Expense Attachments

The Expense Attachments feature in Squava lets you upload receipts, invoices and other supporting documents for all of your expenses. Instead of chasing down paperwork later, supporting documents are captured at the point of entry—ready for you to review, approve, and keep organized as expenses move through your workflow. Squava will automatically scan your attachment to enter or match the date and amount from your file and flag potential mismatches so your team can catch errors early.

Attachments work hand in hand with how you already manage expenses in Squava. Expenses can be assigned to projects as they are entered, and when you are ready to bill a client, you can quickly choose which attachments to include on the customer invoice.

 

Step-by-Step Guide: 

1. Understand Where You Can Add Attachments

   Expense attachments are available anywhere you create or edit expense entries in Squava. Each area uses the same attachment icon—a paperclip-style icon—in the expense row or dialog.
   
   You can add attachments in these areas:

   • Expenses — when entering or editing your expense sheet
   • Timesheets — in the Add Expense dialog while logging time and expenses
   • Accounts Payable — on individual expense lines in Bills and Credits
   • Bank Register — on transactions and split-transaction expense lines
   • Invoices — in the Expense Adjustments dialog when adjusting billable expenses

   Supported file types are PDF and image files (such as JPG or PNG), with a maximum file size of 20 MB.
    

2. Add Attachments on Expenses Page

   Navigate to Mega Menu → Time & Expense → Expense and open the expense sheet for the employee and period you need.
   
   
   
   Each expense row includes an attachment column on the right side of the table. To add a receipt or invoice:

   • Click the attachment icon on the expense row
   • Select a PDF or image file from your computer
   • Wait for Squava to upload and scan the file—an overlay will display Uploading and scanning attachment ... while processing

   After the upload completes, the icon updates to show that a file is attached. If Squava extracts a date or amount from the document and the corresponding fields on the row are still empty, those values may be filled in automatically. A warning icon appears if the extracted date or amount does not match what you entered.
   
   Assign the expense to the appropriate project on the row, then save the expense sheet as usual. The attachment is stored with the expense entry for your review.
    

3. Add Attachments from Timesheets

   Navigate to Mega Menu →  Time & Expense → Timesheets and open the timesheet for the employee and period you are working on.
   
   
   
   
   
   When you add an expense from the timesheet:

   • Click Add Expense to open the expense dialog
   • Fill in the expense details (date, project, expense type, quantity, cost, and so on)
   • In the Attachment field, click the attachment icon to select a file, or drag and drop a file directly onto the dialog

   Squava uploads and scans the attachment immediately. If date or cost information is extracted and those fields have not been manually entered, Squava may auto-fill them for you. A warning icon appears next to the attachment if the scanned values do not match what you entered.
   
   This is a convenient way for employees to upload receipts while logging time. Save the expense as you normally would—the attachment and project assignment are linked to the expense when the timesheet entry is saved.
    

4. Add Attachments in Accounts Payable

   Navigate to Mega Menu → Financial → Accounts Payable and open a Bill or Credit to view or edit its expense lines.
   
   
   
   In the expenses table inside the bill or credit dialog, each row has an attachment column. To add a supporting document:

   • Click the attachment icon on the expense line, or drag and drop a file onto the expenses table
   • Select a PDF or image file and wait for the upload and scan to complete
   • Review any auto-filled date or amount values and mismatch warnings on the row

   Assign each expense line to the appropriate job category, then save the bill or credit to persist the attachment with the expense. Attachments added here follow the expense through approval and billing workflows.
    

5. Add Attachments in the Bank Register

   Navigate to Mega Menu → Financial → Bank Register and open the bank account you are reconciling.
   
   
   
   
   
   When a bank transaction is linked to an expense, an attachment icon appears on the transaction row. You can also add attachments when splitting a transaction into multiple expense lines.
   
   To attach a receipt or invoice:

   • Click the attachment icon on the transaction row or on an expense line in the Split Transaction dialog
   • Select a PDF or image file and wait for the upload and scan to complete
   • Save the transaction to link the attachment to the underlying expense

   If you remove a job or expense link from a transaction that has an attachment, Squava will ask you to confirm before deleting the linked attachment.
    

6. Include Attachments on Invoices

   When preparing or adjusting a client invoice, open the Expense Adjustments dialog from the invoice's Directs section.
   
   
   
   
   
   Each adjustment row includes an attachment column alongside a checkbox to include the attachment on the finalized invoice PDF. To add a supporting document:

   • Click the attachment icon on the adjustment row and select a PDF or image file
   • Wait for the upload and scan to complete, then review any extracted values or mismatch warnings
   • Check Include attachment on invoice for any attachments you want appended to the client's invoice PDF

   This is where you decide which receipt backup goes to the customer. Save the adjustments to apply your selections.
   
   
   
   When the invoice is finalized, Squava appends each selected attachment as its own page at the end of the invoice PDF, immediately following the main invoice pages. Attachments are added in the same order they appear in the Direct Expenses Report section of the invoice—expense lines first (by date), followed by subconsultant entries. Each included expense is assigned a sequential page number starting with the first page after the main invoice.
   
   In the Direct Expenses Report on the invoice itself, each expense line that has an included attachment displays a page reference such as (p. 5) next to the expense. This tells your client exactly which page of the PDF contains that expense's receipt or supporting document.
   
   Each attachment page also includes a summary header at the top showing the expense date, description, quantity, cost, and total, along with an attachment label. If the uploaded file is a multi-page PDF, each page of the receipt is printed on its own invoice page with the same summary information. Page footers on the finalized PDF reflect the total page count of the complete document—including both the main invoice and all appended attachment pages.
    

7. View, Replace, or Delete an Attachment

   Once an attachment is uploaded, the icon changes to indicate a file is present. Click the icon again to open an action menu with these options:

   • View — opens the attachment in a new browser tab
   • Replace — upload a new file in place of the current attachment
   • Delete — remove the attachment from the expense entry

   These actions work the same way across Expenses, Timesheets, Accounts Payable, Bank Register, and Expense Adjustments. When you delete an expense row or adjustment that has an attachment, Squava will confirm whether you also want to delete the linked file.
    

8. Work Smarter with Attachment Scanning

   When you upload a receipt or invoice, Squava automatically scans the document to extract the date and total amount. This helps your team:

   • Let employees upload receipts at the point of entry for your review
   • Spend less time manually entering expense dates and amounts
   • Catch discrepancies early with mismatch warnings when scanned values differ from what was entered
   • Assign expenses to projects and quickly select which attachments to include on customer invoices

   Scanning is best-effort—if Squava cannot extract information from a file, the upload still succeeds and you can enter the expense details manually. Mismatch warnings are informational and do not prevent you from saving the expense.
    

SUCCESS!!! 

You now know how to add expense attachments across Expenses, Timesheets, Accounts Payable, the Bank Register, and Expense Adjustments. By letting employees upload receipts and invoices as expenses are entered, assigning them to projects, and choosing which attachments to include on customer invoices, your team can streamline review, reduce manual data entry, and deliver better documentation to clients.