Submitting Expenses via Email

What is this page about: How to submit card purchase receipts to Light by email: your company's receipt email address, what to attach and from where, how Light matches receipts to card transactions, and how to troubleshoot a receipt that didn't match.

# On this page

• How it works
• Step 1: Get your company's receipt email address
• Step 2: Send your receipt
• Step 3: Check the transaction in Light
• Pro tips
• Frequently asked questions
• Related articles

Email receipts for your card purchases straight to your company's receipt email address, from any device, and Light matches them to your card transactions automatically.

Good to know: Email submission is for card transaction receipts only. To submit an out-of-pocket expense for reimbursement, use the Light web app, mobile app, Slack, or Microsoft Teams instead.

# How it works

Your organisation has a single, company-specific receipt email address (it looks something like yourcompany@receipts.light.inc, where your company's identifier comes before the @ and receipts.light.inc is the domain). When you send an email to that address:

1. Light identifies your company from the receipt address the email was sent to
2. Light checks the sender's email address against your company's approved sender list and tries to match it to a specific Light user account
3. Light's AI reads each attachment (or, if none is attached, the email body) and matches it to a card transaction
4. When a match is found, the receipt is attached to that card transaction automatically

# Step 1: Get your company's receipt email address

Ask your admin for your company's receipt email address if you don't have it. One address covers the whole organisation.

# Step 2: Send your receipt

1. Find your receipt email (from the merchant) or take a photo/screenshot of a paper receipt
2. Compose a new email (or forward the merchant's email) to your company's receipt email address
3. Attach the receipt as a PDF, image (JPEG, PNG, WEBP, TIFF), or document (DOCX, XLS, XLSX, TXT)
4. Send it from an email address your company has approved for receipt submission

You can attach multiple receipts to one email, and each attachment is processed and matched separately.

Good to know: Light reads the receipt attachment itself, so the subject line is free for your own reference. If no file is attached, Light processes the email body instead, though attaching the receipt directly is more reliable. Images must be at least 350px on both width and height; anything smaller is dropped. HEIC and HEIF photos (the default format on many iPhones) are not supported on this email path, so set your phone to save photos as JPEG, or convert before sending. Light stays silent either way: a send from an unapproved address looks exactly like a successful one, so check the transaction to confirm.

# Step 3: Check the transaction in Light

Confirm every receipt yourself, because Light replies to none of them. Open the card transaction in Light, and the receipt appears on it if the match succeeded. Where no matching card transaction is found, the receipt is deleted and can't be recovered, so keep your own copy until you've confirmed the match.

# Pro tips

• Use an approved sender address: Your company has a list of approved sender addresses and domains for receipt email. Use the email address on your Light account, or contact Light support to get another address or domain approved, which is useful for automatic forwarding rules
• Wait for the transaction: Submit the receipt after the card transaction appears in Light, so there is a transaction to match against
• One receipt per attachment: Attach each receipt as its own file

# Frequently asked questions

# I don't know the receipt email address

Ask your admin for your company's Light receipt email address.

# My receipt doesn't appear on the transaction

• Check that you sent it from an address approved for your company: your Light account email, or one Light support has approved. An unapproved address is dropped silently, so it looks identical to a successful send
• Check that you used the correct receipt email address
• Check that the card transaction is already visible in Light
• Check that the receipt was attached as a file in a supported format: PDF, JPEG, PNG, WEBP, TIFF, DOCX, XLS, XLSX or TXT. HEIC and HEIF are dropped on this path, as are images under 350px on either width or height
• If it still doesn't turn up, the receipt was most likely deleted because no matching transaction was found, so attach your own copy another way

# There was no card transaction to match

A receipt with no matching card transaction is deleted and can't be recovered. Attach your own copy directly to the transaction in the Light app once the transaction appears, or use Slack, Teams, or the mobile app.

# This was an out-of-pocket expense, not a card purchase

Email submission covers card transaction receipts. Submit out-of-pocket expenses on the Expenses page, or via Slack, Teams, or the mobile app.

# Related articles

• Submitting an Expense for Reimbursement
• Submitting Expenses via Slack
• Submitting Expenses via Microsoft Teams
• Capturing Receipts on Mobile
• Tracking Your Reimbursement Status