Receipt guides
Guides that help you get receipts into a spreadsheet and keep them in order.
- My first business trip expense claim, and the two missing receipts that got it bouncedIn my first year at work I filed my expenses two weeks after a three-day trip, and finance sent the claim straight back. Here is how I replaced the missing receipts, and the five-minute habit I now keep in the hotel room every night.
- Four friends, one coastal weekend, and the settle-up we put off for three weeksAfter a long weekend away, "let's sort the money out at home" sat in our group chat for three weeks. Here is how 38 receipts, one extra column and three bank transfers finally settled it.
- Six months in my first flat, and what a bag of receipts taught me about living costsWhen my mum asked how much I spent a month after moving out, I had no idea. So I kept every receipt in a shopping bag by the door for six months and turned it into a spreadsheet. Here is what I found.
- I quit budgeting three times, and here is what finally stuckA budgeting app, a pretty notebook and a perfect spreadsheet template all failed me. What has worked for a year now: snap every receipt, sort the photos once a week, and keep only five categories.
- My first year as club treasurer, from an envelope of receipts to one spreadsheetWhat happened when I became treasurer of a hiking club, kept receipts in an envelope and panicked at the first audit, and the four habits that fixed it: snap right away, sort the same night, check flagged cells, share monthly.
- Rank your spending by store in Excel and see where your money really goesUse the Store column of your receipt spreadsheet to total spending per store, count visits and work out the average per visit, then sort from biggest to smallest. Includes a fix for the same chain showing up under different branch names.
- Match receipts to your card statement in Excel and find missing chargesLine up your bank or card transaction export with your receipt spreadsheet by date and amount, and use one COUNTIFS formula to find charges without a receipt and receipts that never hit the card. Also covers why amounts often don't match.
- Add a category dropdown to your expense spreadsheet in ExcelAdd a Category column to your receipt spreadsheet and use Data Validation to pick from a dropdown list, so Groceries, groceries and Food don't end up as three separate categories. Includes the Google Sheets version.
- Subtotal, tax, tip and total on a receipt, and how to check them in ExcelWhat the subtotal, sales tax or VAT, tip, total and change lines on a receipt mean, which one belongs in your budget, and a simple Excel formula that flags amounts you copied wrong.
- Handing over the treasurer role, a checklist for clubs and groupsWhat an outgoing club or group treasurer should hand over, from bank access and the expense spreadsheet to receipt photos, dues records and money still owed, plus how to reconcile the balance together on handover day.
- Highlight over-budget spending with Excel conditional formattingSet monthly budgets by category, total this month's receipts automatically with SUMIFS and EOMONTH, and use conditional formatting colors and data bars to see which categories are close to or over budget.
- How to build a budget vs actual spreadsheet for an eventCompare an event budget with what you actually spent, line by line, using receipts collected during the event. Includes SUMIF formulas, highlighting overspent lines, cost per attendee and notes for next time.
- How to split shared expenses in a spreadsheetSplit trip and group costs fairly in Excel or Google Sheets. Work out what each person paid and owes, settle up with the fewest transfers, and handle costs that only some people shared, with a worked example.
- How to track cash spending when there's no receiptKeep a record of spending without receipts, such as farmers markets, tips, gifts and payment app transfers, with quick phone notes and added rows, then reconcile against the cash in your wallet to find what's missing.
- How to track out-of-pocket work expenses until you're reimbursedLog work expenses you paid with your own card or cash, track each one from submitted to paid, spot claims that have waited too long, and submit before your card bill is due so your own money isn't tied up.
- Summarize expenses by category and month with an Excel PivotTableTurn a receipt spreadsheet into category, store and monthly totals with an Excel PivotTable, including grouping dates by month, refreshing after new receipts and fixing a PivotTable that counts instead of sums.
- What to hide before sharing a photo of a receiptBefore posting a receipt photo to a group chat, expense system or marketplace, check for card digits, authorization codes, loyalty numbers, names, addresses and license plates, remove location data and cover details properly.
- A 30-minute monthly expense review, step by stepA month-end routine that turns receipts into a spreadsheet, reconciles them with your card statement, compares categories with last month and ends with one decision for next month, with timings and Excel formulas.
