How to Upload Receipts and Record Expenses with AI

MonkeyPod's AI-powered receipt review feature makes it easy to record expenses without manual data entry. Simply upload or email a receipt or invoice, and MonkeyPod will automatically extract the key details so you can quickly record it as a transaction in your books. This is an easy way for team members to send in their expenses as well!

Example: A Team Emails In Receipts for the Bookkeeper to Review and Enter

Here's how this feature plays out for an organization with a few staff members making purchases and one bookkeeper handling the books.

Say your program director picks up supplies for an event, and your development coordinator takes a donor out to lunch. Instead of saving paper receipts for later or tracking down each person for details, they can each email their receipts to your MonkeyPod's receipt address the moment they get it. No login required, and nothing to remember to hand off.

Those receipts land in the queue automatically—MonkeyPod will have extracted the vendor name and receipt total. Whenever it's convenient, your bookkeeper can review the receipts and record the transactions with just a couple of clicks. MonkeyPod creates the transaction and attaches the receipt automatically.

How do I upload my receipts or invoices?

Choose Finance from the main menu, and select Review / Upload Receipts from under the "Other" heading.

Here you'll see your options to upload receipts:

• Upload directly — Drag and drop a file onto the upload area, or click to browse and select a file from your computer.
• Email it in — Send the receipt or invoice to the email address listed on the Receipts page. MonkeyPod will receive it and add it to your queue automatically.

The following file types are supported: PDF, DOCX, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, HEIC, HEIF.

How the AI analysis works

Once a file is uploaded or received, you'll see it appear in the Receipts list with a "New" status, the date it was added (and by whom), and a link to the receipt.

MonkeyPod uses AI to analyze the document and extract key details which you'll find under the Extracted column. While analysis is in progress, the Extracted column will show an "Analyzing…" status. When complete, it updates to display the following details:

• Vendor name
• Total amount
• Confidence level — an indicator of how certain the AI is about the extracted details

If the vendor has been matched to an existing relationship in MonkeyPod, a green check mark will appear next to the vendor name. If no match is found, a question mark icon will indicate the vendor is unrecognized.

With the AI extraction complete, the status of the receipt changes to "Pending" as it awaits review. No transactions are recorded in your books at this point. It's now up to you to review the AI analysis, make any edits, and record the related transactions, as described below.

Reviewing and editing receipt details

Before recording a transaction, you can annotate the receipt. This can be especially helpful if you have a bookkeeper on staff who reviews and records the transactions after someone else uploads the receipts.

• Click the edit icon to name the receipt (the original file name will still be visible), and add notes or tags

  

• Click the check mark to save your changes.

Recording a transaction

Once you've reviewed the extracted details, you can record the receipt as a transaction using the icons to the right of the receipt data. Choose the option to record as a check or a credit card charge to match how the expense was paid.

If the vendor name doesn't match an existing relationship, MonkeyPod will prompt you to create a new one.

MonkeyPod will create the transaction, attaching the scanned receipt file to it.

Linking a receipt to an existing transaction

If a transaction has already been recorded and you want to associate an imported receipt with it:

1. Navigate to the existing transaction.
2. From the Action menu on the left side of the transaction page choose Link to Imported Receipt.

This will mark the receipt as Processed on the Receipts page and attach a copy of the uploaded receipt file to the transaction.

Receipt Statuses

Each receipt in the queue has a status that reflects where it is in your workflow:

Filtering and sorting receipts

Use the filters at the top of the Receipts page to narrow down your list:

• Filter by status — Show only receipts with a specific status (New, Needs Review, Pending, or Processed).
• Filter by user — Show only receipts uploaded by a specific team member. The Added column also displays the user avatar for each receipt so you can see at a glance who submitted it.

The Added column can also be sorted to help you organize receipts chronologically.

Customizing the view

Use the Show / Hide Columns checkboxes at the top of the page to choose which columns are displayed in your receipts list and tailor the view to your workflow.

Providing feedback

Help MonkeyPod improve its AI analysis by leaving feedback on how well the extraction worked for each receipt. Use the happy, neutral, or sad face icons to rate the result. Your feedback is used to make the AI smarter over time.