Your receipt-to-review checklist

This checklist takes one receipt from the moment it arrives to the moment it is ready for review. It uses the sample document DEMO-101 from North Studio, a £120.00 design software invoice dated 28 October 2026, in the Example Company workspace. All data here is sample data. No tax or legal advice.

Start with the source, not a number.

Before you look at any field, look at the original. In the review screen the document sits beside the extracted fields, so you can compare them directly.

1. Is the document readable? If the image is blurred or cropped, ask for a better copy now, while the supplier still remembers the purchase.
2. Is it the right kind of document? A supplier invoice, a till receipt and a credit note are different things. Choose the document type first.
3. Is it addressed to the right entity? In the sample the recipient is Example Company.
4. Is it already in the system? Run the duplicate check before you create a record. The same invoice arriving by email and by photo should become one expense.

Then read the identity fields: supplier (North Studio), reference (DEMO-101), date (28 October 2026), currency (GBP) and gross amount (£120.00). Correct anything the extraction got wrong. The values you confirm are yours; a confidence label never confirms them on your behalf.

Make missing information actionable.

The DEMO-101 sample shows a typical gap: tax breakdown not provided, and payment status not confirmed. The review screen marks the record "Human review needed", and the tax amount reads "Not shown, review required".

The rule is simple: a gap needs a named next action. Use this pattern:

• Who is responsible for the answer, for example the person who bought the software.
• What exactly you need: "Please confirm whether the £120.00 includes tax, and attach any payment confirmation."
• Where the reply goes: on the same record, so it stays with the evidence.

Avoid these shortcuts:

• Estimating a missing tax amount so the form looks complete.
• Creating a second expense to hold the "right" version.
• Asking in a general chat where the answer will not be linked to the record.

An unknown is a legitimate value. Keep it as unknown until someone can supply it.

Keep decisions separate from payments.

Once the fields are confirmed, there are three separate questions, and the checklist treats them separately.

1. Is the expense valid for this workspace? This is the review decision: category, purpose, project, and who it belongs to. The suggested category in the sample is Software subscriptions, which you accept or change.
2. Is it approved? Approval is a decision by a person with the right permission. An assistant may prepare it, but it does not approve for you.
3. Has it been paid or reimbursed? Payment is a separate state. A request can be approved but still unpaid, and one payment can settle several invoices.

Record each state where it belongs. If payment evidence is missing, leave the payment state unconfirmed instead of marking the record paid to tidy the list.

Review the reporting basis.

The last step is checking how the record will appear in reports. Before you mark the receipt as reviewed, confirm:

• The date used for the period (document date 28 October 2026 puts it in October).
• The currency and, if it differs from the workspace's reporting currency, how conversion is shown.
• The category and project it will report under.
• The status that determines whether it is included in a given report.

If a value affects how something is treated for tax or in accounts, flag it for your accountant instead of deciding it yourself.

The checklist on one page

1. Original readable and attached.
2. Document type and recipient entity correct.
3. Duplicate check run.
4. Supplier, reference, date, currency and gross amount confirmed against the original.
5. Missing items marked as unknown, each with a named person and a specific question.
6. Category, purpose and project set.
7. Approval and payment kept as separate states.
8. Reporting date, currency and status checked.
9. Anything needing tax or accounting judgement flagged for your accountant.

Work through the list in order and most receipts take a minute. The unclear ones take longer, but they leave a clear trail of who was asked what, which is what makes the next month-end calmer.