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Receipts and Old Receipts

Getting receipts into Brick Books, how they are filed, and how to bring in a pile of old ones.

A receipt you cannot find later is not much use. Brick Books renames each one consistently and files it by year and month, so it is still easy to find when you need it.

Three Ways In

  1. Attach it while recording

    The tidiest option.

    Attach the receipt while you record the transaction and Brick Books files it and links it permanently to that entry.

  2. Drop it onto the Receipts screen

    Drag files onto the upload box, or click to choose them.

    Useful when you have a whole pile to work through.

  3. Save it to the watched folder

    Save or copy receipts into the Receipts Inbox folder, which is inside your receipts folder, then press Check Inbox.

    If that folder is synchronised with your phone, you can photograph a receipt at the counter, save it there, and have it waiting in Brick Books when you get back to your computer.

How They Get Named

The filename broken into its parts: the date, the reference off the receipt, the amount, and what it was for, then the folders it is filed into.

090226_INV-8891_58.40_Bunnings storage tubs.pdf

Date, reference, amount and description.

The filenames sort sensibly, are easy to search, and tell you what a document is without making you open it first.

Nothing is thrown away

Unlinking a receipt from an entry only removes the connection between the two. The filed copy of the receipt stays exactly where it is.

Bringing In a Pile of Old Receipts

Already have a folder full of receipts from before you started using Brick Books? Drag all of them into the Receipts Inbox folder, which is inside your receipts folder. Drop the files themselves, not folders of files.

  1. Press Check Inbox. Brick Books picks the receipts up, takes them out of the inbox and lists them on the Receipts screen. If receipt reading is set up, it also reads the date, shop and total from each one.
  2. Turn each receipt into an entry. As you do, Brick Books files the receipt into the right year and month folder and renames it to match the rest.
Check the expense is not already in your books

Posting a receipt always makes a new entry. If you have already recorded that expense, for example by importing your bank or PayPal, posting the receipt would count it twice. In that case, discard the receipt on the Receipts screen and attach it to the existing entry instead: open the entry in Money In & Out and add the document there.

Coming soon: Check Old Receipts

A set-up tool under Tools that will let you choose a folder anywhere on your computer where you kept your receipts. Brick Books will bring them in and check them against your entries, so you can record anything you may have missed. It is not part of this version yet.

← Recording Money in and Out Using It From Your Phone →