How to Export Expenses with Notes
acarson
Member Posts: 4
I've downloaded a General Ledger report and then extracted the transactions.csv file in order to compile a list of expenses (I only use wave to track business expenses).
I don't see any of my notes added to each receipt and I was hoping to see that because I note the reason for expense there.
Is there any report that will show me the expense + note?
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Comments
Hi, @acarson.
No, there's no way to actually see those notes outside of on the receipts page itself. They're mostly meant as a reference. Can I ask what kind of information you typically put in those notes? Maybe I can offer an alternative.
Hi @Alexia,
I'm not sure if I should make a new post but this thread seems relevant. Is it on the roadmap to be able to export receipt notes? If I should start a new thread please let me know.
I am debating whether to make a commitment to Wave in lieu of one of your two largest competitors, and I'm a bit worried about vendor lock-in. I strongly believe that the easier a company makes it to export my data and reduce data "lock-in," the easier it is for us customers to commit 100% to trusting you with all our critical data in the first place.
One day my business might outgrow Wave, and if I can't easily take my data with me (including my receipt details which the IRS may require me to provide for up to 8 years after the receipt was first generated), that is going to be a problem. Thanks.
Hi, @Just_Lurking.
Thanks for your interest in Wave! Hopefully, we'll convince you to stick around!
Notes are really meant to be any extra information you might want for your own reasons. Think of them as hand-written scribbles behind the receipt itself. Things like tax amount, related accounts, as well as the picture of the invoice itself can all be exported, either through reports or through the global export function.
If one of our users does leave us, they can absolutely take all of their reports with them, as well as anything that might have value for their tax administration. If you have specific worries you'd like me to address, please let me know, I'd love to have that conversation. Is there specific information you would put into notes for a receipt that you would need? Maybe I can offer an alternative.
Hi @Alexia,
Thanks for the reply. While Notes may be intended to replace hand-written scribbles on the receipt itself, those hand-written scribbles can be quite important!
In particular, my use case relates to Travel, Meals, & Entertainment expenses. The IRS requires a documented business purpose and names and business relationship of any individuals participating in an entertainment expense. This would be an ideal use of the Wave Receipts "Notes" field, but only if the data is exportable.
See Table 5-1 of Publication 463 for examples of the types of documentation the IRS requires:
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463#en_US_2017_publink1000134621
I read that a public API is on the roadmap for 2018. Even hearing a commitment that Receipt Notes would be exportable via API upon the API's release would at least would give me comfort that there would be a way of getting the information in a worst case scenario.
@Just_Lurking, I know I'm a couple of weeks late on this thread, but I wanted to highlight that we definitely hear your need. Transparently, we are not looking to bring the export of receipt notes to our API in 2018. In fact, we're currently evaluating how to better serve our customers altogether with our approach to receipts. That may not alleviate your concerns around vendor lock-in, but we've taken your comments seriously and will ensure we consider your need for every future feature and product we release here at Wave. The IRS, and other national agencies in other markets, have strict demands of small business owners, and we must provide peace of mind.
Thank you @Mani; I appreciate the transparency. It's great to feel heard even if the immediate response isn't exactly what I had hoped for. Looking forward to seeing what additional improvements you consider bringing to expense reports in the future.
100 times, yes...the ability to export notes is an absolutely essential feature in the case of any kind of IRS or client audit...otherwise, small business owners could literally be stuck reviewing tens of thousands of transactions and having to perform double data entry into a third-party spreadsheet or database software just to create reports that prove to an auditor that the transactions were for valid business purposes...
to be honest, I'm about a year into using Wave and am already too far along in my 2018 bookkeeping/accounting to jump ship...but the lack of this feature -- which is standard I think in almost every other accounting or budgeting software I've used -- gives me mild anxiety and makes me seriously consider whether I will need to switch to another software/system for 2019
Glad to hear you guys are considering it, though, for the future...fingers crossed!
Thank you for sharing your feedback, @Supermonk!
@Mani
Two years later and was hoping Wave technical team has put any additional thought/resolution to the Notes Field that many users are (including myself) are requesting to be included as an imported field.