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# Receipts: upload, match, and your storage limit

A receipt is the proof behind an expense. Your bank feed shows that $84.12 went to Harbor Hardware, but not what you bought. The receipt does, and it backs up the deduction at tax time or in an audit.

In BooksGPT each receipt is linked to the bank transaction it proves, as evidence. The transaction's amount and your books stay the same.

Open **All pages** in the left sidebar, then click **Purchases** and **[Receipts](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/receipts)**.

## Add a receipt

* **Upload**: drag photos or PDFs onto the upload box, or click it to choose files. Each file can be up to 25 MB.
* **Phone**: open Receipts on your phone. Under **Snap on your phone**, tap **Take photos**, then **Take another** for each receipt in the stack, then the upload button, such as **Upload 3 receipts**.
* **Email**: forward receipts to your workspace's own address. See [Email receipts into BooksGPT](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/email-receipts-into-booksgpt-16f78w4/).
* **Copilot**: drop the file into a chat, or tap **+**, then **Add files**, then **Receipt**.
* **QuickBooks**: see [Bring your QuickBooks receipts and attachments across](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/bring-your-quickbooks-receipts-and-attachments-across-1mefhw3/).

![The Receipts page: the upload box, Forward receipts by email, and Snap on your phone](https://booksgpt.ai/help/receipts/receipts-page-2026-10.png)

Each receipt becomes a card. BooksGPT reads its store, date and total, then looks for its transaction.

## Match a receipt to its transaction

BooksGPT compares each receipt with your bank transactions around the date printed on it. An old receipt finds an old charge, imported history included.

### When one transaction fits

* **It links by itself** when the receipt is a clear purchase and one charge within three days matches it, to the cent or, when nothing matches exactly, within 50 cents. The card turns green and names the transaction.
* **Otherwise it suggests one**: a charge for the same amount to the cent within a week, or for a bill, the payment that names the biller up to five weeks after the bill date. The card shows it in one line with a **Link** button. Check it, then click **Link**.

**Ready to link** above the list shows every receipt waiting on that click. To link several at once, tick them and click the link icon in the bar. You can also ask Copilot to match your receipts.

![Ready to link: two receipts, each with its transaction and a Link button](https://booksgpt.ai/help/receipts/ready-to-link-2026-10.png)

### When nothing fits

1. Click **Attach existing transaction** on the receipt's card. The search starts 30 days either side of the receipt's date.
2. Type a store, description or account, or change **From** and **To**, then click **Search transactions**.
3. Click the right transaction.
4. Choose **Purchase**, **Refund** or **Not sure**.
5. Tick the box to confirm the date, amount, account and direction, then click **Attach receipt**.

![Attach existing transaction: a search, one transaction selected, Purchase chosen, and Attach receipt](https://booksgpt.ai/help/receipts/attach-existing-2026-10.png)

### When the purchase is not in your books yet

Some spending never reaches a bank feed, such as cash or a card you have not connected. Record it from the receipt:

1. Click **Create expense**.
2. Check **Paid from** (where the money came from) and **Category** (what it was for). The date, amount and memo come from the receipt.
3. Tick the box that says this receipt records a new purchase, then click the save button. It names the amount, such as **Save $42.75 for review**.

![Create expense on a receipt: Paid from, Category, Date, Amount, Memo, and the save button](https://booksgpt.ai/help/receipts/create-expense-2026-10.png)

||| Use **Create expense** only when the bank feed does not have this purchase. If the charge is already in your books, link the receipt instead, or the expense is counted twice.

A refund receipt never creates an expense. Attach it to the money coming back in your bank feed.

## What your books say now

* **A linked receipt** changes nothing in your books. The transaction keeps its amount and category and now carries the file. **View** opens the transaction, and **Unlink** takes the file off it.
* **A new expense** is saved with the receipt attached and waits in your [Inbox](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/inbox) like any new transaction. Once you approve it, the category goes up by the amount and the account you paid from goes down (or the balance you owe on the card goes up).

## Keep track of what is left

The filters above the list show a count for each:

* **Needs linking**: read and waiting for a transaction.
* **Ready to link**: one transaction fits, and one click links it.
* **Set aside**: kept without a transaction.
* **Linked**: attached to a transaction.
* **All**: every receipt in this workspace.

Some receipts have no charge in these books: a personal purchase, a quote, a second copy. Click the box icon named **Set aside** on the card. The file stays saved and stops asking to be linked. To bring one back, open **Set aside** and click the icon named **Put back in Needs linking**.

## A PDF with several receipts

A scanned stack arrives as one receipt. Click the scissors icon on its card, named **Split into N receipts**. Each page becomes its own receipt and is read and matched by itself. Blank pages are skipped. A file of up to 60 pages can be split.

To undo it, click **Undo** in the line above the list, or the undo icon on the file's card. That works until you link or set aside one of its pages. A long receipt that runs onto a second page is still one receipt, so do not split it.

## Delete receipts, and your storage

Tick receipts and click the red trash icon in the bar, or click the trash icon on one card. This removes only the file, and a linked transaction stays in your books. It cannot be undone.

* To keep copies first, the owner or a bookkeeper can download every file in one zip: click **Settings** at the bottom of the sidebar, then **Workspace**, then **Data**, and click **Prepare export** under **Download everything**.
* A lock in place of the trash icon means the file stays with a bill, invoice or statement. Point at it to see why.

Receipts and [Drive](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/documents) files share one storage allowance, 1 GB per workspace. The **Storage** meter on Drive shows what you have used. Email support@booksgpt.ai if a workspace needs more room.

## If something goes wrong

* **The store, date or amount is wrong.** On the card, click the circular arrow icon named **Read again** (once a day per receipt). If the card says the file could not be read, click **Retry reading**. You can also type the right details in **Create expense**.
* **No transaction is suggested.** An **Old date** or **No date** chip means the date looks wrong, so nothing links by itself. Use **Attach existing transaction** with the dates printed on the receipt. If your bank has not sent the charge yet, check again tomorrow.
* **A receipt is missing.** The list shows the newest first. Scroll to the bottom and click **Show older receipts**. For an emailed receipt that never arrived, see [Email receipts into BooksGPT](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/email-receipts-into-booksgpt-16f78w4/).

## Related

* [Attach receipts and files to an invoice](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/attach-receipts-and-files-to-an-invoice-y1oe4d/), for a copy on a customer invoice.
* [Vendor Bill Inbox and matching bank payments to Bills](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/vendor-bill-inbox-and-matching-bank-payments-to-bills-telync/), for a vendor bill you still have to pay.