- Expense categories for freelancers, and how to record themA practical set of expense categories for freelancers and sole traders organizing receipts in a spreadsheet, how to record mixed personal and business costs, and a file layout your accountant will thank you for.
- How to keep a car maintenance log and running cost spreadsheetBuild a car maintenance log from repair shop receipts with mileage for every service, then add insurance, registration, fuel and parking to work out yearly running costs and cost per mile.
- How to name and file receipt photos so you can find them laterA simple system for receipt photos on your phone and computer, with folder and file naming rules, matching spreadsheet rows to photos, backing up the important ones and deciding when to delete.
- How to read a faded receipt, or get a replacement recordTips for recovering the date and total from a faded thermal receipt with better lighting and photo editing, and where to get a replacement record when it's unreadable, from card apps and statements to store reprints and email receipts.
- How to track receipts in Google SheetsMove your receipt spreadsheet into Google Sheets, keep months of spending in one sheet, build store and monthly totals with the QUERY function, and share it safely with family or a group.
- How to track what your kids cost, using receipts and a spreadsheetRecord child-related spending such as school costs, activities, medical bills, clothes and childcare by child and category in a spreadsheet, and keep the receipts you may need for taxes or reimbursement accounts.
- Receipts, card slips, invoices and e-receipts explainedWhat separates an itemized receipt from a credit card slip, an invoice, an e-receipt and a packing slip, and which of them to keep when you track expenses or claim them back from an employer.
- Fixing Excel dates that show as numbers, text or the wrong dayWhy Excel dates turn into numbers like 46278, show as #####, won't sort because they're text, swap day and month, or shift by a day, and how to fix each problem in a receipt spreadsheet.
- How receipt OCR finds the date and totalA plain-English walkthrough of how a receipt scanner finds text in a photo, reads it, and picks out the date, store and total, plus why some values get flagged and the most common causes of misreads.
- How to convert foreign currency receipts in a spreadsheetRecord receipts from trips abroad without mixing currencies, convert them using your card statement or exchange rate, look up rates with GOOGLEFINANCE in Google Sheets, and account for foreign transaction fees.
- How to find duplicate receipts in an Excel spreadsheetFind expenses entered twice, from the same receipt photo added again or a purchase copied from both a receipt and a card statement, using COUNTIFS, conditional formatting and Remove Duplicates, and tell real repeat purchases apart.
- How to make an expense report template in ExcelBuild a one-page expense report in Excel with the columns that matter, category totals, a reimbursement formula, and three simple checks that catch the most common mistakes before you submit.
- Receipts worth keeping all year for tax seasonThe kinds of spending where receipts or written records often matter at tax time, such as medical costs, donations, childcare and self-employed expenses, and a simple way to flag them in your spreadsheet all year.
- Tracking family vacation spending, before, during and after the tripRecord family vacation costs in one spreadsheet, from flights and hotels paid in advance to receipts on the road, foreign currency conversion and checking your card statement, then use a daily average to budget the next trip.
- Wedding budget spreadsheet, from quotes to final paymentsManage wedding costs with many vendors, deposits and final balances by tracking quote, contract and paid amounts separately, building a payment schedule with reminders, and catching the small costs that add up.
- Frequently asked questionsAnswers about privacy, how many photos you can add, fixing recognition mistakes, supported formats and the Excel file.
- How to calculate monthly spending totals in ExcelThree ways to get monthly totals from a receipt spreadsheet, using SUMIFS, a helper column or a PivotTable, with examples.
- How to photograph receipts for better recognitionPractical tips for taking receipt photos that read well, plus what to do with long receipts and faded thermal paper, and how to add photos taken on a phone.
- How to store thermal paper receiptsWhy thermal receipts fade, how to store originals so they last longer, and why a photo on the day you get the receipt is the safest backup.
- How to track club expenses with receiptsA simple workflow for club and group treasurers to collect receipts, turn them into a spreadsheet, reconcile the balance and report to members.
- Organizing receipts in a spreadsheet for your household budgetHow to set up budget categories, keep a receipt spreadsheet going week after week, and check it against your card statement.