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Welcome!

This guide walks you through submitting your first expense on Smartbills. In just a few minutes you will create your account, upload a receipt, and submit an expense report for approval.
All you need is a receipt: a photo, a PDF, or a scanned image. Smartbills handles the rest.

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Step 1: Create Your Account

Head to app.smartbills.io and sign up with your work email. You can also sign in with Google or Microsoft SSO if your company has it enabled.
Once you verify your email you will land on the Smartbills dashboard.

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Step 2: Set Up Your Business

If you are the first person from your company on Smartbills, you will be prompted to create a business profile:
  1. Enter your company name
  2. Choose your default currency (e.g. USD, CAD, EUR)
  3. Set your timezone
If your company already uses Smartbills, ask your admin to send you an invite link instead. You will be added to the existing business automatically.

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Step 3: Upload Your First Receipt

Navigate to Expenses in the sidebar and click Upload. You can:
  • Drag and drop a receipt image or PDF onto the upload area
  • Use your camera on mobile to snap a photo directly
  • Forward an email receipt to your personal Smartbills inbox
Smartbills will automatically extract the merchant name, date, total amount, currency, and tax using AI-powered receipt scanning.
Your receipt should appear in Expenses with extracted details filled in. Review them and make any corrections if needed.

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Step 4: Create an Expense Report

Now group your expense into a report:
  1. Go to Expense Reports in the sidebar
  2. Click New Report
  3. Give the report a title (e.g. “Client lunch - April 2026”)
  4. Add the expense you just uploaded
  5. Choose a category and add any notes for your approver

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Step 5: Submit for Approval

Review the report summary to make sure everything looks correct, then click Submit. Your report will be routed to the appropriate approver based on your company’s approval workflow. You can track its status at any time from the Expense Reports page.
Your first expense report is submitted! You will receive a notification when your manager approves it.

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What’s Next?

Manage Your Expenses

Learn how to organize, search, and manage all your receipts and expenses in Expenses

Expense Reports

Understand report statuses, approval workflows, and reimbursement tracking

Invite Your Team

Add team members and set up roles so everyone can submit and approve expenses

For Developers: API Reference

Automate expense workflows and build custom integrations with the Smartbills API