> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.smartbills.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Vault
> Securely store and manage financial documents in the Smartbills vault
## What is the Vault?
The Vault is Smartbills' secure document storage system for receipts, expense reports, invoices, and other financial records. It acts as a digital filing cabinet where all expense-related documents are organized, searchable, and available for audit. The Vault ensures your organization maintains a complete paper trail for every transaction, with documents archived automatically as expenses move through their lifecycle.
The Vault is accessible from `/{slug}/vault`.
## How It Works
When an expense is created, its receipt image or PDF is stored in the Vault. As the expense moves through the lifecycle (categorized, added to a report, approved, reimbursed), the Vault record is updated with the latest metadata.
When an expense report is approved and reimbursed, the complete report, including all attached expenses, receipts, comments, and approval history, is archived as a single document package in the Vault.
Users can also upload documents directly to the Vault that are not tied to a specific expense. This is useful for contracts, vendor agreements, or other supporting financial documents.
All documents in the Vault are indexed and searchable. You can search by vendor name, date range, amount, category, employee, or any text extracted by OCR from the document.
## What Gets Stored
| Document Type | How It Arrives | Retention |
| ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Receipt Images** | Uploaded, scanned, or forwarded with an expense | Stored for the configured retention period |
| **Expense Reports** | Archived automatically when a report is reimbursed | Stored with all attached expenses and approval history |
| **Invoices and Bills** | Uploaded through the Bills module | Stored for the configured retention period |
| **Supporting Documents** | Manually uploaded by users | Stored until manually deleted |
## Access Control
Access to the Vault is governed by the that access permission. This ensures that only authorized users can browse and retrieve stored documents.
| Role | Access Level |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Admin** | Full access to all documents in the Vault |
| **Accountant** | Full access for audit and compliance purposes |
| **Manager** | Access to documents related to their team's expenses |
| **Employee** | Access to their own receipts and submitted reports only |
The Vault is read-only for most users. Documents are archived automatically by the system. Only admins can delete documents from the Vault.
## Search and Retrieval
The Vault provides several ways to find documents:
| Search Method | Description |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Full-Text Search** | Search by any text that appears in the document, including OCR-extracted text from receipts |
| **Date Range Filter** | Filter documents by the date they were created or the expense date |
| **Vendor Filter** | Find all receipts from a specific vendor |
| **Category Filter** | Find all documents tagged with a specific expense category |
| **Employee Filter** | Find all documents belonging to a specific team member |
| **Amount Range** | Find documents within a specific dollar amount range |
| **Status Filter** | Filter by document status (e.g., show only approved reports) |
## Key Terminology
| Term | Definition |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Vault** | The secure document storage system in Smartbills |
| **Archiving** | The process of storing a document in the Vault for long-term retention |
| **Auto-Archive** | The automatic archiving of receipts and reports as they are processed |
| **Retention Period** | The length of time documents are kept before they can be removed |
| **Document Package** | A report with all its associated receipts, comments, and approval history |
| **OCR Index** | The searchable text extracted from receipt images by optical character recognition |
## Roles Involved
| Role | Responsibility |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Admin** | Configures retention policies, manages Vault access, can delete documents |
| **Accountant** | Searches and retrieves documents for audits, tax filings, and reconciliation |
| **Manager** | Accesses their team's archived reports and receipts for reference |
| **Employee** | Views their own archived receipts and reports |
## Related Guides
How to search, view, and organize documents in the Vault
Navigating the Vault in the web application
Understand how reports are archived after reimbursement
Learn about who can access the Vault