Track Expenses: Receipts, Input VAT & CSV

Frequently asked questions

What is this tool for?

So receipts are recorded as they come in instead of piling up in a shoebox: date, supplier, amount, VAT rate, category and payment method. You see monthly and yearly totals including input VAT, per category and per rate, and hand the list to your bookkeeper or tax adviser as CSV — or use it for your cash-basis accounts. It does not replace bookkeeping or tax advice.

How is the input VAT calculated?

From the gross amount: gross × rate ÷ (100 % + rate). €120.00 at 20 % contains €20.00 VAT, so the net is €100.00. Rounding is commercial to the cent, once per receipt; the totals add up these amounts. You choose from the rates of the selected country — Austria 20, 13, 10 and 4.9 %, Germany 19 and 7 %, Switzerland 8.1, 3.8 and 2.6 % — and 0 %. Whether you may deduct input VAT depends on your business; small businesses under the small business scheme, for example, may not.

What do I do with a receipt that has several VAT rates?

Choose "mixed" and enter the VAT shown on the receipt — for example a till receipt with 10 % and 20 %. The net is then gross minus that VAT, and in the totals the receipt is listed under "mixed". If you need the split per rate, record it as two receipts.

Where do the receipt photos go?

Only onto this device, into the browser's storage. They are shrunk (at most 1600 pixels on the long side) and never uploaded — not even with an account; on another device the receipt shows "Photo on another device". If you clear the browser data, the photos are gone. This is not an archive: keep receipts as originals or as a proper digital copy — in Austria for 7 years (§ 132 BAO), in Germany 8 years for accounting vouchers and 10 years for books and financial statements (§ 147 AO), in Switzerland 10 years (Art. 958f CO).

What happens to my data?

Without signing in, your expenses stay in this browser; nothing is sent to any server. When signed in, the whole list saves itself as one "Expenses" entry in your account (servers in Frankfurt) — so you have it on every device. Photos always stay on the device, and the CSV is created in your browser. The tool is not tax advice: please clarify which rate and category apply with your tax adviser.