Owner, Supervisors and Accountants can set on any document. Who can change it, how to stop Members and Contributors approving their own documents, and why Submitted by can't be changed.
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Automatic email scanning
Connect Gmail, Outlook or any IMAP mailbox so SparkReceipt imports receipts and invoices on its own. Covers which folders are scanned, how many mailboxes each plan allows, pending approval, and IMAP troubleshooting.
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Bank statement extraction: the complete guide
How to upload a bank or credit card statement on the web or in the mobile app, what the extraction statuses mean (including a statement stuck in queued), how to review the transactions, and how to turn them into expenses and income.
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Can I bulk import historical data into SparkReceipt?
Yes. Mass upload a backlog of receipts and invoices, pull older receipts from a connected mailbox, or import a spreadsheet of expenses or income (Excel, CSV or a downloaded Google Sheet) by uploading it as a bank statement so each row becomes its own entry.
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Can I change the app layout, collapse the sidebar or use dark mode?
SparkReceipt has one layout for everyone, so you can't switch back to an old screen or rearrange the sidebar. Dark mode is in the web app (Profile, Theme) and in the mobile apps (Profile, Preferences, Theme). The web app has no font size setting, but browser zoom helps.
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Can I download all my documents from SparkReceipt?
Export your receipts and documents from SparkReceipt as XLSX, CSV, or PDF, with filters for date, payment method, user, and tags.
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Can I Import Categories into SparkReceipt?
Yes. You can pick a pre-defined chart of accounts template (including German SKR04 and French PCG), upload your own file with AI assistance, build categories manually, copy them from another account when you create a linked account, or sync them from QuickBooks Online.
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Can I mass upload receipts that are photos on my phone?
The mobile app adds one photo or file at a time. To upload a backlog of receipt photos at once, use mass upload in the web app, either from your phone's browser or from a computer.
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Can I scan a multi-page (2-page) invoice / Receipt?
Yes.
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Can I split the tax rate for different tax %?
How SparkReceipt splits a receipt's tax into VAT, GST, PST and HST lines, how tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive (net) pricing work, and how a typed total, subtotal or tax amount is recomputed so each tax keeps its stated rate.
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Choosing how the AI review works on your account
Turn each AI review check off, let it decide when to ask, have it always ask, or have it never ask and apply its best answer. Or say all your expenses are business so it never asks whether a purchase was private.
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Closing accounting periods to lock past documents
Protect finalized months, weeks, or custom date ranges from accidental edits while keeping them visible and exportable.
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Connect your AI tools to SparkReceipt with MCP
Connect Claude, Cursor, and other MCP-capable AI tools directly to your SparkReceipt account so they can search, tag, and act on your documents for you.
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Email history extraction
Import receipts and invoices that are already in your connected mailbox. Covers starting an extraction, what "Failed to count emails" means, and what to do after you cancel one.
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Export an IRS Schedule C worksheet and filled form
Map your categories to Schedule C lines, check the readiness preview, and export a worksheet PDF, an Excel file and the filled Schedule C for a tax year.
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Export files for Sage 50, DATEV, Wave and Sage 200/300
Download your expenses and income as a file already formatted for Sage 50, DATEV, Wave or Sage 200/300, then import it into your accounting software.
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How do expense claims work in SparkReceipt?
Expense claims let someone get paid back for business costs they covered with their own money. Put your own expenses and business trips on a claim, submit it, and an approver approves it and marks it paid. Covers statuses, roles, plans and where to find claims.
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How do I add an expense or income manually, without a receipt?
Open the Add dialog, pick Expense or Income, and continue without adding a file to create a manual entry you type in yourself. The same dialog uploads a single receipt or invoice from your computer.
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How do I add per diem to a business trip?
SparkReceipt works out per diem, the daily allowance for a business trip, from the trip's start and end time. Set up per diem rates, add per diem to a trip, deduct provided meals and claim it.
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How do I add, rename, nest and delete Categories?
Manage Categories under Account settings → Categories in the web app to create, rename, code, nest and delete them, and learn why some Categories are greyed out or archived, how they are ordered, and how to get them in your language.
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How do I approve, reject or mark an expense claim as paid?
Approvers (Supervisor, Admin or Owner) approve a submitted expense claim or reject it with a reason, then mark it as paid once the claimant has been paid back. Covers approving your own claim, closed periods and what the claimant sees.
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How do I book a refund that returns only VAT?
Why SparkReceipt keeps the VAT on a refund with a subtotal of 0.00, why it won't publish that line as it is, and how to split it into lines your accounting software books correctly.
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How do I bulk edit categories and tags in the Transaction Manager?
Select several transactions in the Transaction Manager to assign or clear a category, add or replace tags, and run other bulk actions, plus how tags on transactions carry over to your matched receipts and invoices.
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How do I change a document from Expense to Income (or to another type)?
