Expense reports in Invoice Genie turn every receipt you scan into a clear picture of where your money goes. Instead of exporting raw rows into a spreadsheet, you pick a period, apply a few filters, and read the totals immediately. This guide covers reporting periods, category filters, the breakdown charts, the detailed expense list, and PDF and CSV exports — on iPhone, Android, and the web portal.
Expense reports build on the receipts you already capture. So if you have not scanned any yet, start with the Receipts guide first, then come back here.
How to Open Expense Reports
- On mobile, tap the More tab in the bottom navigation bar.
- Tap “Expense Reports” (pie chart icon) under the Tools section, right below Receipts.
On the web portal, click Expense Reports in the left sidebar, directly under Receipts.
Adding a Manual Expense Without a Receipt
Some costs never arrive with a receipt you can scan — mileage, a cash tip, a bank fee, or a subscription billed by email. So Invoice Genie lets you type those expenses in by hand, and they count exactly like scanned receipts.
- Open Expense Reports, then tap the + button in the top toolbar, right beside the export icon. On the web portal, click + Add Expense in the header.
- Enter the Merchant name, for example “City Parking” or “Shell”.
- Type the Subtotal, which is the amount before tax. Then add the Tax you paid.
- Invoice Genie adds both figures and shows the resulting Total under the fields, so you can check it before saving.
- Pick the Date and the Category so the expense lands in the right breakdown.
- Add Notes if you want a reminder of what the cost covered.
- Optionally attach up to five photos — a statement screenshot, an emailed invoice, or a picture of the job.
- Tap Save. The expense appears in Detailed Expenses immediately.
Manual expenses feed every part of the report. Therefore your summary cards, Spending by Category, Monthly Breakdown, Top Merchants, and both export formats all include them. In short, a hand-typed expense behaves exactly like a scanned one once you save it.
Editing or Deleting a Manual Expense
Tap any manual expense in the Detailed Expenses list to open its detail screen. Then tap the pencil icon to edit it, or the trash icon to delete it. The edit form shows the same Subtotal and Tax fields, so correcting an amount takes seconds.
You can also remove a photo while editing. Tap the small × on its thumbnail, then save, and Invoice Genie deletes that image everywhere — including the PDF export.
Choosing a Reporting Period
The period selector sits at the top of the screen. Tap any chip to rebuild the whole report instantly:
| Period | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| This Month / Last Month | The current or previous calendar month |
| This Quarter / Last Quarter | Calendar quarters starting January, April, July, and October |
| This Year / Last Year | The current or previous calendar year |
| All Time | Every receipt on file, with no date limit |
| Custom Range | Two date pickers so you choose the exact start and end days |
Invoice Genie defaults to This Year and remembers your last choice. As a result, the report you use most often opens ready to read. The selected period also appears under your business name at the top, so you always know what the numbers represent.
Filtering by Category and Merchant
Below the period chips you will find the filter panel. First, use the search box to narrow the report by merchant name or receipt notes. Then tap one or more category chips to focus on specific spending types.
Categories combine rather than replace each other. For example, tap both Travel and Food & Dining to see a complete trip cost. A checkmark marks every selected chip, and All Categories clears the selection again. The ten categories are Food & Dining, Travel, Supplies, Equipment, Utilities, Services, Advertising, Insurance, Rent, and Other.
Reading the Summary Cards
Four cards summarise the filtered period at a glance:
| Card | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Total Expenses | Every receipt total added together |
| Total Tax | Sales tax captured across those receipts |
| Receipt Count | How many receipts the filters matched |
| Average | Total expenses divided by receipt count |
Underneath, two extra figures appear: Net of Tax (total minus tax, the deductible base) and Largest (your single biggest receipt in the period).
Spending by Category
This section ranks every category by amount, highest first. Each row shows a colored icon, the category name, the number of receipts, the amount, and the percentage of total spending — plus a progress bar in the category color. Consequently, you can spot an overweight category in seconds.
Monthly Breakdown
Whenever the selected period spans more than one month, a Monthly Breakdown appears. Each month lists its total and receipt count, with a bar scaled against your heaviest month. Therefore, seasonal swings and unusual spikes stand out immediately.
Top Merchants
Invoice Genie ranks your five biggest merchants for the period and numbers them 1 through 5. Each row shows the merchant, how many receipts you have from them, and the combined amount. In short, this reveals your recurring suppliers — often the best place to negotiate.
Merchant names stay encrypted on our servers, so this ranking is calculated privately on your own device.
Detailed Expenses
The Detailed Expenses list shows every matching receipt, newest first, with a category icon, the merchant, the date, the amount, and the tax. The header displays the total count. Initially the list shows eight rows — tap Load More to see them all, or Show Less to collapse it again.
Tap any row to open that receipt in full detail, including the original photo. Then use the back button to return to the report with your filters intact.
Exporting a PDF or CSV
Use the export controls at the top of the screen to share your report:
- Export as PDF — a formatted report with your business name, the period, summary cards, every breakdown section, and a detailed expense table with a grand total.
- Export as CSV — one row per receipt with date, merchant, category, amount, tax, and notes, ready for Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.
Turn on Include Receipt Images before exporting the PDF and Invoice Genie appends each receipt photo as its own page. As a result, your accountant receives the summary and the proof in a single file. For a complete backup of every record instead, see the data export guide.
Reports Follow Your Active Business
Every report covers only the business you currently have selected. So if you run several companies, switch profiles first and the report rebuilds for that business automatically. Amounts use your chosen currency, and headings, category names, and dates follow your app language.
Available on iPhone, Android & Web
Expense reports work identically across every platform. Scan a receipt on your phone at the supply store, then open the web portal at app.myinvoicegenie.com and it already counts toward the report. Periods, filters, breakdowns, and both export formats are fully supported on iOS, Android, and the web.
Tips & Best Practices
- Run a quarterly report before each tax filing — pick Last Quarter, export the PDF with images, and send it straight to your accountant.
- Categorise receipts as you scan them — accurate categories make the breakdown genuinely useful.
- Watch the Net of Tax figure — it is the number that usually matters for deductions.
- Check Top Merchants every quarter — a supplier you spend heavily with is a supplier worth negotiating with.
- Use Custom Range for job costing — set the range to a project window and combine it with a category filter.
Want more walkthroughs? Browse the full Invoice Genie documentation or read the Analytics guide to pair expense reports with your revenue numbers.