SparkReceipt prepares every report in the background, and the Reports list shows where it is: Queued (Waiting to start in the export dialog), In Progress, Complete or Failure in the web app, and Queued, In Progress, Completed or Failed in the mobile app. A report that failed can be started again with Run again, with the same settings. If a report still won't come out after that, contact support and tell us the report's name.
The sections below go through the common cases.
The report says "No matching results"
You get No matching results when nothing matches the filters and date range you chose. Check these first:
- The date range. Reports use the date on the document, so a receipt from last month is outside "this month" even if you uploaded it today. In the mobile app the message tells you the date of your latest document and offers to include that month.
- The Document type. The Create report page starts on Expense, so income needs Income or Any type.
- Bank statement lines. A standard report counts expenses and income, not the raw lines of a statement. See Why aren't my bank statement transactions showing in my reports?
On the web app's Create report page the Export button stays greyed out until you have set at least one filter, such as a date range. For an Overview summary it needs a date range of five years or less.
The report shows Failure or Failed
A report is marked as failed when it stops while being prepared. That includes a report that has made no progress for 10 minutes, so a report never sits "in progress" for hours.
To try again:
- Web app: open Reports, open the menu on the report's row and choose Run again. If the export dialog is still open and says "We couldn't prepare your export", click Try again to go back to the options with your settings kept. The notification that tells you an export failed has a Try again button too.
- Mobile app: open the Reports tab, tap the report and choose Run again.
If you get an email saying "We couldn't generate your report", the same steps apply. If it fails again, contact support with the report's name so we can look at it.
The report takes a long time
How long a report takes depends mostly on how many documents it covers and whether the receipt files are included. Packing the files is the slow part, so a report of a few hundred documents with receipts takes longer than the same report without them. The export dialog warns you when an export covers many documents.
You don't need to wait on the page. Click Continue working in the export dialog and keep using SparkReceipt. A notification with a Download button appears when the report is ready, and the report stays in Reports. If email notifications for finished reports are on, you also get an email.
If a report shows Waiting to start for a while, it is queued behind other work and starts on its own. A report that stops making progress is marked as failed (see above) and can be run again.
To make a big report faster, leave out the receipt files, or split the period into smaller date ranges.
The download doesn't start or the report won't open
In the web app, the file goes to your browser's download folder, usually Downloads. If clicking Download seems to do nothing:
- Check your browser's list of downloads. The file may already be there.
- Allow pop-ups and downloads for app.sparkreceipt.com. The Reports list opens the download in a new tab, which some browsers and extensions block.
- Use Download again in the export dialog, or Download on the report's row in Reports.
If SparkReceipt says "We couldn't find the file for this export", run the report again to get a new file.
In the mobile app, tap the report in the Reports tab when it shows Completed. On iPhone and iPad, tap Download: the share sheet opens, where you can save the file to Files or send it to another app. On Android, tap Open to view the report, or Share to save or send it. If your phone has no app for the file type (for example no spreadsheet app for Excel), the share sheet opens instead so you can pick one.
If the mobile app shows Download failed, check your connection and try again. If it shows "Unexpected error occurred. All changes might not have been saved.", close the message, wait a moment and tap the report again. When a report keeps failing to open on the phone, download it from the web app at app.sparkreceipt.com and contact support with the report's name.
Where are downloaded reports saved?
- Web app: in your browser's download folder. Reports also stay in Reports, so you can download them again later.
- Mobile app: SparkReceipt hands the file to your phone's share sheet. Save it to Files (iPhone and iPad) or another app, or send it from there. The report also stays in the Reports tab.
The dates are in the wrong order
Dates in Excel and PDF reports follow the Region in the Profile of the person who created the report. CSV reports always use YYYY-MM-DD. If you changed your Region, reports created before the change keep their old date format, so create the report again. See Calendar settings: Date format order and language.
Reports need a registered account
If you use the mobile app without signing up, the app asks you to create a free account before you can create and download reports.