Expense Management

Record business expenses with receipts and AI support.

Overview

Expense management offers:

• Receipt Capture: Upload photos of receipts
• AI Text Recognition: Automatic data extraction
• Categorization: Organize expenses by category
• Multi-Currency: Expenses in different currencies
• Project Assignment: Assign expenses to projects
• Approval Workflow: Optional approval process

Permissions

Recording an Expense

Manually

1. Navigate to Expenses
2. Click on New Expense
3. Fill in:

4. Optional: Upload receipt
5. Click Save

With AI Receipt Capture

1. Click on Capture Receipt (📷)
2. Photograph the receipt or upload an image
3. The AI automatically extracts:
   • Amount and currency
   • Date
   • Vendor
   • VAT (if recognizable)
   • Booking suggestions (expense account, VAT code, payment account)
4. Review and correct the data
5. Save the expense

Note: AI features require the Standard or AI Pro plan.

Direct Booking

When capturing receipts, the Direct Booking option is enabled by default. The AI suggests based on the receipt:

• Expense Account: e.g., "Office Supplies", "Travel Expenses", "Entertainment"
• VAT Code: e.g., V77 (7.7%), V81 (8.1%) or no VAT
• Payment Account: If an IBAN is recognized, the matching bank account is suggested

You can accept the suggestions or adjust them manually.

Privacy: Sensitive data such as emails, phone numbers, IBANs, and social security numbers are automatically anonymized before AI analysis.

Expense Types

Material Expenses

For material expenses, you can additionally record:

• Quantity
• Unit price
• Unit (pcs, kg, m, etc.)

Expense Status

Approval Workflow

If enabled:

1. Employee submits expense (status: pending)
2. Accountant/Admin reviews and approves
3. Status changes to "approved"
4. After reimbursement: "reimbursed"

Categories

Default Categories

Default categories are created during setup:

• Office supplies
• Travel expenses
• Software & IT
• Marketing
• Entertainment
• Other

Custom Categories

As administrator:

1. Go to Settings > Categories (or on the expenses page)
2. Create new categories with:
   • Name
   • Icon
   • Color

Multi-Currency

Foreign Currencies

Expenses can be recorded in different currencies:

• CHF (Swiss Franc)
• EUR (Euro)
• USD (US Dollar)
• GBP (British Pound)

Conversion

For expenses in foreign currencies:

• The CHF equivalent is calculated
• The exchange rate is saved
• Reports aggregate everything in CHF

Exchange Rates

For saved expenses, the rate from the booking date is used. If none is stored, Slonge Billing automatically fetches the daily rate from the Frankfurter API (free, ECB-based) and persists it as soon as the expense is booked.

Direct from Smart Inbox

Foreign-currency receipts can also be booked directly from the Smart Inbox:

• The Smart Inbox shows the approximate CHF amount (e.g., EUR 45.00 ≈ CHF 48.50).
• If no rate is stored yet, a note indicates that the rate will be fetched at booking time.
• Once booked, the conversion is permanently stored on the expense.

Receipts

Uploading

1. Open the expense
2. Click on Add Receipt
3. Choose a file or take a photo
4. Supported formats: JPG, PNG, PDF

Viewing

Receipts can be viewed and downloaded in the expense detail view.

OCR (Text Recognition)

AI text recognition (OCR):

• Extracts text from receipts
• Recognizes amounts and dates
• Suggests categories

Project Assignment

Assign expenses to projects:

1. Select a project when creating
2. The expense appears in the project overview
3. It can be considered when creating invoices

Related Features

• Accounting – Book expenses
• Projects – Project-related expenses
• Reports – Expense analytics

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I delete an expense?

Open the expense and click Delete. Already booked expenses should be reversed, not deleted.

Can I add receipts later?

Yes, open the expense and upload a receipt.

Why doesn't AI recognition work?

Check:

• Image quality (sharp, well-lit)
• Your subscription (AI features from Standard plan)
• Monthly AI quota

How do I export expenses?

Use the export function under Reports or Accounting > Export.