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09 - Receipts and Documents

Receipts, invoices, contracts, and other supporting documents make transactions auditable. The ledger should make it possible to find the document behind an expense.

Where documents are stored

Tohuwabohu currently has a clear receipts folder:

1. Vereinsverwaltung/Buchhaltung/Buchhaltung-Tohuwabohu/2023/Belege Ausgaben

Receipts already entered into the ledger are often in:

1. Vereinsverwaltung/Buchhaltung/Buchhaltung-Tohuwabohu/2023/Belege Ausgaben/Eingetragen

NICA uses supporting files in its bookkeeping folder and project folders. If a consistent NICA receipt folder is introduced later, document it here and use it consistently.

document entries

A document entry links a file to an account and date:

2025-10-02 document Ausgaben:Projekt:TOHUCON-25:Essen "Belege Ausgaben/Quittung-Tohu25-001.pdf"

The file path is relative to the folder containing the ledger file.

Some older entries include document tags such as:

2023-01-05 document Ausgaben:Buero:Sonstiges "Belege Ausgaben/Eingetragen/2023_001.jpg" ^2023_001

The ^2023_001 part is a Beancount link. It can connect a receipt to the related transaction if the same link is used there.

Meaning of scanned

Comments in the ledgers define the convention for scanned receipts. When the tag scanned is used, it means:

  • The receipt was scanned or digitised.
  • The image was reduced and optimised, for example with TinyPNG.
  • The file was saved using a year and number pattern, for example 2023_002.jpg.
  • The number is referenced in the related ledger entry.

Good file names

Good receipt file names are stable and readable:

2026_001.jpg
2026_002.pdf
Quittung-Tohu25-001.pdf
Invoice406-Schwarze_Risse-marc-bielert.pdf

Avoid names like scan.jpg, image1.jpg, or download.pdf.

Workflow for a new receipt

  1. Save the receipt in the correct receipt folder.
  2. Rename it so it can be recognised later.
  3. Enter or find the related transaction.
  4. Add a document line or link metadata if useful.
  5. If the receipt has been processed, move it to Eingetragen if that is the folder convention.
  6. Reload Fava and check that the document link works.

When a receipt is missing

If a receipt is missing, add a comment near the transaction:

; Receipt missing. Ask responsible person.

Do not pretend there is a document if it is not available.

Contracts and honorarium documents

Contracts and honorarium invoices should be stored near the related project or bookkeeping folder and referenced clearly. For project audits, the important question is not only that the transaction exists, but that the document proving the expense can be found quickly.