Change the Document category field on the document in the web app, or use Change document type in the mobile app. Several documents can be changed at once with Set document type in the Documents view.
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How do I change the Category or other details of many documents at once?
Select documents with the checkbox on the left of the list, open Actions and choose Set category, Assign tags, Set payment method or another bulk edit; on mobile tap Select and use the bar at the bottom.
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How do I clean up, rename and merge Merchants and Payers?
Open Merchants & Payers to see every Merchant and Payer with how many documents use it, rename one, merge duplicates into one, delete unused ones and set Category rules. A new scan files a document under an existing Merchant when the printed name matches.
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How do I count only part of an expense as business?
Set Business use (%) on an expense, for example 50 for fuel for a car you also drive privately. The expense keeps the total on the receipt, and reports, exports and tax forms count only the business share.
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How do I create and submit an expense claim?
Start an expense claim, add the expenses you paid yourself and your business trips, give it a title, notes and payout details, then submit it for approval. Also covers withdrawing, reopening and deleting a claim.
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How do I edit, add or remove line items on an expense or income?
Open the Lines tab on the web, or Edit line items in the mobile app, to change a line's Category, amount, quantity, unit price or type (such as Tip), insert a new line, split a line, or remove one.
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How do I edit, sort, select and export transactions?
How to edit a transaction's description, add a note, sort transactions by date, hide excluded lines, select all, read the colors and icons, split a bank fee out of a purchase, and export or print transactions such as the unmatched ones, in the Transaction Manager and on a bank statement.
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How do I export an expense claim?
Export an expense claim as a PDF with the receipts, an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV file, to pay it back, send it to your accountant or record it in accounting software that can't take claims. Covers what the PDF contains and who sees the payout details.
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How do I get suggested trips from my calendar?
SparkReceipt can turn meetings with an address in your phone's calendar into suggested trips. Set a base location, pick the calendars, then approve or dismiss each suggestion on your phone or on the web.
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How do I hide the SparkReceipt Academy or the "Finish your setup" reminder?
The SparkReceipt Academy is the setup checklist for new users. You can close its panel at any time, but its steps only tick off when you do the real action, so the "Finish your setup" reminder stays until the last step is done.
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How do I mass upload many receipts at once, and how long does it take?
Mass upload in the web app takes up to 100 files per batch and scans them in the background. You choose the document type and an optional batch name during upload, and set Category and Tags afterwards with bulk actions. Covers naming batches, progress, stuck batches and cancelling an import.
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How do I open and edit a document (expense or income)?
Click a document in any list to open it, then change any field on the Details and Lines tabs. Changes save automatically, on the web and in the mobile app.
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How do I publish an expense claim to my accounting software?
Publish an approved expense claim to QuickBooks Online, Xero, Procountor or SimplBooks as one bill that pays back the claimant, with receipts attached and trips and per diem booked to your categories. Covers checks, currencies and unpublishing.
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How do I rescan a document, and does a rescan use credits?
Open the document and choose Rescan document. A rescan of a document that was already scanned is free and uses no monthly quota or credits, but it overwrites the data you corrected by hand.
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How do I see which invoices are paid or still outstanding?
Set each income document and expense invoice to Paid or Unpaid with Payment status, then filter the Documents view by Payment status, Type and Match status to list outstanding income or unpaid bills. SparkReceipt has no partially paid status, and reports group documents by document date.
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How do I set a payment method (cash or card) and mark a document as paid?
Create payment methods such as Cash or a card under Cards & Accounts, pick one in a document's Payment method field or set it on many documents at once, and mark invoices and income as paid with Payment status.
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How to create reports in SparkReceipt 📈
Create CSV, Excel and PDF reports of your expenses and income in the web and mobile app, run them again, get them by email every month or week, and send or share them.
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How to delete documents (receipts and invoices)
Delete a single receipt or invoice, bulk-delete many at once, and find, restore, or permanently empty the Trash bin — on web and mobile.
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How to find and resolve duplicate documents
How SparkReceipt detects duplicate receipts and documents, how to review them side by side, and how to merge documents the system didn't flag.
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How to forward e-receipts from your email
Forward receipt and invoice emails to your personal SparkReceipt address and they are scanned into your account. Each linked account has its own address, any sender can forward to it, and one email becomes one document.
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How to Group Expenses (e.g., for a Client) and Create an Expense Report
If you want to group and report expenses by client, project, or any other purpose, tags are currently the best way to do it in SparkReceipt.
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How to match receipts to bank OR credit card statements
Extract transactions from bank statements or credit card statements and automatically match them to your receipts and invoices
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How to Move Documents Between Linked Accounts in SparkReceipt
Move an expense, income or statement to another linked account from the document, or up to 100 at once on the web or in the mobile app, and move trips the same way. Covers what SparkReceipt shows before you confirm, who can move, what is kept, matched, copied or reset, and why a move can be refused.
