Expense reports with an app: how to skip the spreadsheet chaos
Use an expense report app instead of a spreadsheet: photograph receipts as you pay, let the app read amount and date, then export PDFs and a CSV. The workflow step by step.
In short: An expense report app works like this: you photograph each receipt at the moment you pay, the app reads the amount, date and merchant and stores the scan as a PDF. At the end of the month you export all receipts for the period as a ZIP with a CSV list and submit it. No retyping into a spreadsheet, no missing receipts, and nothing fades in your jacket pocket.
The classic expense report goes like this: receipts pile up in your wallet, your car and your laptop bag. At the end of the month you hunt them all down, type date, amount and purpose into a spreadsheet template, glue the slips onto A4 sheets and hope the totals add up. Two receipts are missing, one has faded, and the report is a week late.
An expense app solves the problem at its root: the receipt is captured the moment it exists. This article shows what such an app needs to do, what the workflow looks like in practice and where a spreadsheet still earns its place.
Why spreadsheets hit their limit with expense reports
The spreadsheet is not the problem, the retyping is. Every number you copy from a receipt into a cell costs time and can be wrong. With 30 receipts a month that quickly adds up to 30 to 60 minutes of pure typing, plus the time spent searching and sorting.
The typical weak spots of the spreadsheet method:
- Receipts and table live apart: the number is in the file, the receipt is somewhere in a folder or nowhere at all.
- Thermal paper fades before the report is due, and the amount is no longer legible.
- Typos only surface when the accountant or finance team asks questions.
- There is no timestamp: whether the receipt is really from 12 March is known only to the person who typed it in.
- Multiple currencies get messy because conversions have to be tracked by hand.
An app can take these points off your plate because it keeps the receipt and its data together from the start.
What does an expense app need to do?
A good expense report app has to do one thing above all: capture a receipt completely in a few seconds. Everything else is convenience. This checklist helps when choosing:
- Scan with cropping and straightening, saved as a PDF rather than just a photo.
- Automatic reading of amount, date, merchant and category, with the option to correct everything by hand.
- No guessed values: whatever the app cannot read with confidence should stay blank rather than produce a wrong number.
- Categories and notes so you can record the purpose (client visit, trade fair, training) immediately.
- Multiple currencies for trips abroad.
- Export for any period you choose, with the original PDFs and a CSV list.
- Works offline, because on the train or abroad the connection is often poor.
- Privacy: expense receipts contain card details, travel destinations and names. They should not end up on someone else's servers without your say.
If you need a full approval workflow with manager sign-off and automatic posting, an expense module inside your accounting software is the right tool. For individuals, self-employed people and small teams, an app that captures and exports cleanly is usually enough. Belego is deliberately built that way: collect, read, organise, export. The actual settlement is then handled by the bookkeeping, the employer or the accountant.
How does an expense report with an app work in practice?
The workflow has three steps: capture, check, export. The biggest difference from the spreadsheet method is in the first step, which no longer happens at the end of the month but immediately.
- Capture: you pay for lunch with a client (CHF 68.50), get the receipt and photograph it while still at the table. The app reads CHF 68.50, the date and the name of the restaurant. You pick the category "Meals" and type the note "Lunch with client M., website project".
- Check: once a week you review the week's receipts. A parking ticket for CHF 12.00 was not read with confidence, the field is blank, and you fill in the amount. A taxi receipt from Munich is in euros, and you leave the currency as it is.
- Export: at the end of the month you export the period 1 to 31 March as a ZIP. It contains the PDFs, named by date, merchant and amount, plus a CSV with category and note. You send the file to the finance team or attach it to your employer's expense form.
How to prepare the CSV so it fits accounting tools or a spreadsheet is explained in Exporting receipts as CSV. To make sure capturing does not slide back into a monthly pile, the 5-minute receipt routine helps.
Which receipts belong in an expense report?
An expense report should include every receipt for an expense you paid on behalf of the business or your employer and want reimbursed. The rule of thumb: no receipt, no reimbursement, unless the expense policy provides flat allowances for specific cases.
Typical expense receipts:
- Train tickets, flights, taxis, public transport day passes
- Hotel invoices showing accommodation and breakfast separately
- Meals on the road and client entertainment, with the guests' names in the note
- Parking fees, tolls, fuel for business trips in a private car
- Small supplies, professional literature, trade fair admissions
Which receipts you really need when travelling and where flat rates apply is covered in Business travel expenses: which receipts you need. Owners of Swiss sole proprietorships and GmbHs also face social security and tax requirements, described in Expense claims for Swiss sole proprietors and GmbHs.
App or spreadsheet: which fits when?
The app replaces collecting and retyping, while the spreadsheet remains useful for analysis and forms. Many people combine both: capture in the app, analyse in the table.
| Task | Spreadsheet alone | Expense app |
|---|---|---|
| Capture a receipt | retype at month end | photo when paying, values read automatically |
| Keep receipt and amount together | separate, linked by hand | PDF and data in the same entry |
| Fading thermal paper | risk until the report is done | scanned within minutes |
| Analysis by project | flexible, fully customisable | via categories, notes and CSV |
| Handover to bookkeeping | table plus loose receipts | ZIP with PDFs and CSV |
A more detailed comparison, including the classic paper folder, is in Receipt app, spreadsheet or folder: which one fits you?.
What should you look for in terms of privacy?
Expense receipts are more sensitive than they look. They show where you were and when, who you had dinner with and which card you used. So check where an app stores the data and who has access.
Two questions are enough: does the app require an account, and does it upload receipts to its own cloud? With Belego the answer to both is no: receipts stay on the device, there is no login and no tracking. Capturing, searching and exporting work offline, and only the automatic reading needs a brief internet connection. If you want your receipts in more than one place, you use the backup included in the export and store it wherever you like. Why local storage makes particular sense for receipts is explained in A receipt app without the cloud.
A realistic month: 22 receipts, of which 9 meals, 7 public transport, 3 hotels, 3 miscellaneous, total CHF 1,480.30. With the app: 22 photos at roughly 15 seconds each, 5 minutes of checking once a week, one export. With the spreadsheet: find, retype and glue the same 22 receipts, and hope the 3 hotel invoices are still legible.
Frequently asked questions
Is a photo of a receipt enough for an expense report?
In most cases yes, provided the photo is complete and legible and shows date, merchant, amount and VAT. Many employers and accountants prefer PDFs because they are easier to file. Whether the paper can be thrown away afterwards depends on the expense policy and on retention rules, so clarify this with your finance team.
How long do I need to keep expense receipts?
Expense receipts are accounting records of the business. In Switzerland they fall under the ten-year retention period of Art. 958f of the Code of Obligations (OR). As an employee you hand the receipts in with your report, and the employer takes over the retention. Self-employed people should archive the exported PDFs together with their books.
Can I record expenses in foreign currencies with an app?
Yes, good apps record the receipt in its original currency, for example 45 euros for a taxi in Berlin. The conversion into francs happens at settlement, usually at the rate on the receipt date or the rate on the credit card statement. Note the rate or attach the card statement so the bookkeeping can follow the amount.
What do I do if an expense receipt is missing?
First try to get a replacement: hotels and online ticket shops usually reissue invoices, and credit card statements at least prove the amount. If that fails, write a self-made receipt (Eigenbeleg) with date, amount, purpose and an explanation. It is accepted only for smaller amounts and in exceptional cases, not as a routine.