Guide

How to find a missing receipt for a business expense

Your bookkeeper sends a list: a charge on the card statement with no receipt. Most missing receipts are not really lost. They are in an inbox you didn't search, on a vendor's billing page, or still with the merchant. This guide goes through where to look, in the order that finds them fastest, and what to do when one is truly gone. MonthEnd keeps every receipt you forward in one place by month, so next month's list is shorter.

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Start with the bank line, not your memory

Copy three things from the card or bank statement: the date, the exact amount and the description the bank shows, such as GOOGLE*WORKSPACE or SQ *CORNER CAFE. The description usually names the merchant or the payment processor, and the amount is the best search term you have.

Step 1: Search every inbox for the amount

1. Search your email for the exact amount, written the way a receipt would show it, for example 84.20. Amounts are rarer than vendor names, so this finds receipts fast.
2. If nothing turns up, search for the merchant name from the bank line, then for words like “receipt”, “invoice” or “payment” around that date.
3. Check spam, promotions and archive folders, not just the inbox.
4. Ask anyone else who might have bought it: a partner, co-founder or assistant. Their inbox may have the receipt.

Step 2: Check the vendor's billing page

For software, hosting, ads and subscriptions, sign in to the vendor's account and look for a billing, invoices or payment history page. Most let you download past invoices as PDFs. Some vendors never email a receipt unless you turn that on, which is why the charge had no email in the first place.

While you are there, turn on emailed invoices if the vendor offers it, so next month's receipt arrives by email.

Step 3: Look in apps and order history

• Online orders. Marketplaces and online stores keep order history with a printable invoice or receipt.
• Rides, delivery and travel. Ride-hailing, food delivery, airline and hotel apps keep receipts in the trip or booking history.
• Card-reader payments. If the bank line starts with a processor prefix like SQ * or SP , the shop took the payment through a card reader. Some of these send a digital receipt to the email or phone used at checkout.

Step 4: Ask the merchant for a copy

For an in-person purchase, contact the merchant with the date, amount and the last four digits of the card. Many can reprint a receipt or email an invoice. Larger suppliers can usually send a statement of everything you bought from them in a period.

If the receipt is truly gone

Don't leave the charge blank or make up a receipt. Write a short note instead and send it with the month's files:

• the date, amount and merchant from the bank line,
• what was bought and why it was for the business,
• who bought it, and any supporting record you do have, such as an order confirmation, a calendar entry or a photo of the item.

Your accountant decides how to treat it. Rules on what counts as enough proof depend on where you file and the type of expense, so ask them rather than guessing, especially for travel, meals and large purchases.

Stop the same receipt going missing next month

• Email receipts: add a forwarding filter for that vendor's From address. The Gmail and Outlook forwarding guide shows how.
• Billing-page receipts: turn on emailed invoices, or put a monthly reminder to download them on your send day.
• Paper receipts: photograph them the same day and send the photo to the same place as everything else.
• Recurring charges: keep a short list of vendors that bill every month, and check it against the statement before the month goes to your accountant.

Then let MonthEnd send the month

MonthEnd gives each business its own forwarding address, such as yourbusiness@usemonthend.com. Point your Gmail or Outlook filters at it, forward receipts by hand, or email phone photos (JPG, PNG and iPhone HEIC work). Each receipt is kept in private storage and sorted by month, and you can fix the vendor, date or amount. If a Stripe or Paddle email has no file, MonthEnd tries to fetch the invoice. On your send day (the 1st by default, or any day from 1 to 28) your accountant gets the previous month: a short email, a ZIP and a CSV with one row per receipt (date, vendor, amount, currency, filename), with a copy to you. Start a 14-day trial, no card needed to start, or read the month-end receipts checklist.

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