Expense management

Receipts

Upload, store, and link receipt files with structured metadata and line items for expense reconciliation.

Overview

A receipt is a digital file representing proof of an expense. Receipts can be uploaded independently or attached to transactions for reconciliation, auditing, or reporting purposes.

Create a receipt

There are several ways to create a receipt:

When a receipt is created from a PDF, PNG, or JPEG file, Monite’s OCR service automatically extracts the receipt information from the file and a new receipt is created with the extracted data fields accordingly. The file property of the receipt contains the file metadata and the link to access the original source file.

Create a receipt from data

If you already have the receipt data stored somewhere as individual attributes, you can create a receipt with these attributes by calling POST /receipts. You can provide the base64-encoded contents of the original invoice file in the field base64_encoded_file:

1curl -X POST 'https://api.sandbox.monite.com/v1/receipts' \
2  -H 'accept: application/json' \
3  -H 'X-Monite-Version: 2024-05-25' \
4  -H 'X-Monite-Entity-Id: ENTITY_ID' \
5  -d '{
6        "document_id": "CN-DE-2024-103",
7        "issued_at": "2025-08-01T09:10:00Z",
8        "merchant_name": "Mecadonna GmbH",
9        "merchant_location": "Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin, Germany",
10        "description": "Payment for lunch with clients",
11        "base64_encoded_file": "JVBERi0xLjQKJ...(your PDF base64 here)...",
12        "currency": "EUR",
13        "total_amount": 15000,
14        "transaction_id": null
15    }'

The successful response contains the receipt ID and other fields:

1{
2  "id": "eaf3b832-1d20-49c7-b5d4-f0e15b88d1a9",
3  "created_at": "2024-10-29T14:23:41Z",
4  "updated_at": "2024-10-29T14:23:41Z",
5  "total_amount": 15000,
6  "currency": "EUR",
7  "currency_exchange": null,
8  "document_id": "CN-DE-2024-103",
9  "issued_at": "2025-08-01T09:10:00Z",
10  "merchant_name": "Mecadonna GmbH",
11  "merchant_location": "Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin, Germany",
12  "description": "Payment for lunch with clients",
13  "file_id": "9f263818-3c97-4038-8f30-2f4a4a92dcd9",
14  "file_url": "https://files.sandbox.monite.com/preview/9f263818-3c97-4038-8f30-2f4a4a92dcd9",
15  "ocr_request_id": null,
16  "ocr_status": null,
17  "origin": "upload",
18  "partner_metadata": {},
19  "sender": "hello@example.com",
20  "source_of_data": "user_specified",
21  "transaction_id": null,
22  "created_by_entity_user_id": "b3f637d6-b25c-4b0f-8c7f-c829ad0d4561"
23}

You can attach a receipt file to an existing receipt, in any status, by calling POST /receipts/{receipt_id}/attach_file.

Upload files via API

You can upload receipts in the PDF, PNG, or JPEG format to Monite by calling POST /receipts/upload_from_file. Upon file upload, the system automatically initiates OCR to extract structured fields such as merchant_name, total_amount, issued_at, and line_items from the document. The maximum file size is 20 MB:

1curl -X POST 'https://api.sandbox.monite.com/v1/receipts/upload_from_file' \
2     -H 'X-Monite-Version: 2024-05-25' \
3     -H 'X-Monite-Entity-Id: ENTITY_ID' \
4     -H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
5     -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
6     -F 'file=@pdf-receipt.pdf;type=application/pdf'

The successful contains the receipt ID and other parameters:

