Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM English Search for articles... All Collections Financial Management Cost Inbox Overview Cost Inbox Overview Create an efficient expense submission workflow with Cost Inbox. Written by Ciara Samento Updated over a year ago The Cost Inbox serves as a hub to store Receipts, efficiently streamlining expense management for the bookkeeping experience. Field Crew and Project Managers can simply upload receipts to one centralized location, allowing bookkeepers and accountants to review all expenses in one place before creating a Bill. Additionally, the Cost Inbox features Optical Character Recognition (OCR), enabling scanned receipts and digital financial documents to automatically extract data and fill in details like dates, material line items, costs, etc. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 1 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Scanning Receipt with Mobile To begin the process to upload a receipt to the Cost Inbox with your mobile device, click on the (+). https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 2 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Next, click on Scan Receipt/Bill. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 3 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Click on Upload to Cost Inbox. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 4 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Next, scan receipt to capture all important information provided in the blue box. This will ensure the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can read and process all information from the receipt. Click the camera icon to capture the receipt. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 5 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Next, click Done. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 6 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Update Title, assign to Job, then click Done. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 7 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Receipt saved will populate at the top of your screen. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 8 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Creating a Bill from the Cost Inbox Once the Receipt has been scanned and sent to the Cost Inbox, you can view all details and create a new Bill. To begin, click on the Financial tab, then select Cost https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 9 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Inbox. Once the receipt has been uploaded to the Cost Inbox, you will see a Status of Processing. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 10 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Once scanning is complete the status will move from Processing to New. Click on the title of the receipt to view uploaded details. Important information such as Line Items and Purchase Date is now visible. Modify as needed, including assigning the correct cost code for each line item. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 11 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Once the receipt information has been successfully updated, allocate this cost to a Job by clicking on the New Bill tab located in the bottom right corner. Update the information specific to that Bill, then click Save. This expenses will now be visible on your Budget. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 12 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM *If you are integrated with QuickBooks Online* When creating a bill from a receipt using the cost inbox, it is best practice to: 1. Adopt a special bill numbering convention. Our best practice is to indicate the credit card or bank account used for the purchase paired with the date of the purchase. In the example: VI (Visa Card was used) + 081224 (Date of purchase) 2. Make sure the Invoice date is the date of the actual purchase. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 13 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM By adopting this naming convention, you will have an easier time matching these bills to the QuickBooks Bank Feed. For more information on how to push the bill created from the receipt to QuickBooks Online, review this article. For more information on how to match a bill to the bank feed in QuickBooks Online, review this article. For more information on how to push the bill created from the receipt to QuickBooks Desktop, review this article. For more information on how to match a bill to the bank feed in QuickBooks Desktop, review this article. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 14 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Tax Inclusion Automatic tax inclusion allows for the Cost Inbox to be utilized by international customers. To find this setting, navigate to the User Profile Icon and select Company Settings. Scanning Receipt with Mobile Creating a Bill from the Cost Inbox Tax Inclusion Interested in Learning More? Then, select Bills / POs / Budget under Financials. https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 15 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Scroll to the bottom to find the Automatically include tax items on receipts checkbox. Leave this unchecked if you would NOT like Buildertrend to add the tax information automatically. To ensure notifications are sent upon upload, ensure https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 16 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Receipt Uploaded & New Receipt Comment are enabled. Adjust User Permissions with the people icon on the top right of your Buildertrend account. Interested in Learning More? The Buildertrend Learning Academy is your one-stopshop for your online education, whether you're new to Buildertrend or an experienced user looking to learn more. If you have any questions or require additional support, feel free to chat with us, send an email: support@buildertrend.com, or give us a call at 1-888-4157149. We’re always happy to help. Did this answer your question? https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 17 of 18 Cost Inbox Overview | Buildertrend Help Center 1/1/25, 10:32 PM Buildertrend Learning Academy https://helpcenter.buildertrend.net/en/articles/9491930-cost-inbox-overview#h_48ddd6c933 Page 18 of 18
