It's the end of the month, someone wants your expenses, and the receipts are spread across your wallet, your inbox and your camera roll. You can make the whole report on your iPhone, receipts attached, and send it from wherever you are. This guide covers what an expense report usually has on it, then how to make one with Receipt Cat, our receipt app for iPhone and iPad.
What goes on an expense report
Most expense reports carry the same few things:
- Who it's from: your name, and your company if you claim from an employer.
- The period: a month, a quarter, or the dates of a trip.
- One line per expense: date, who you paid, category and amount, plus tax or VAT if shown.
- Totals: overall, by category, and how much is owed back to you.
- The receipts, so whoever pays you back can check each line.
What you can claim is up to your employer or client, and the tax side depends on where you live. Receipt Cat adds up the numbers and makes the report; it doesn't give tax or accounting advice, so check your company's policy or ask an accountant.
Get your receipts in first
Tap Scan on Home to use the camera, or Import for photos and files; how to scan receipts on iPhone goes through it. No receipt for the parking meter? Tap Import, then Type It In (No Receipt).
Open each receipt and set the Business / Personal switch, turn on Reimbursable if someone owes you the money, and under More add Tax / VAT and a Project / client if you claim by job.
Do this once: tap the gear at the top left of Home, and under On reports type Your name and Company. They're printed at the top of every PDF report.
Make the report
- Tap Report at the top right of Home. The Expense Report screen opens, with a panel showing how many receipts are in the report and their total. It updates as you change anything below.
- Pick the dates. Under Dates, choose a Range: This month, Last month, This quarter, Last quarter, This year or Last year. For a trip, set From and To yourself.
- Choose what goes in. Under Include, pick All, Business or Personal. Turn on Reimbursable only for a claim to your employer, or Leave out reimbursed so nothing is claimed twice. Tap Categories to pick only some. If you've added projects, pick one Project / client to make a report for just that client.
- Set up the page. Under Report, change the Title if you like (it starts as Expense Report), check Your name and Company (optional), leave Attach receipt images on to add the receipts to the PDF, and choose the Paper: A4 or US Letter.
- Make it. Tap PDF Report to see the finished PDF, with Print and Share buttons at the top. Or tap Spreadsheet (CSV) to share a file for your spreadsheet app.
You can also start from a month. Tap the line under the top panel on Home (for example, "October so far") to open Monthly Totals, then tap Report for this month under the month you want.
If a receipt is still being read, the report leaves it out and tells you how many are waiting.
What's on the PDF
- The title, your name and company, the dates, the number of receipts and the day it was prepared.
- The total, the tax or VAT included and the reimbursable amount.
- Totals By category, with the number of receipts in each.
- A numbered table of every receipt: date, merchant, category, tax and amount.
- If you left them on, the receipt images, each captioned with its row number, merchant, date and amount, so anyone can match them up.
Receipts in different currencies keep their own currency, and the report gives a total for each one rather than adding them together. The CSV has one row per expense, with the same details plus payment, project, tags and notes.
Pro: mileage, branding and one total
Three report tools are part of Receipt Cat Pro. They sit in the Pro section at the bottom of the Expense Report screen. Without Pro, that section is a single Receipt Cat Pro row, and the rest of the report works the same.
- Mileage and per diem. Tap Mileage and per diem, then Add Mileage or Add Per diem, then fill in the trip, Date, Distance or Days, and the Rate per km or mile or Rate per day. Receipt Cat works out the amount. The lines get their own section on the PDF, with a total that includes them, and their own rows in the CSV. Use the rate your employer or tax office sets: the app doesn't look rates up. Lines stay on your reports until you remove them, so swipe away the ones you've claimed.
- Branding. Tap Branding and turn on Accent colour to put the report's title and totals in your own colour, and add a line under the title, such as "Prepared for Acme Ltd". It's kept for the next report.
- Total in one currency. Tap Total in one currency, then under Total in pick the currency you claim in, then type a rate for each other currency. The PDF adds one total in that currency and prints the rates you used. Each currency keeps its own total too.
Driving for work?
Keep a log of every trip as you go: see how to keep a mileage log. And for the monthly habit that makes reports quick, see how to track business expenses on iPhone.
What it costs
Scanning, reading, keeping your receipts, and the PDF and CSV expense reports are free, with no watermark. There are no ads, no account and no subscription. Receipt Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds mileage and per-diem lines, report branding and one total in the currency you claim in. More on the Receipt Cat page.
Your receipts are read on your iPhone, and kept on it and in your own backups unless you share, save or print them.
Quick answers
Can I attach the receipts to the report?
Yes. Leave Attach receipt images on, and each receipt is added to the PDF, numbered to match its row in the table.
Can I make a report for one client?
Yes. Add the client under More › Project / client on each receipt, then pick it under Include when you make the report.
Is there a watermark on the report?
No. The footer of every page carries only your report's title and the page number, with or without Pro.
Try Receipt Cat
Try Receipt Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/receipt-cat