Help Center / Expenses Reimbursements

Submitting Expenses via Email

What's this page about: how to send receipts to Light by email, how to set up automatic forwarding for recurring receipts, and what to check if a receipt doesn't attach to a transaction.

On this page

  • How it works
  • Setting up your receipt email address
  • Setting up automatic forwarding
  • Sending a receipt email
  • What happens after you send
  • Timing
  • Troubleshooting

How Email Submission Works

  1. Your organization has one receipt email address (for example, receipts@yourcompany.com), separate from your bill or invoice email address. An admin sets this up at the organization level.
  2. You send or forward an email with the receipt attached to that address.
  3. Light identifies your company from the address the email was sent to, and identifies you by matching your sender address to your Light user account.
  4. Light's AI reads the attachment and matches it to one of your card transactions. When it finds a match, it attaches the receipt to that transaction automatically.

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

Setting Up Your Receipt Email Address

  • Each organization has one receipt address. There's no separate address per department.
  • Send from the email address linked to your Light user account. If Light doesn't recognize the sender, it rejects the email. Ask your admin to approve extra sender addresses or whole domains if you need to forward from more than one account.
  • If you don't know your company's receipt address, ask your admin.

Setting Up Automatic Forwarding

Set up a forwarding rule once, and recurring receipts, like SaaS subscriptions or utility bills, reach Light without you doing anything.

  1. Create a forwarding rule in your email client. In Gmail, Outlook, or your provider's settings, set up a filter that forwards emails from specific senders to your company's Light receipt address.
  2. Complete verification. Your email provider sends a verification request to Light. For Gmail, Light confirms this automatically. For other providers, Light support confirms it manually, which can take up to one business day.
  3. Test the rule. Send a test email and confirm the receipt reaches Light.

If your rule still isn't working after 24 hours, contact help@light.inc to check the verification went through.

Good to know: Automatic forwarding works best for predictable receipts from known vendors. For one-off expenses, forward manually or use the Light mobile app.

Sending a Receipt Email

  1. Forward or send an email to your company's receipt address.
  2. Attach the receipt as a file. Supported formats are PDF, JPEG, PNG, WEBP, TIFF, DOCX, XLS, and XLSX. HEIC and HEIF are not supported.
  3. Send the email.

Light reads the attachment itself. It doesn't use the subject line or body text, unless the email has no attachment at all, in which case Light saves the body as a PDF. Always attach the receipt as a file: a forwarded email with no attachment won't match to anything useful.

You can attach multiple receipts to one email. Light processes and matches each attachment separately.

What Happens After You Send

  1. Light identifies your company and your user account from the email addresses.
  2. Light's AI compares each receipt to your unmatched card transactions.
  3. If it finds a match, it converts the receipt to PDF and attaches it to the transaction. You'll see it on the transaction in Light.
  4. If it finds no match, the receipt isn't stored.
  5. If the attachment fails to process (for example, an unreadable scan), Light keeps it in a holding area for review rather than dropping it. Contact support if you sent a receipt and don't see it on the transaction.

Light doesn't send a reply or confirmation email. To confirm a receipt attached, open the Light app and check the transaction directly.

Timing

  • Submit a receipt after the card transaction appears in Light, so there's something to match it against.
  • Submit before month-end close, so bookkeeping stays current.

Troubleshooting: Receipt Not Attached to a Transaction

  1. Check the sender address. Send from the email address on your Light user account.
  2. Check the recipient address. Confirm you used your company's receipt address, not the invoice address.
  3. Check the transaction exists. The card transaction must already be visible in Light before a match can happen.
  4. Check the attachment. It must be a supported file type, attached as a file, and legible.
  5. Try another way. Attach the receipt directly to the transaction in the Light app, or send it via Slack or Teams.
  6. Contact support at help@light.inc if the issue continues.

Also searched as: email receipts to Light, forward receipt to Light, receipt email address, receipt not matching, supported file formats, HEIC not supported.

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