Get Shift Done: Tips and Tricks
Don’t Panic! You Can Still Add That Receipt to Your Xero Expense Report
If you do any travel for work, manage a team, bring in lunch, heck, even buy paper clips and pens, at some point you’ll be filling out an expense report. And, if you’re anything like me, chances are you’ll remember to add your receipts only after you’ve finished your expense report.
But don’t panic! If you’re using Xero, you can still add that receipt to a saved claim.
A quick note here on terminology. What I call an Expense Report, Xero calls an Expense Claim. This may be a U.S. to New Zealand language thing (Xero was founded in NZ). But if you’re used to the term Expense Report, don’t worry — we’re talking about the same thing here.
Adding a Receipt
After logging into Xero, click on the Accounts tab in the top menu and go to Expense Claims.
From there, you’ll see your current claims — these are the expenses you’ve already created and want to add a copy of your receipt to:
Click on the claim you want to edit. That will open the Edit Expense Screen:
In the upper right corner, there is an icon of a piece of paper with a corner folded down, like someone dog eared the page of a book.
Clicking that icon will bring up a dialog window that lets you choose a file you’ve already uploaded (Add File From Library) or add new docs (Add Files):
Assuming you haven’t already uploaded the receipt, click Add Files. That will open a file browser that lets you chose the electronic copy of your receipt to add. Once you’ve done that, click save, and you’re done!
What if I’ve Already Submitted It?
This is where you might run into an issue. Only certain types of users in Xero can edit a claim after it’s been submitted for approval. If your account is assigned a limited role, you can’t add your receipt after the fact.
In that case, and if your company won’t approve your expenses without the receipts, you can delete the claim and re-add it with the uploaded receipt.
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