How do I bill a client back for expenses?

You can turn any expense report into a clean, AP-friendly invoice for your client in two clicks. ExpenseBot generates a Google Doc invoice from the receipts in the report — no re-entry, no template hunting, no separate billing tool.

📋 How it works:

1. Tag receipts to a project, trip, or client (e.g. Acme Rebrand, Trip – Berlin, Client – Acme).
2. Run a Report filtered by that tag and date range — your usual flow.
3. Click "Bill Client" on the report card in My Reports.
4. Review the From and Bill To details, pick a markup % (or 0), and click Generate.
5. ExpenseBot creates a styled Google Doc invoice in your Drive with every receipt as a line item, totals, and your business info.

✏️ Edit before sending: The Google Doc is your private working copy. Tweak anything — descriptions, totals, add a thank-you note. Your client never sees the live Doc.

📄 Send as PDF (the right way to invoice): Download the PDF and email it to your client, or use the "Save as Draft" button to stage a draft in your Gmail with the PDF already attached. Send from your own address — no middleman, threads cleanly with the client's reply.

💼 Set your business info once: In Settings → Billing Profile, fill in your business name, address, tax/EIN/GST/VAT number (auto-labeled by country), and default payment terms. Every future invoice prefills from there. The Bill Client screen shows those details before generation and lets you override them for that invoice without changing your saved defaults.

💱 Currency stays explicit: Converted report amounts and original receipt amounts are both labeled with their currency codes (for example, $137.79 USD and orig: $194.10 CAD) in the review screen and generated invoice.

🧾 Tax is never copied from receipts: Tax on the client invoice is optional and separate from tax paid on the underlying expenses. A positive invoice tax rate requires a per-invoice confirmation. GST/HST/VAT-style charges also require the corresponding registration number before generation.

💡 Works for any kind of "bill back":

• Freelance designers / developers / consultants billing clients for project expenses
• Agencies billing back ad spend, software subs, or travel as passthrough
• Wedding photographers billing couples for travel + assistant fees
• Anyone tracking expenses against a tag, trip, or project

🛡️ Privacy: The invoice Doc lives in your Drive — only you can see it. Your client receives the PDF only. The underlying expense spreadsheet stays private.

⚖️ Tax note: Tax treatment of reimbursable expenses depends on your jurisdiction (US sales tax, Canadian GST/HST, UK VAT, EU reverse-charge, etc.). Consult your accountant if your client requires a tax line on the invoice.

Getting here from a chat

If you built the report by asking an AI assistant, you can carry straight on: "Take me to bill the client for this report." That opens this screen with the report in hand — it does not create or send an invoice on your behalf. Everything described above still happens here, with you driving it. See Can I just ask for a report by trip, client, or project.