Connects to XeroReceipt scanning for Xero
Photograph a receipt. Quenta reads it, codes it the way your business codes purchases, and posts it to Xero as a finished transaction with the image attached, ready to match the charge on your statement.
Most receipt tools hand you a document and leave the coding, the attaching and the matching to you. Quenta finishes the job.
The short answer. To scan a receipt into Xero with Quenta, photograph it in the app or forward it to your workspace email address. Quenta posts it to the Xero bank account you chose as a coded spend money transaction with the image attached. It is free for 10 receipts a month, then £6 per user a month on Quenta Pro. It works with Xero only.
How to scan a receipt into Xero
- 1
Connect your Xero organisation
Sign in with Xero and choose the organisation and the account the money came out of. Quenta uses your own Xero login, so it can only ever see what you can see.
- 2
Photograph the receipt
Tap the plus button and shoot. The receipt appears in your list straight away and Quenta finishes the job in the background. No connection needed at the time: captures queue on the device and upload themselves later.
- 3
Answer a question, only if there is one
If something is genuinely unclear, the receipt turns up in Review, in red, with the problem written in plain words. One answer and it posts. If nothing is unclear, you are not asked anything.
- 4
It posts to Xero
The transaction lands as an authorised spend money transaction, coded, with the receipt image attached. When the charge appears on your bank feed, its match is already waiting.
Step by step, with screenshots, in the guide to scanning a receipt, or see how it works.
A finished transaction, not a filing job
Coded the way you code
Quenta learns how your business codes purchases and applies your own category mappings to the Xero lines. Most businesses use a handful of accounts constantly, and it picks those up.
The receipt image, attached
The original photograph or PDF is attached to the Xero transaction, so the evidence lives with the record rather than in a folder somewhere else.
Item lines, but only when they add up
Where the printed items reconcile to the receipt total to the penny, Quenta posts them as named Xero lines. Where they do not, it posts the verified total instead of inventing a split it cannot prove.
VAT you can see and correct
Total, net and VAT are shown as three linked figures on every receipt, and all three are editable. A figure you type is the figure that posts.
Works with no signal
Captures are saved on the device and upload themselves when the connection comes back. Snap it in a car park and put your phone away.
Your Xero permissions still apply
Which organisations and which team receipts a person can see follows their Xero role, so you are not maintaining a second user list alongside the one you already have.
What Quenta will not do
A tool that touches your books should be clear about its limits.
- It will not invent an item split it cannot prove. If the lines do not add up to the total exactly, it posts the verified total.
- It will not guess when it is unsure. It asks one question, in plain words, and then posts.
- It will not quietly change a reconciled transaction or a locked period. Xero's reason is shown instead.
- It will not ask you to maintain a second list of users. Your Xero roles decide who sees what.
- It does not fetch bank statements or collect documents from supplier portals.
- It does not connect to QuickBooks, Sage or FreeAgent. Xero only.
Xero receipts, step by step
- Can you add a receipt to a transaction in Xero after it has been reconciled?
Yes. Open the reconciled spend or receive money transaction and attach the file there, or use the attachments Xero now shows next to reconciled transactions. A new Quenta capture creates a fresh transaction, so use it for receipts you haven't reconciled yet.
- Do you need to keep paper receipts in the UK if you have a photo of them?
Often not. HMRC lets you keep the information instead of the paper if your copy captures everything a correct return needs and can be read back clearly. A few documents must stay in their original form.
- What is a cheaper alternative to Dext for a small business on Xero?
Dext's UK pricing page starts at £24.17 a month excluding VAT for 5 users and 250 documents. If your paperwork is mostly till receipts, Quenta costs £6 per user a month, with a free plan of 10 receipts, and posts each one to Xero with the image attached.
- What should a business with fewer than 10 staff look for in a receipt capture app for Xero?
A small team needs one app that posts each receipt to Xero with the image attached, charges per person who captures, and lets an admin see what the team sent. Here are the six checks to make before you pick one, and how Quenta answers each.
- What is a good alternative to Hubdoc for Xero?
Hubdoc has been connected to Xero since 2014 and comes with Xero's UK plans at no extra cost, but Xero's recent capture work has gone into Xero itself. Quenta does one job: you keep the cards you already have, photograph the receipt, and it becomes a spend-money transaction in Xero with the image attached.
- Do you need to keep receipts for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?
Yes, you still keep the receipt or a copy. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax needs a digital record of each expense, but HMRC receives only category totals in quarterly updates, so the supporting document stays with you.
Receipts and Xero, answered
What is Quenta?
Quenta is a receipt capture app for small businesses that keep their books in Xero. You photograph a receipt or forward it by email, and Quenta reads it, codes it and posts it to Xero as an authorised spend money transaction with the image attached. The free plan covers 10 receipts a month. Quenta Pro is £6 per user a month.
Is there an app that photographs a receipt and posts it to Xero with the image attached?
Yes. Quenta does exactly that. It posts a coded spend money transaction to the bank account you chose, with the original photograph or PDF attached, so the match is waiting when the charge arrives on your bank feed.
What is the best app to scan receipts into Xero for a UK small business?