1{
2  "id": "eaf3b832-1d20-49c7-b5d4-f0e15b88d1a9",
3  "created_at": "2025-08-01T09:10:00Z",
4  "updated_at": "2025-08-01T09:10:00Z",
5  "total_amount": 15000,
6  "currency": "EUR",
7  "currency_exchange": null,
8  "document_id": "CN-DE-2024-103",
9  "issued_at": "2025-07-01T09:10:00Z",
10  "merchant_name": "Mecadonna GmbH",
11  "merchant_location": "Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin, Germany",
12  "description": "Payment for lunch with clients",
13  "file_id": "9f263818-3c97-4038-8f30-2f4a4a92dcd9",
14  "file_url": "https://files.sandbox.monite.com/preview/9f263818-3c97-4038-8f30-2f4a4a92dcd9",
15  "ocr_request_id": null,
16  "ocr_status": null,
17  "origin": "upload",
18  "partner_metadata": {},
19  "sender": "hello@example.com",
20  "source_of_data": "ocr",
21  "transaction_id": null,
22  "created_by_entity_user_id": "b3f637d6-b25c-4b0f-8c7f-c829ad0d4561"
23}

When the OCR scanning is finished (this might take up to 5-7 minutes), you will receive the receipt.ocr_finished webhook, indicating that this receipt resource has been created:

1{
2  "id": "aa314fdd-a763-4920-a8c8-6285fc1745c0",
3  "created_at": "2024-03-04T20:06:48.593225+00:00",
4  "action": "receipt.ocr_finished",
5  "api_version": "2024-05-25",
6  "entity_id": "en-your0000-enti-ty00-1D3799b65bcf",
7  "description": "Action has been performed on the receipt: created_from_file_upload.",
8  "object": {
9    "id": "aa314fdd-a763-4920-a8c8-6285fc1745c0"
10  },
11  "object_type": "receipt",
12  "webhook_subscription_id": "c7f37127-44e5-494a-833a-21e60585f187"
13}
Notes
  • OCR results are processed asynchronously and can be accessed through the ocr_status field or by subscribing to the receipt.ocr_finished webhook.
  • You can call POST /receipts/{receipt_id}/cancel_ocr while the ocr_status is in_progress to stop the OCR extraction.

AI-generated expense descriptions

After OCR processing, receipts are automatically enriched with AI-generated descriptions. The system analyses both the OCR output and the transaction context to populate the description field with concise, business-relevant content.

The AI interprets receipt details to summarize what was purchased and, when possible, the business purpose or context. This reduces manual entry by providing pre-filled descriptions that users can review and adjust as needed.

For example, a restaurant receipt from The Blue Door in London at 6pm could be described as “Dinner in London”, while a taxi receipt from the airport to the city center during a business trip might become “Taxi ride”. If the AI cannot confidently generate a meaningful description, the field remains empty instead of filling in potentially misleading text.

Send receipts by email

Each entity has a dedicated mailbox in Monite to which the receipts can be sent. The entity or entity user can send receipts as attachments in PDF, PNG, or JPEG format to this mailbox (the maximum file size is 20 MB).

The Monite OCR service scans the information inside each email’s attachments. Then, Monite automatically creates a receipt for each occurrence found.

To find the mailbox assigned to a specific entity, call GET /v1/mailboxes:

1curl -X GET 'https://api.sandbox.monite.com/v1/mailboxes' \
2     -H 'X-Monite-Version: 2024-05-25' \
3     -H 'X-Monite-Entity-Id: ENTITY_ID' \
4     -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_PARTNER_TOKEN'

The successful response contains information about the mailbox:

1[
2  {
3    "id": "e8c884f8-bed3-4d92-afc9-3538c5079014",
4    "entity_id": "68fdd6b5-b60c-4f4d-8642-1cd7f2fa31e8",
5    "status": "active",
6    "related_object_type": "receipt",
7    "mailbox_name": "1102737648192968373_receipts",
8    "mailbox_full_address": "1102737648192968373_receipts@mg.sandbox.monite.com",
9    "belongs_to_mailbox_domain_id": null
10  }
11]
notes

  • By default, the automatically created mailboxes belong to the Monite domain (the web address that comes after @ in an email address), but the partners can set up their own email domain for better convenience.

