FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Expense is an expense tracker for those filing taxes as individuals—freelancers, self-employed, and side hustlers. Drop in a receipt image, a screenshot, a PDF or a forwarded email: it finds the merchant and the amount, picks a category from the IRS Schedule C lines, and files it in a report you name. Mileage is measured on the map and priced at the year's IRS rate. Ask a question in plain words on the Insights page ("how much have I spent this year?", "where does my money go?") and it answers from your own records, with a chart when the question spans several months. Connect your Gmail or Fastmail account and the receipts in your inbox get pulled in on their own. Warranties are kept the same way: upload a warranty document and the merchant, product, purchase date and expiry are read off it, the file stays attached, and the record groups into what is still in force, what expires within 90 days, and what has already expired. At tax time you export a PDF per report, or a ZIP with everything your accountant needs. Ad-free.
What is Expense?
Expense is a free expense tracker for individuals who file taxes. Drop in a receipt, or forwarded an email: Expense finds the merchant and the amount, files it under a Schedule C category, and keeps the totals for your return. Have a look at https://expense.labnotes.org.
Is Expense good for filing taxes?
This is exactly what Expense is designed to do. Categories are the Schedule C lines and expenses go into reports you name (Home, Work, etc). Mileage is priced at the IRS rate for the trip date, and you can export PDF reports or a ZIP with everything in it. Tax filing made boring.
How does Expense read and categorize receipts?
Drop in a receipt image or PDF, it reads the merchant and the amount, and an AI suggests a category. You review the details and save the receipt, instead of typing the numbers in yourself. You can also paste receipt images (⌘-V), drag onto the web page, or forward by email.
Is Expense free to use?
Yes. No ads. Just create an account, drop in the receipts, and export at tax filing time.
Do the categories comply with the IRS?
Absolutely. Every account starts with the category list built from the IRS Schedule C lines, exactly the lines on your tax return, so your yearly totals line up. You can also create your own additional categories.
Does Expense track mileage?
Yes. Log a trip using a map and Expense calculates the deduction at the IRS rate for the trip date and type. The rate table comes with the app, nothing to configure.
What is the IRS standard mileage rate?
The IRS standard business mileage rate is $0.725 per mile from January 1 to June 30, 2026, then $0.76 per mile from July 1 to December 31, 2026; medical and moving moves run $0.205 and then $0.235 for the same dates, and the charitable rate is fixed by statute at $0.14. Expense applies the right rate to each drive. The full: https://expense.labnotes.org/mileage-rates.
Can I add receipts by email?
Yes. Forward a receipt email to your Expense account and we'll create the expense for you. We only accept verified senders, so make sure your email is verified first.
Does Expense work with Fastmail?
Yes, and it's a big reason people pick Expense over other apps. Connect your Fastmail mailbox and we process receipts landing in your inbox, no need to forward them. Most other expense apps only auto-import from Gmail; Expense supports Fastmail natively.
How do I export expenses for my accountant?
Two options: a PDF per report which includes the receipts, or a ZIP with the CSV and every receipt image. Download either one and send it to your accountant.
What receipt formats do you support?
Images (including HEIC from an iPhone) and PDFs. You can upload either one, paste with ⌘-V, drag onto the web page, or forward by email.
How long should I keep receipts for my taxes?
The IRS can assess additional tax for three years after you file, so keep receipts, mileage logs, and statements at least that long. The window stretches to six years if you underreported income by more than 25%, seven years for bad-debt or worthless-securities claims, and indefinitely for a fraudulent or unfiled return. Electronic copies count. Expense keeps the receipt image attached to every expense and exports it with the report, so the archive builds itself.
What does the IRS require for a mileage log?
An adequate record shows the miles driven, the date, the destination, and the business purpose of each trip; a year of drives reconstructed from memory does not qualify. For travel expenses generally, the IRS wants documentation for anything $75 or more, plus lodging receipts no matter the amount. Expense logs every drive from the map with its date, route, and applied rate, and keeps that record attached to the expense.
What happens if I upload the same receipt twice?
You get a visual warning and you can discard it, or mark it as "not a duplicate". That covers a re-uploaded file and the same email sent twice; every stored image also carries a SHA-256 fingerprint, so the same file arriving by a different route is caught too.
Can I reconcile my expenses against a credit card statement?
Yes. Upload a credit card or bank statement in PDF, CSV, QuickBooks (QFX/OFX), or Excel format, and Expense matches every charge against what you logged. Any charge without a matching receipt is flagged, so a deduction you missed stands out. Reconcile as many statements as you like, across cards or months, and a card you use for both personal and business spending is fine. Nothing is written until you confirm which matches to keep and which charges to add as new expenses.
Can I track warranties in Expense?
Yes, and it starts the same way a receipt does. Upload the warranty document to the Warranties page and Expense reads the merchant, the product, the purchase date and the expiry from it, then keeps the document attached to the record. Where the merchant is one we have researched, the record includes their return and coverage terms. Warranties are tracked separately from your expenses, so a warranty for a purchase you never deducted stays out of your tax totals.
Can I share Expense with my spouse or accountant?
Yes. Share the invitation code and everyone you invite sees the same expenses. Your other accounts stay completely separate.
Where is my expense data stored?
In your account. Expense doesn't serve ads and doesn't sell your data: receipts and expenses stay restricted to your account, and you can export them as PDF or ZIP whenever you want.
Is Expense good for freelancers and self-employed people?
It is who Expense was built for. Receipts go in fast, categories come from the Schedule C lines, drives are priced at the IRS rate, and your accountant gets a clean export.
Can I use Expense with an AI assistant?
Yes. Expense supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) at https://expense.labnotes.org/mcp. Point any MCP client at it, Claude, OpenAI or another assistant, and approve the connection by signing in with your account. The assistant can then capture receipts through the same OCR pipeline as the web app, log mileage, answer questions about your spending, group expenses into reports, and export a report as a PDF.
What is Insights?
Insights is the app's own question page. Ask in plain words, like "how much have I spent this year?" or "where does my money go?", and the app computes the answer from your expenses. A question covering several months will show a chart, and the chart opens to the exact expenses behind it. The figures come from your records and the model only phrases them, so it can't hallucinate a number.
Who makes Expense?
Expense is made by ZHED Media, which develops and operates the app. Bug reports, feature requests and questions are all welcome.
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