# Recording a client expense (with receipt scanning)

> Spend a client's own money the right way: open their account, record a withdrawal, scan the receipt to auto-fill the form, and submit it for review.

Canonical: https://enmantle.com/help/record-a-client-expense · Section: Client Funds & Expenses · Updated: 2026-08-07

Enmantle's `Client Expenses` tool is for spending an individual's own money on their behalf — petty cash, a checking account, a Walmart gift card — and keeping the receipt. This is representative-payee accounting, not your own expense reimbursement. There is no payout: you're recording money that already belongs to the person you support, so the ledger and their balance stay accurate.

You can do all of it from your phone.

## Open the client's ledger

1. Open `Client Expenses` from the dashboard.
2. Find the person in the client list. Each row shows how many accounts they have and their total balance.
3. Tap the client to open their ledger.

Each client has one or more accounts — `Cash`, `Checking`, `Card`, or `Other`. Pick the account the money is coming from.

## Start a new entry

1. On the account, tap `New Expense Entry`.
2. Leave the transaction type on `Withdrawal` — that's spending money. (`Deposit` adds funds, `Transfer` moves money between two of the same person's accounts, and `Adjustment` only corrects an already-approved entry.)
3. Enter the `Amount`, `Transaction Date`, and a clear `Description`.
4. Pick a `Category` — Food, Clothing, Transportation, Activities, and so on.
5. Add `Vendor (optional)` and `Check Number (optional)` if you have them.

The `Transaction Date` can't be more than 7 days in the future, and you can't record into a month that's already been closed.

## Scan the receipt to auto-fill

Instead of typing everything, let Enmantle read the receipt for you.

1. Under Receipt, tap `Scan Receipt`.
2. Choose `Take Photo` or `Upload` (JPEG, PNG, GIF, or PDF, up to 10MB).
3. Tap `Scan & Auto-Fill`. Enmantle pulls the amount, description, category, vendor, and date off the photo and fills the form. A `Scanned` badge appears.
4. Check every field. The app reminds you: "Receipt data extracted. Please verify all fields." The scan is a head start — you're still the person on record.

## When a receipt is required

Some categories require a receipt above a dollar amount. Most, like Food and Clothing, require one over $25. Activities, Medical, and Emergency always require a receipt. Client Savings requires one over $100.

If you try to submit without the receipt when one's needed, you'll see "Receipt required for {category} expenses over ${amount}." Attach it and try again.

## Save as draft or submit

When the entry is ready, you have two choices:

- Check `Save as draft (can be edited later)` and tap `Save Draft` to keep working. It stays `DRAFT` and doesn't go for review.
- Leave it unchecked and tap `Submit Entry` to send it up. It becomes `SUBMITTED`, waiting for a reviewer.

A reviewer will then `Approve` it, `Return` it to you to fix, or `Reject` it. See [Reviewing and approving client expenses](/help/approve-client-expenses).

> Submitting isn't asking to be paid back. You're recording that the client's own money was spent. When it's approved, Enmantle posts it against their account balance — there's no reimbursement step.

## If you see a duplicate warning

If a similar entry already exists from the last 5 days, Enmantle shows "Potential Duplicate Detected." If this really is a separate purchase, tap `Continue Anyway`. If not, cancel and check the ledger — the entry may already be there.

New to Enmantle? Start with [your first shift](/help/dsp-first-shift).