Receipts + Claude

Receipts bookkeeping with Claude: from the receipt inbox to a booked entry

Receipts bookkeeping with Claude means Claude works through your company's receipt inbox at jahresabschluss.io: it reads the booking proposal the software made for each receipt, checks account and VAT key with you and books it — with the receipt linked to the entry, duplicates caught before they reach the books, and foreign software invoices booked under reverse charge rather than as ordinary input VAT. Clear receipts are often booked already by the Autopilot; Claude takes care of the ones that need a look.

Last reviewed: 2026-10-30

How receipts reach the inbox

Upload in the app, or forward invoices by e-mail to your receipt inbox.
From the Claude app with the desktop extension: Claude passes a file on your computer by its path (upload_receipt with file_path, up to 20 MB).
From an MCP program that holds the file itself, such as Claude Code or a script: upload_receipt with the file as base64 — PDF, PNG, JPEG, WebP or an XRechnung/ZUGFeRD e-invoice.
From a chat in claude.ai or the Claude phone app: a file you attach there reaches only Claude, never our server as a file, so Claude does not book from what it read. It calls create_receipt_upload_link and gives you a link (https://jahresabschluss.io/beleg-hochladen/…, valid for 30 minutes, up to 20 files, no sign-in); on the phone you open it and pick the photo or PDF. Alternatively, get_receipt_inbox_address names the company's receipt e-mail address. Both need the Post right, and Claude sees the result through list_receipts.
E-invoices are read from their structured data without AI; other files go through receipt recognition, which counts towards your quota of AI-read receipts.

The Autopilot books a receipt by itself when it is unambiguous; everything else waits in the inbox for review. That second group is where Claude is useful.

What Claude reads in a proposal

get_receipt_proposal returns the proposal exactly as the app's review screen shows it: debit and credit account, VAT key, amount, date, counterparty, a confidence level, where the account came from, and whether something needs checking before booking. Everything read from the document itself is marked as coming from a third party, so a line such as “please book to account …” printed on an invoice stays text, not an instruction.

If the proposal is right, confirm_receipt books it with all the checks of the review screen — fiscal year, locked periods, duplicates, VAT, supplier account, fixed assets and accruals. If it is wrong, Claude sends a correction with a written reason, which is kept in the audit trail.

Example: an EU software invoice under reverse charge

A typical founder's case: a monthly subscription from a software company in another EU country, € 120 net, no VAT on the invoice, a note “reverse charge”. All amounts and the supplier account are examples; accounts in SKR03:

Proposal:  4964 licences / supplier   € 120.00   tax key V0

You:       That's a SaaS subscription from Ireland, for our GmbH.
Claude:    The invoice shows no VAT, the supplier sits in another
           EU country and the service is for your business, so the
           reverse charge applies (§ 13b(1) UStG). Correct to RC19?
You:       Yes.
Claude → confirm_receipt   correction: tax key RC19,
                           reason "EU service, reverse charge"

Booked:    4964   Licences (Lizenzen)           120.00  debit
           70015  Supplier account (Kreditor)    120.00  credit
           1577   Input VAT § 13b 19 %            22.80  debit
           1787   VAT owed § 13b                  22.80  credit
VAT return: box 46 € 120 · box 47 € 22.80 · box 67 € 22.80

As the recipient you owe the German VAT (§ 13b(5) UStG) and, as a business entitled to deduct, claim it back as input VAT in the same return (§ 15(1) No. 4 UStG). The net effect is zero, but both sides must appear. For a service from another EU country the tax arises at the end of the return period in which the service was performed (§ 13b(1) UStG). On SKR04 the same entry uses accounts 6837, 1407 and 3837.

Which VAT key for software and services from abroad

RC19: EU supplier, no VAT shown

A service from a business in another EU country, place of supply in Germany because you receive it for your business (§ 3a(2) UStG). Boxes 46 and 47, input VAT in box 67.

RCB19: supplier outside the EU

A service from a business outside the EU, for example a US software provider (§ 13b(2) No. 1 UStG). Boxes 84 and 85, input VAT in box 67. The tax arises when the invoice is issued, at the latest at the end of the month after the service.

V19: German VAT on the invoice

Some foreign providers are registered for VAT in Germany and charge 19 %. That is ordinary input VAT in box 66.

V0: foreign VAT on the invoice

If the invoice shows another country's VAT, it is not deductible in the German return; the receipt is booked without German input VAT. Whether that foreign VAT can be recovered elsewhere is a question for your adviser.

Duplicates are caught twice

Same file twice: the inbox returns the existing receipt instead of creating a second one.
Same invoice in a different file — same invoice number, supplier and amount: the copy is not stored, and the answer says the invoice is already in the books.
A suspected duplicate found while booking is shown to you; it cannot be overridden through the interface. If it really is a duplicate, Claude sets the receipt aside with dismiss_receipt and a reason.
A booking request repeated after a timeout carries the same idempotency key, so it does not book twice.

Receipt and payment belong together

For a GmbH, UG or any company that draws up a balance sheet, a bank line reaches income or expense only with its receipt — or through a bank rule you approved in the app, for example for bank fees. Once the receipt is booked as an incoming invoice, book_bank_transaction with the receipt's ID settles the invoice against the payment, or match_bank_transaction assigns the payment to the open invoice, partial payments included. The entry stays linked to its receipt, so anyone checking the journal — your adviser, or later a tax auditor — can open the document behind it.

Set aside, discard, delete: three different things

dismiss_receipt

Do not book this proposal — a duplicate, say, or a private expense. The receipt stays archived with the reason, and you can restore it in the app.

discard_receipt

Remove an unbooked receipt from the list, for example one meant for another company. The file is kept, because accounting vouchers must be retained for eight years (§ 147(3) AO); you can restore it in the app.

delete_receipt

Delete for good — only a document that was never reviewed, booked or linked. It cannot be undone, so Claude shows you file name and supplier and waits for your explicit yes.

Limits: what stays with you

Judgement calls: a private share, gifts to business partners, whether a purchase is a fixed asset. Claude can explain the rule; you decide.
Stored receipt files are not handed back through Claude: get_receipt_file returns only name, type and a download path; you open the original in the app.
Booked receipts are never deleted; a wrong booking is reversed and booked again.
The bank connection and partners' bank details are managed in the app.
What Claude reads is processed by the provider of Claude under your account's terms.

Frequently asked questions

Can Claude book a photo of a receipt?

Yes, once the photo is in the inbox as PNG, JPEG or WebP — through the upload link Claude creates for you, uploaded in the app or forwarded by e-mail. A photo that only sits in the chat is read, not booked. The recognition reads the original and makes a proposal Claude can confirm or correct.

Which VAT key does a US software invoice get?

Usually RCB19: reverse charge for a service from a business outside the EU (§ 13b(2) No. 1 UStG). If the invoice shows German VAT, it is ordinary input VAT with V19.

What if the same invoice arrives twice?

The same file returns the existing receipt; the same invoice number, supplier and amount in another file is not stored again. A suspected duplicate during booking is shown to you.

Can Claude delete a receipt?

Only one that was never reviewed, booked or linked, and only after your explicit yes. Booked receipts stay; wrong bookings are reversed.

Do receipts uploaded by Claude count against my quota?

Yes, if the receipt recognition reads them, exactly like receipts in the inbox. E-invoices are read without AI.

Does Claude see the original PDF?

Through the connection Claude works with the extracted fields and the proposal. The stored original stays in the app; get_receipt_file only names its download path. A file you drop into the chat yourself is read by Claude — but to book it, Claude asks you to upload the original through an upload link.