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How to search, filter and sort documents
Find any document in SparkReceipt with the search box and filters such as Total amount, Document number, Merchant / Payer, Category and Type, sort the list by date, amount or name, and save searches you use often.
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How to set up automations in SparkReceipt
Use automations to create recurring expenses or income, auto-assign details or publish matching documents, and steer AI extraction with custom instructions, for example to add Tags by address or PO number, remove zero-value line items or rename line items.
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How to share your documents with anyone
Share one document or a whole month of documents with a link anyone can open, or send a receipt file by email from the web or mobile app.
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How to start trips automatically when your phone connects to your car
On the Elite plan, SparkReceipt can start recording a trip when your phone connects to your car and end it when you disconnect or park. Android uses your car's Bluetooth; on iPhone you set it up with a Shortcuts automation.
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How to track mileage with Trips in SparkReceipt
Record business mileage with Trips. GPS tracking on mobile, manual entry on mobile and web, calendar suggestions, duplicating a trip, saved addresses, vehicles, mileage and passenger rates, per diem, trip reports, adding costs, and bulk-adding trips with SparkAgent.
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How to use SparkAgent: introduction, examples and chat history
How to open SparkAgent, what it can do, example prompts, where your earlier chats are saved, and how to summarize a document, translate a receipt or repeat a task.
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How to use tags (dimensions)
Use tags to organize documents by project, department, region, or any other dimension you care about.
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I can't find my receipt to match
What to do when a receipt isn't showing up in the manual matching list for a bank or credit card transaction.
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Matching transactions to receipts in the Transaction Manager
How automatic matching works, how to approve or reject suggested matches, how to match one transaction to several receipts or one invoice to several payments (instalments), how to handle credit-card payments, and where a receipt shows which statement it is linked to.
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Pre-defined chart of accounts templates (including German, French and other country charts)
Start your bookkeeping with a ready-made chart of accounts, including IRS Schedule C, US Small Business, German SKR04, French PCG, Spanish PGC, Swedish BAS, Finnish, Japanese and Turkish charts, European VAT Business and the SparkReceipt default.
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Refunds, transfers and other special cases on bank statements
How SparkReceipt classifies refunds, transfers between your own accounts, returned payments and other unusual lines on extracted bank statements, and how to correct them.
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The Transaction Manager: reconcile every bank transaction in one place
What the Transaction Manager is, how transactions from bank statements and connected bank accounts flow into it, and what each transaction status and queue means.
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Transfers, exclusions, and creating entries in the Transaction Manager
How to handle transactions that have no receipt, such as transfers between your own bank, savings and credit-card accounts, transactions to exclude from your books, refunds, and bank fees or interest you turn into expenses and income.
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Using the Overview screen
What the Overview shows (cash flow, profit and loss, expenses and income by Category), how to look at one month or a financial year, how projections from recurring automations work, and how to print or export it.
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What data is collected automatically from Receipts / Invoices?
SparkReceipt extracts a wide range of information automatically from receipts and invoices using OCR and AI processing. This article explains which data points are automatically collected and which can be added or edited manually.
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What does Needs attention mean on a document, and how do I see why?
Needs attention is a review status that marks a document as needing changes. SparkReceipt sets it when a scan finds something to check and explains the reason in the document's Comments tab.
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What happens when you delete a bank statement?
Deleting a bank statement trashes the expenses and income that were created from its transactions, but keeps your own uploaded receipts and simply unmatches them. Here's exactly what's affected and how to restore it.
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What to enter in each Schedule C settings field
A field-by-field reference for SparkReceipt's Schedule C settings form, explaining what each box means on the IRS form and what to type.
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What's in a report? Totals per Category, line items, date order and currency
A SparkReceipt report lists documents oldest first with totals for each Category, can show one row per line item, and shows each document in its own currency next to the amount converted to your home currency.
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Which expenses and trips can go on an expense claim?
An expense claim holds the expenses you paid yourself, your completed business trips and their per diem. Learn how Paid by works, why an item doesn't show up in Add items, and how partly business expenses and currencies are handled.
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Why aren't my bank statement transactions showing in my reports?
Reports count your actual income and expense entries, not the raw lines on a bank statement. Here's why, and how to turn statement transactions into entries that count.
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Why aren't my receipts matching bank transactions?
How SparkReceipt's automatic receipt-to-statement matching works, the most common reasons a match is missed, and how to match transactions manually.
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Why did my report fail, not download, or take so long?
What to do when a SparkReceipt report shows Failure, finds no matching results, won't download or open, or stays in progress, and where downloaded reports are saved.
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Why does Microsoft connect the wrong mailbox or ask for admin approval?
What to do when Microsoft connects the mailbox you're already signed in to, or shows "Need admin approval", as you connect an Outlook or Microsoft 365 mailbox for automatic email scanning.