Receipts for tradespeople: keeping material receipts under control

In short: Tradesperson receipts do not get lost in the bookkeeping, they get lost between the hardware store, the van and the site. The fix is one firm rule: every material receipt is scanned with your phone in the van and tagged with the customer or job number before the material is unloaded. The paper goes into a folder in the van, and your accountant gets a monthly export with PDFs and a CSV.

If you work in a trade, you know the problem: seven in the morning at the hardware store for screws, silicone and cable trunking, receipt into the chest pocket, off to the site. By evening the receipt is crumpled, dusty or in the washing machine. In December your accountant asks what the 47 hardware store payments were.

The problem is not the receipts, it is the moment they get lost. Here is a system that works on site, with dirty hands and without office hours.

Why do material receipts get lost so often in the trades?

Material receipts get lost because they appear at the worst moment: during the purchase, when you should already be on site. Four factors make it worse in the trades.

• Thermal paper: hardware store and petrol station receipts fade within weeks from heat, sun and friction. See scan paper receipts before they fade.
• Too many places: jacket, van, toolbox, site container. A receipt that could be in four places is lost.
• Dirt and moisture: a wet or smeared receipt is worthless even if it turns up.
• No allocation: a clean receipt is just a number in December if nobody remembers which job the screws were for.

Every lost receipt is an expense you cannot deduct and input tax you forfeit. At CHF 20 per receipt and two lost a week, that is around CHF 2,000 of undocumented expenses a year.

Which receipts do you need as a tradesperson?

You need a receipt for every expense you book as a cost or pass on to the customer. In the trades that is a long list.

• Material receipts from hardware stores and specialist suppliers, often several a day.
• Supplier invoices for delivered material.
• Tools and machines, including repairs and spare parts.
• Vehicle: fuel, servicing, tyres, motorway vignette, parking, fines (not deductible, but still book them).
• Disposal: receipts from the tip or recycling centre.
• Meals and accommodation on jobs away from home.
• Consumables: sandpaper, tape, work gloves.
• Subcontractors and equipment hire.

The expense rules for owners of a sole proprietorship or GmbH, for instance for meals and vehicles, are in expense claims for Swiss sole proprietors and GmbHs.

How do you match material receipts to the right job?

Write the customer or job number on every receipt before you file it, ideally as a note the moment you scan it. This one detail decides whether you can bill the material on and whether your accountant can close the books without calling you.

A proven pattern for the note: customer, location, job number, for example "Müller, ground floor bathroom, A-2026-031". For material that serves several jobs, write "stock". This gives you three groups:

1. Job material: billed on to the customer, with or without a markup. The receipt is the basis for the invoice and has to show quantity and item.
2. Stock material: general overheads, covered by your hourly rates or a small-parts flat rate.
3. Operating costs: vehicle, tools, insurance, with no link to a job.

In your app: category by cost type (material, vehicle, tools, meals), customer and job in the note. That way you can analyse material costs per month and receipts per job. Why customer categories are a bad idea is covered in receipt categories that make sense.

How do you capture receipts with dirty hands?

Scan the receipt in the van before you get out, not in the evening. It is the only moment of the day when the receipt is clean, flat and complete.

• The van rule: engine off, receipt on the passenger seat, photo, done. Belego crops, straightens, saves as a PDF and reads amount, date and merchant. About 15 seconds.
• Offline is fine: capturing and filing work without signal. Only the automatic reading needs a brief connection later, and anything it cannot read with certainty stays blank for you.
• Note straight away: customer and job, while you still know what the material was for.
• Paper into a folder: a document wallet in the glove box, for receipts only. Not the pocket, not the toolbox.
• Gloves: phone screens ignore many work gloves. Take them off briefly or buy a pair with touch fingertips.
• Dirty or wet receipts: dab dry, lay on a light surface, use good light. Tips are in how to photograph receipts so they stay readable.

What has to be on a material receipt?

To claim input tax, the receipt must show the supplier's name and UID (Swiss business identification number), the date, type and quantity of goods, the amount and the VAT rate. Up to CHF 400, Art. 26 para. 3 of the Swiss VAT Act allows the buyer's name to be omitted, so the standard hardware store receipt is enough.

For larger amounts, insist on your business being named as the recipient: a kitchen delivery for CHF 8,400 arrives as an invoice with your company address, not as a till slip. At hardware stores, a trade account in the company name puts the name on every receipt, often available online too. The full requirements are in VAT-compliant receipts in Switzerland.

How does all of this reach your accountant?

At month end, export the month's receipts as a ZIP and send it to your accountant with the bank statements. The export contains the PDFs, named by date, merchant and amount, plus a CSV list with category and note, so material can be booked against jobs without a phone call.

The monthly routine:

1. On Fridays, collect the folders from all vehicles and check that every receipt is in the app.
2. Fill in missing notes while the week is fresh.
3. At month end, export the ZIP and send it.
4. File the paper by month in case an original is ever needed.

The complete handover checklist is in preparing receipts for your accountant.

Frequently asked questions

Can I throw away material receipts after scanning them?

In Switzerland, electronic retention is permitted under Art. 958f of the Code of Obligations, provided the scan is complete, unalterable and legible at any time. Many accountants still recommend keeping the paper until the financial year is closed; after that the PDF is usually enough. Ask before disposing of originals.

How do I bill hardware store material on to the customer?

Transfer item, quantity and price from the receipt to the customer invoice and attach the receipt if the customer asks for evidence. Whether you charge a markup for procurement and travel is set in the contract or quote. The scanned receipt with the job note makes the allocation easy.

What do I do with receipts that are half private, half business?

Split the purchase into two receipts at the till, that is the cleanest way. If that is not possible, mark which items are business and book only that share. Only the business portion counts for input tax. Mixed receipts without any marking are often disallowed entirely in an audit.

Do I need a receipt for every fill-up?

Yes, if the vehicle is a business asset and you book the costs as an expense. The fuel receipt shows quantity, amount and VAT, which the card statement does not. Note the vehicle if you have several. Private use is handled by deducting a private share, a matter for your accountant, not a reason to skip the receipt.