The anatomy of a useful record
A solid record answers five questions: who was paid, how much, on what date, for what, and why the business needed it. A restaurant receipt answers the first three and half of the fourth. The business reason is almost never printed, which is why a note matters.
Write the reason on the receipt, or in the transaction memo of your accounting software, the same day. Memory fades quickly, and a reason written months later looks reconstructed.
Alternatives when the receipt is lost
Card and bank statements show payee, date and amount. Vendor order histories, email confirmations, shipping notices and invoices from online accounts can fill in the description. Together, a statement line and an order confirmation form a reasonable record for many purchases.
Some categories need more than that. A statement line alone will not tell the story of a client dinner. Ask your preparer which categories tolerate substitutes.
Cash purchases
Cash leaves no automatic trail. Ask for a receipt every time. If the seller has none, write your own on the spot: date, vendor, amount, purpose, and your initials, and photograph it. Keep a cash log if you buy often with cash.
Do not assemble a stack of handwritten slips at year end. They are easy to spot, and they invite more questions than they answer.
Capture habits that work
Pick a single place and stick to it. Many owners photograph receipts with a phone app that feeds into the accounting file. Others use an email address that forwards invoices into a folder. The method matters less than doing it within a day of the purchase.
Name files by date, vendor and amount, such as 2026-03-14-office-depot-48. A sorted folder then reads like a ledger and you can find any item in seconds.
Link the record to the transaction
In most accounting programs, you can attach the image directly to the bank transaction. That way the support moves with the entry, and a preparer or bookkeeper sees both together. It also means you can discard the paper if your retention rules permit scans.
Whenever you recode a transaction, check that the attachment still makes sense for the new category.
A ten minute weekly clean-up
Pick the same time each week and open the list of bank transactions with no attachment. Add a photo or a note to each one, starting with the largest. Anything you cannot support, flag for your bookkeeper so it is not silently categorized as if it were documented.
Weekly clean-up keeps the pile small. A year of missing attachments is a weekend project, while a week of them is a coffee break, and your recall of the purchases is far better.
Common questions
Is a photo of a receipt acceptable?
Generally a legible electronic copy is accepted when kept properly, but confirm retention requirements with your preparer, especially for original-document requirements in special situations.
What if a vendor never sends a receipt?
Download the statement line, save any order confirmation, and write a short note describing the purchase and purpose.
How long should I keep receipts?
Retention depends on the record type and the rule that applies. See our record retention guide, and confirm with your preparer.
This guide is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rules, fees and due dates change; check with the IRS, the NJ Division of Taxation or a licensed professional for your situation.