It depends on what you want the app to finish. If you want a photographed receipt to arrive in Xero as a coded spend money transaction with the image attached, Quenta is built for that and works with Xero only. The free plan covers 10 receipts a month. Quenta Pro is £6 per user a month. If you keep your books in another package, or want bank statements or supplier portal documents fetched for you, Quenta does not do that.
How do I scan receipts into Xero?
Install Quenta, sign in with Xero, and choose the organisation and bank account the money came from. Then photograph a receipt. Quenta reads the merchant, date, currency and total, codes the transaction, and posts it to Xero with the image attached. You only get asked something when the receipt is genuinely unclear.
How can I get receipts into Xero without typing them in?
Photograph the receipt, or forward it by email, and Quenta reads the merchant, date, currency and total, codes it, and posts it to Xero as a spend money transaction with the image attached. You type nothing unless a receipt is genuinely unclear, in which case Quenta asks one question in plain words before it posts.
What should I use instead of a bookkeeping document tool for Xero receipts?
If you want a photographed receipt posted to Xero as a coded spend money transaction with the image attached, Quenta does that. It works with Xero only. The free plan covers 10 receipts a month, Quenta Pro is £6 per user a month, the price is on the pricing page and you cancel it yourself in the billing portal. Quenta does not fetch bank statements or supplier portal documents, and it is not a document archive.
What receipt scanner apps work with Xero?
Several receipt scanner apps connect to Xero. Quenta is one, built for small businesses that keep their books in Xero. You photograph a receipt or forward it by email, and Quenta posts it to Xero as a coded spend money transaction with the image attached. The free plan covers 10 receipts a month. Quenta Pro is £6 per user a month.
Do I need to keep paper receipts in the UK if I have a photo of them?
For VAT, not necessarily. HMRC's VAT Notice 700/21 says you need not keep the original invoice if the image you retain contains all the detail required for VAT purposes, and it says to keep VAT records for at least 6 years. Check that the photograph is legible and complete. Quenta attaches the original photograph to the Xero transaction, so the image is kept with the record. Records for other taxes can have different rules, so check HMRC's guidance for your case.
How do I attach a receipt to a transaction in Xero?
In Xero, open the spend money transaction, choose the attach files option and pick the image or PDF. Xero Central's article on attaching a file to a transaction has the current steps. With Quenta you skip that step: photograph the receipt and it creates the transaction with the original image already attached.
Does the receipt image get attached to the Xero transaction?
Yes. The original photograph or PDF is attached to the transaction in Xero, so the record and its evidence stay together.
What does Quenta create in Xero?
An authorised spend money transaction on the bank account you chose, coded to the category your business uses, with the receipt attached. Where the printed item lines reconcile to the total exactly, they are posted as named lines.
What is the easiest way to keep receipts organised in Xero?
Capture each receipt when you get it, so it never joins a pile. With Quenta you photograph it or forward it by email, and it is posted to Xero as a spend money transaction with the image attached. The receipt is then already filed against the transaction, ready to match the charge on your bank feed.
How do I stop receipts piling up before I reconcile in Xero?
Capture each receipt the day you pay. Photograph it in Quenta and it is posted to Xero as a spend money transaction with the image attached, so when the charge arrives on your bank feed there is already a transaction to match. Reconciliation day becomes a check rather than a hunt for paper.
How can I code receipts in Xero from my phone?
Photograph the receipt in Quenta. It reads the merchant, date, total and VAT, maps the purchase to the Xero account you used for that kind of purchase before, and posts a spend money transaction with the image attached. It asks you only when it is unsure which account to use, and a choice you make is remembered by default.
How do bookkeepers get receipts from clients into Xero?
Move the capture to the person holding the receipt. Each person photographs it in Quenta the day they pay, or forwards an emailed receipt to the workspace address, and it arrives in Xero as a spend money transaction with the image attached. The bookkeeper finds the evidence on the transaction instead of chasing it. Which account and VAT treatment are right is for the bookkeeper or accountant to decide.
Is Quenta suitable for a small business with a few staff?
Yes. Quenta is built for small businesses that keep their books in Xero. The free plan covers 10 receipts a month per organisation, and Quenta Pro is £6 per user a month. Licences are per user, and visibility follows each person's Xero role, so there is no second user list to maintain.
Can I send receipts in by email instead of photographing them?
Yes. Each workspace gets its own address, so emailed invoices and digital receipts can be forwarded straight in rather than photographed off a screen.
What happens with a receipt in another currency?
Quenta keeps the original amount and currency on the Xero transaction and works out what you were actually charged, so you are not asked to go and look it up. Unusual exchange rates are sanity-checked before anything posts.
Can my team use it?
Yes. Team receipts can be searched and filtered, and visibility follows each person's Xero role. Licences are per user and a spare one is claimed automatically the first time somebody captures a receipt.
Which accounting packages does Quenta work with?
Xero only. There is no QuickBooks, Sage or FreeAgent integration.
What does it cost?
There is a free plan covering 10 receipts a month. Quenta Pro is £6 per user a month, or £60 per user a year, with tax included in the price.
Stop typing receipts into Xero.
Quenta is an independent app from We UC Ltd. Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. Quenta is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by Xero.