  • When configuring email imports, make sure the mailbox is created with type receipt (not payable) so incoming emails are correctly filtered for this workflow.

Match a receipt to a transaction

To match a receipt to a transaction, send a PATCH request to the /receipts/{receipt_id} endpoint with the request body containing the transaction_id associated with the recepit:

1curl -X PATCH 'https://api.sandbox.monite.com/v1/receipts/{receipt_id}' \
2     -H 'X-Monite-Version: 2024-05-25' \
3     -H 'X-Monite-Entity-Id: ENTITY_ID' \
4     -H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
5     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
6     -d '{
7       "transaction_id": "fb3463a0-7d6e-54a3-bcd8-1b93388c648d"
8     }'

AI Receipt-to-Transaction Automatching

Receipts can be automatically matched to transactions by an AI-driven matching engine once the OCR is completed. The system evaluates only unmatched items with the same entity_id, a timestamp difference of ≤1 day, and either the same (amount + currency) or (merchant_amount + currency) (with ≤1% allowed difference).

The AI logic applies a two-step approach:

  1. Equal match - Exact merchant name match (case-insensitive, trimmed).
  2. Semantic match - If no exact match, merchant name + location are embedded and compared using fuzzy semantic similarity (≥0.8).

Considerations

  • The matching process runs only when receipts and transactions share the same entity_id and satisfy the required timestamp and amount conditions.
  • When an exact merchant name match is found, the receipt is immediately linked to the transaction.
  • If there is no exact match but the semantic similarity between merchant name and location is at least 0.8, the system also links the receipt automatically.
  • If neither condition is met, the receipt remains unmatched.
  • To ensure data consistency, each receipt can only ever be linked to one transaction.

CSV export (Coming soon)

Easily export transactions and receipts into a CSV file for reporting, analysis, or integration with external tools. The export will include structured fields such as amounts, currencies, merchants, dates, and matching receipt references.

List all receipts

To get information about all receipts associated with the specified entity, call GET /receipts.

Retrieve a receipt

To get information about a specific receipt, call GET /receipts/{receipt_id}.

Edit a receipt

To edit an existing receipt, call PATCH /receipts/{receipt_id}.

Delete a receipt

To delete a specific receipt, call DELETE /receipts/{receipt_id}.

Receipt line items

Each receipt may include one or more line items representing individual goods or services listed on the document. Line items can be extracted via OCR and include structured data such as item name, total, cost_center_id, and accounting_tax_rate_id.

Add line items to a receipt

To add line items to a receipt, call the POST /receipts/{receipt_id}/line_items endpoint:

1curl -X POST 'https://api.sandbox.monite.com/v1/receipts/{receipt_id}/line_items' \
2     -H 'X-Monite-Version: 2024-05-25' \
3     -H 'X-Monite-Entity-Id: ENTITY_ID' \
4     -H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
5     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
6     -d '{
7        "name": "Dinner with client",
8        "total": 18000,
9        "cost_center_id": "c1d2e3f4-5678-4321-abcd-987654321000",
10        "accounting_tax_rate_id": "e7f8g9h0-1112-1314-1516-171819202122",
11        "general_ledger_id": "b3a4c5d6-7890-4321-bcde-34567890abcd"
12    }'

List all line items of a receipt

To list all line items of a specific receipt, call the GET /receipts/{receipt_id}/line_items endpoint.

Update line item

To edit a specific line item of a receipt, call the PATCH /receipts/{receipt_id}/line_items/{line_item_id} endpoint.

Delete line item

To remove the line item from the receipt, call the DELETE /receipts/{id}/line_items/{line_item_id} endpoint.

AI-powered Auto-tagging (Coming soon)

On receipt upload or OCR completion, AI will automatically suggest the Cost Center, Tax Rate, and General Ledger account. Tags are based on receipt data and context, reducing manual work. If no confident match is found, fields stay empty for user input.