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Upload receipts and create expenses in Expense Agent

APPLIES TO: Business Central online

[This article is prerelease documentation and is subject to change.]

When you upload a receipt to Expense Agent in Business Central, AI scans the image and extracts key details like the merchant name, total amount, transaction date, and expense category. If processing succeeds, Expense Agent automatically adds the expense to a draft report. If information is missing or invalid, you can open the expense and correct it. You can also create mileage expenses directly from the dashboard by entering your trip details.

Important

Tip

Using your phone or tablet? The Expense Agent mobile app lets you capture receipts with your camera, scan documents, and work offline. Learn more in Use the Expense Agent mobile app.

Upload a receipt in the web app

  1. Open Expense Agent and go to Expense reports.
  2. Drag and drop your receipt file onto the Upload receipt (or drop here) area, or select it to browse for a file on your device. You can also drop an entire folder of receipts to upload multiple files at once.
  3. Wait for the upload to complete.

Expense Agent supports JPEG, PNG, and PDF files up to 10 MB, including printed invoices, digital PDFs, and handwritten receipts such as taxi slips.

Note

As the web app reminds you: "Files are processed using AI. Review for accuracy." Always check the extracted details before submitting an expense.

Tip

Expense Agent uses AI to process receipts, so it works well with handwritten receipts like taxi receipts, not just printed or digital ones. If a field isn't detected correctly, you can always edit it manually.

What happens after you upload a receipt

Expense Agent extracts and validates the receipt information.

  • If processing succeeds, Expense Agent adds the expense to a suitable existing draft report. If no suitable report exists, it creates a new one.
  • If information is missing or invalid, the expense shows what needs attention. Open the expense, correct the affected fields, and save your changes. Expense Agent then continues processing and assigns the expense to a report when validation succeeds.

Report matching uses the expense date and the contents of existing draft reports. It isn't limited to reports containing expenses with the exact same date.

Automatic currency conversion

When you upload a receipt in a foreign currency, Expense Agent automatically converts the amount to your company's local currency. When you open the created expense, you see both the original amount and the local amount.

All totals in the expense report displayed in the web app use the local currency, so you can easily track spending across different countries/regions.

Important

If the currency extracted from an uploaded receipt does not exist in Business Central, a validation error is shown during processing with the message: The expense data couldn't be validated.

When you open the expense, the Amount field is highlighted, displaying the error: The currency value is not recognized.

To continue, contact your administrator to add the missing currency to Business Central, and then retry the process.

Create a mileage expense

If you use your private vehicle for business purposes, you can create a mileage expense directly from the Expense Agent without uploading a receipt.

The travel distance is calculated based on the selected route. The reimbursement amount uses your company's configured mileage rates.

  1. On the dashboard, choose Create mileage expense in the Quick actions panel.
  2. In the Starting point field, enter or search for the departure location.
  3. In the Ending point field, enter or search for the destination.
  4. Review the route displayed on the map. If multiple route options are available, select the route that reflects your actual journey from the list or directly on the map.
  5. If the trip includes a same-day return, enable Same-day round trip to include the return distance.
  6. If your organization uses vehicle-specific rates, in Vehicle type, select a vehicle type.
  7. Review the Mileage and Amount fields.
  8. Select Create.

The mileage expense is created and processed like any other expense and is automatically added to an expense report.

Expense Agent estimates the amount shown before you create the expense by using the expense date and Vehicle type. The preview doesn't consider currency-specific mileage rate records. When you create the expense, Business Central performs the currency-aware calculation and stores the authoritative reimbursement amount. The saved amount can differ from the preview. Administrators configure rates on the Mileage Rate Setup page. Learn more in Set up mileage rates for expense management.

Note

The Create mileage expense action is only available if your administrator configured at least one expense category with mileage enabled in Business Central. If the action appears dimmed, ask your administrator to enable mileage on an expense category.

Note

The expense category can't be changed, as only mileage-type categories are supported in this flow.

Note

After the expense is created, a screenshot of the selected route is attached to the expense record.

Send a receipt by email

You can also send receipts to Expense Agent by email. Email is a convenient way to submit receipts from your phone or forward digital invoices directly.

Important

Send the email from the company email address registered to your expense user record in Business Central. Only receipts sent from this registered email address are processed. Learn more in Set up expense users and teams.

  1. Open your email application, such as Outlook.
  2. Create a new email and address it to your organization's expense mailbox. Ask your administrator for the email address if you don't have it.
  3. Attach one or more receipt files to the email. You can attach photos of paper receipts taken with your phone, PDF invoices, or scanned receipts.
  4. Send the email.

Expense Agent processes each attachment and creates a separate expense for each receipt. You can review and edit the created expenses in Expense reports.

After you send the email, the expense shows as Processing while AI analyzes the receipt. The same validation and automatic report-assignment flow used for web uploads then applies.

How Expense Agent captures VAT

If your organization has enabled VAT reclaim, Expense Agent identifies VAT information on an uploaded receipt. A receipt can contain more than one VAT rate. For each rate, the agent captures the VAT percentage, VAT base, VAT amount, total amount, and expense category or subcategory. When the expense is added to a report, the configured category or subcategory provides the default reclaim percentage.

Expense cards in the web and mobile apps show the receipt total as Amount incl. VAT. The apps don't show or let you edit the extracted VAT breakdown. The extracted values remain suggestions. An accountant reviews and corrects the VAT breakdown in Business Central and approves or rejects each reclaim before the expense report is posted. This review is required even when the receipt was processed automatically.

Learn how administrators configure the calculation in Set up VAT reclaim. Learn how approver complete the review Review VAT reclaim.

Review scanned receipt details

AI suggests values for the following fields based on what it detects in your receipt:

  • Merchant - The business or merchant name.
  • Amount - The total amount on the receipt.
  • Date - The transaction date.
  • Project - The project code (if project tracking is enabled and detected).
  • Category - The expense category, such as meals, travel, or office supplies.

To review and adjust the details:

  1. Open the expense.
  2. Check each suggested field and correct any values that don't look right.
  3. Add a description or any extra details if needed.
  4. Select Save.

Tip

AI does a great job with clear, well-lit receipt photos. If a field isn't detected correctly, you can edit it manually. Blurry or folded receipts might need more manual corrections.

Real-time processing status

Expense Agent keeps you updated as your receipt moves through processing:

Status What it means
Processing AI is scanning your receipt and extracting details.
Open Scanning is complete. The expense is ready for your review.

You can continue working while receipts process; there's no need to wait. Come back to Expense reports to check on your uploads at any time.

Next steps

Manage expenses with Expense Agent
Use the Expense Agent mobile app
Review and edit expenses in Expense Agent
Set up mileage rates for expense management

Troubleshoot common issues in Expense Agent

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