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Overview

Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Smartbills. If you cannot find what you are looking for, contact our support team or browse the full Help Center.

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General

Smartbills is an expense management platform that helps individuals and businesses track, organize, and report on expenses. Upload receipts, let AI-powered OCR extract the details, categorize spending, create expense reports, and submit them for approval, all from web, iOS, or Android.
Smartbills offers several plans:
  • Free: For individuals tracking personal expenses. Includes basic receipt scanning and expense tracking.
  • Pro: For professionals and small teams. Includes advanced OCR, unlimited uploads, expense reports, and priority support.
  • Business: For growing organizations. Includes team management, approval workflows, integrations, and dedicated support.
  • Enterprise: For large organizations with custom requirements. Includes SSO, advanced security, custom integrations, and a dedicated account manager.
Visit smartbills.io/pricing for current pricing details and to compare plans.
Yes. Smartbills takes data security seriously:
  • Encryption in transit: All data is encrypted using TLS 1.2+ during transmission
  • Encryption at rest: Data is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption
  • Cloud infrastructure: Hosted on enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure with SOC 2 compliance
  • Access controls: Role-based access controls ensure users only see data they are authorized to view
  • Two-factor authentication: Optional 2FA for all accounts, with authenticator app and SMS support
  • Regular audits: Security practices are regularly audited and updated
  • Data residency: Data is stored in compliance with applicable regulations
For more details, review our Security Policy and Privacy Policy.
Smartbills is available on:All platforms sync data in real time, so you can start on one device and continue on another.

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Expenses

There are several ways to add an expense:
  1. Upload a receipt: Drag and drop an image or PDF on web, or use the camera scanner on mobile. Upload guide
  2. Manual entry: Create an expense manually by entering the merchant, amount, date, and category
  3. Email forwarding: Forward receipt emails to your unique Smartbills email address
  4. Outlook Add-in: Use the Smartbills button in Outlook to send receipts directly
On all platforms, navigate to Expenses and click or tap the + button to get started.
Smartbills supports the following formats:
  • Images: JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP (max 10 MB)
  • Documents: PDF (max 25 MB, up to 50 pages)
Unsupported formats include Word documents, Excel files, GIF images, and SVG files. Convert these to PDF before uploading.
Yes. Use the split feature to divide a single expense across multiple categories, projects, or cost centers:
  1. Open the expense
  2. Click or tap Split Expense
  3. Add split lines with the amount and category for each
  4. Ensure the split amounts total the original expense amount
  5. Save the split
Learn more about splitting expenses
When you upload a receipt image or PDF, Smartbills uses AI-powered Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to automatically extract key information:
  • Merchant name: the business or vendor
  • Total amount: the total charge
  • Date: the transaction date
  • Currency: detected from symbols or merchant location
  • Tax amount: sales tax or VAT if present
  • Line items: individual items on the receipt (when available)
OCR processing typically takes 5 to 30 seconds depending on document complexity. You can always manually edit any extracted field if the OCR result is inaccurate.
OCR accuracy depends on image quality, receipt formatting, and text clarity. If extracted data is incorrect:
  1. Open the expense
  2. Tap or click on the incorrect field (merchant, amount, date, etc.)
  3. Manually enter the correct value
  4. Save the expense
To improve OCR accuracy in the future, ensure receipts are well-lit, flat, in focus, and captured at a high resolution. See our upload tips for best practices.

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Expense Reports

To create an expense report:
  1. Navigate to Expense Reports in the sidebar (web) or bottom navigation (mobile)
  2. Click or tap New Report
  3. Enter a report name and description
  4. Add expenses to the report from your expense list
  5. Review the report total and details
  6. Submit the report for approval
Step-by-step report creation guide
Approval timelines depend on your organization’s workflow:
  • Single-level approval: Your direct manager reviews and approves, typically within 1-3 business days
  • Multi-level approval: The report passes through multiple approvers in sequence. Each level adds processing time
  • Auto-approval: Some organizations configure automatic approval for reports below a certain threshold
You can track the status of your submitted report in Expense Reports > select the report > view the Approval Timeline.
Enable push notifications to receive real-time updates when your report status changes.
Yes, you can recall a report that has been submitted but not yet fully approved:
  1. Go to Expense Reports
  2. Select the submitted report
  3. Click or tap Recall Report
  4. Confirm the recall
After recalling, the report returns to draft status and you can make changes before resubmitting.
If a report has already been approved by one or more approvers in a multi-level workflow, recalling it will reset all approvals. The report will need to go through the full approval chain again.
The reimbursement process depends on your organization’s configuration:
  1. Submit your expense report and wait for approval
  2. Report approved: once all required approvers have approved the report, it moves to the reimbursement queue
  3. Finance processes payment: your finance team or administrator processes the reimbursement through their preferred method (direct deposit, check, payroll, or integrated payment provider)
  4. Reimbursement completed: you will receive a notification when the reimbursement is marked as complete
Reimbursement timelines vary by organization. Contact your finance department or administrator for specific timelines.

