# An AI expense report assistant: receipts in, report out

Source: https://appubot.com/bots/expense-manager
By Sarthak Gupta. Published 2026-10-29, updated 2026-10-29.

**The short answer:** An AI expense report assistant in AppuBot is a bot that collects your receipts (photos sent on Telegram, PDFs forwarded by email), reads the date, merchant, amount and tax, fills your expense sheet or tool, and flags duplicates and missing receipts. It works in Google Sheets or Excel, in connected apps, or in your company’s expense website through computer use. It asks before submitting anything, and you check the report before it’s filed.

## How does it work, step by step?

- **You send receipts.** Photograph a receipt and send it to the bot on [Telegram](https://appubot.com/features/telegram), forward an emailed one, or drop PDFs in the chat. Albums of several photos arrive together.
- **It reads them.** Date, merchant, amount, currency, tax, and a category based on your rules.
- **It files them.** It renames the image or PDF consistently, saves it in your folder and adds a row to your sheet.
- **It checks.** Same amount and merchant twice? Card transaction with no receipt? It asks.
- **It prepares the report.** At month end it fills the template or your expense tool and sends it to you for review.

## Which apps does it work in?

For the ledger, [Google Sheets](https://appubot.com/apps/google-sheets) or [Airtable](https://appubot.com/apps/airtable) as [connected apps](https://appubot.com/features/connected-apps), or Numbers and Excel on your computer through [computer use](https://appubot.com/features/computer-use). For receipts, [Gmail](https://appubot.com/apps/gmail) or [Outlook](https://appubot.com/apps/outlook) and [Google Drive](https://appubot.com/apps/google-drive) or [Dropbox](https://appubot.com/apps/dropbox). For filing, your expense tool if it’s connected, or its website in your browser. Bookkeeping tools like [QuickBooks](https://appubot.com/apps/quickbooks) and [Xero](https://appubot.com/apps/xero) are connected apps too.

## How do you set it up?

1. [Install AppuBot](https://appubot.com/download) and choose the AI.
2. Make a bot called "Expense Manager" with the job "Receipts in, report out".
3. Paste instructions, for example: “Every receipt I send becomes a row in the sheet Expenses 2026: date, merchant, amount, currency, VAT, category, file name. Categories: Travel, Meals, Software, Equipment, Other. Rename files YYYY-MM-DD Merchant Amount and save them in Drive › Receipts. If something looks like a duplicate or a personal purchase, ask me. Never submit a report without my OK.”
4. Connect Sheets, Drive and your mail, and turn on only those for this bot.
5. Connect [Telegram](https://appubot.com/features/telegram) so you can send receipts from your phone the moment you get them.
6. Add a routine: “On the last weekday of the month, prepare the expense report and send it to me.”

## What does it ask before doing?

Writing to your sheet and saving files are actions in your accounts, so on "Approve for me" it asks before them unless you tell it otherwise; many people approve a batch at once from Telegram. Submitting a report, emailing finance or changing an existing entry should always wait for you, and the example instructions say so.

## A sample month

| When | Bot | You |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Any time | Logs each receipt you send, confirms in a line | Snap and send |
| Fridays | Lists card charges with no receipt yet | Find the two missing ones |
| Month end | Fills the report, flags one likely duplicate | Review and approve |
| After approval | Submits it or emails it to finance | Done |

## Accuracy

Faded thermal paper, handwriting and foreign receipts can be misread. The bot is most useful when it says what it isn’t sure of, so ask it to mark low-confidence fields. Check totals before submitting, and keep the original receipts your tax rules require.

## Teaching it your company’s form

Some expense systems have their own forms with fields in an odd order. Rather than describing every field, press "Teach a task" and submit one report while AppuBot watches; the bot saves the steps as a [skill](https://appubot.com/features/teach) and repeats them next month through [computer use](https://appubot.com/features/computer-use). If the form changes, show it again or tell the bot what moved.

## Questions

### Can I send receipts from my phone?

Yes. Connect the bot to Telegram and send photos, PDFs or voice notes; they reach the bot on your computer.

### Does it work with my company’s expense tool?

If it’s a connected app, directly; if not, the bot can fill its website through computer use.

### Does it catch duplicates?

It can check for repeated amounts and merchants and ask you about them when its instructions say so, but you should still review the report.

### Where are my receipts stored?

On your computer and in the folders you choose, such as Drive. The images are read by the AI provider you use; AppuBot doesn’t store them on servers of its own.