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Team and Permissions

Administrators can invite team members:
  1. Go to Settings > Users
  2. Click Invite User
  3. Enter the team member’s email address
  4. Select their role (Employee, Manager, Approver, Administrator)
  5. Assign them to a department (optional)
  6. Click Send Invitation
The team member will receive an email invitation with a link to join your business. If they already have a Smartbills account, they can accept the invitation directly. New users will be guided through account creation.Learn more about managing users
Smartbills provides role-based access control:Learn more about roles and permissions
Yes. Administrators can set up delegation for approvers who are unavailable (vacation, leave, etc.):
  1. Go to Settings > Approval Workflows
  2. Select the approver who needs a delegate
  3. Click Add Delegate
  4. Choose the delegate user and set the delegation period (start and end dates)
  5. Save the delegation
During the delegation period, the delegate will receive and process approval requests on behalf of the original approver. Both the original approver and the delegate can see the delegation status.Learn more about approval workflows

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Integrations

Smartbills integrates with popular accounting platforms:
  • QuickBooks Online: Sync expenses, categories, and tax codes. Setup guide
  • Xero: Sync expenses, contacts, and chart of accounts. Setup guide
  • Sage: Export expenses and reports to Sage
  • FreshBooks: Connect for expense synchronization
Additional integrations include:
  • Slack: Receive notifications and approve reports from Slack. Setup guide
  • Zapier: Connect Smartbills to 1000+ apps. Setup guide
  • Banking: Link bank accounts for automatic transaction import. Setup guide
Enterprise customers can request custom integrations. Contact [email protected] for details.
The Smartbills Outlook add-in lets you forward receipt emails directly to Smartbills:
  1. Open Outlook (desktop or web)
  2. Go to Get Add-ins (Home tab > Get Add-ins, or Settings > Manage Add-ins)
  3. Search for “Smartbills”
  4. Click Add to install the add-in
  5. Sign in with your Smartbills credentials
  6. To forward a receipt, open the email and click the Smartbills icon in the toolbar
The add-in extracts attachments and relevant information from the email, creating an expense in your Smartbills account automatically.
Yes. The Smartbills Slack integration provides:
  • Notifications: receive alerts when reports are submitted, approved, or rejected
  • Quick approvals: approve or reject expense reports directly from Slack
  • Expense summaries: get daily or weekly expense summaries in a Slack channel
To set up: go to Settings > Integrations > Slack > Connect and authorize Smartbills in your Slack workspace.Full Slack integration guide

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Billing

To upgrade or downgrade your Smartbills plan:
  1. Go to Settings > Billing > Plan
  2. Review available plans and features
  3. Click Change Plan on your desired plan
  4. Confirm the change
Upgrades take effect immediately. You will be charged a prorated amount for the remainder of the current billing cycle.Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing cycle. You retain access to higher-tier features until then.
Smartbills accepts the following payment methods:
  • Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express
  • Debit cards: Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit
  • Bank transfer / ACH: Available for annual Business and Enterprise plans
All payments are processed securely through Stripe. Smartbills does not store your full card details.To update your payment method, go to Settings > Billing > Payment Method.
To cancel your Smartbills subscription:
  1. Go to Settings > Billing > Plan
  2. Click Cancel Subscription
  3. Select a reason for cancellation (optional)
  4. Confirm the cancellation
What happens after cancellation:
  • Your plan remains active until the end of the current billing period
  • After expiration, your account reverts to the free plan
  • Your data is retained, but access to premium features is removed
  • You can resubscribe at any time to regain access
If you want to permanently delete your account and data, see Delete Your Account. Cancelling a subscription does not delete your account.

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Still Have Questions?

If you could not find the answer to your question, we are here to help:

Email Support

[email protected]Response times:
  • Free: 48 hours
  • Pro: 24 hours
  • Enterprise: 4 hours

Live Chat

Available in the app (bottom right corner)Hours:
  • Pro: Business hours
  • Enterprise: 24/7

Community Forum

Ask questions, share tips, and connect with other Smartbills users.community.smartbills.io
Use the search bar at the top of any help page to quickly find articles related to your question.