The Dext mobile app lets you photograph a paper receipt or invoice, or upload a photo or PDF that's already on your phone. This article covers the camera, its modes, choosing Costs or Sales, submitting for someone else, and what happens after you submit.
Scan a paper receipt or invoice
To scan a paper receipt or invoice in the Dext mobile app, open the camera from the Costs or Sales tab:
Go to the Costs or Sales tab.
Tap Add (the camera icon) at the bottom right.
Take a photo of your document.
Check the image and any details you want to add.
Tap Submit.
You can also go to Costs > + and tap Camera under Upload.
Choose a camera mode
The Dext camera has 3 modes, which you choose at the bottom of the camera before you take a photo:
Single: one receipt or bill. After you take the photo, the app goes straight to the Review screen.
Multiple: several separate receipts or bills, up to 50 photos. Each photo becomes its own document.
Combine: one long or double-sided receipt or bill, up to 50 photos. All the photos become 1 document.
In Multiple and Combine, the shutter shows how many photos you've taken. Tap Undo to remove the last one, or Review when you've finished.
Let the camera take the photo for you
If Camera shot suggestions is on, the camera can find your document and take the photo by itself. Tap the AI auto-detect and auto-snap button at the top of the camera to turn this on or off. It isn't available in Combine mode. For details, go to Use camera shot suggestions in the Dext mobile app
Upload to Costs or Sales
The camera uploads to the tab you opened it from. Open it from Costs for supplier receipts and bills, or from Sales for sales invoices you've issued.
To send a document to the other tab, tap Costs or Sales at the bottom right of the camera before you take the photo.
If you uploaded a document to the other tab by mistake, open it and tap … at the top right. Then tap Move to Sales or Move to Costs.
Submit a document for another user
If you have permission to submit documents for other users, you can choose who a document belongs to before you take the photo:
Tap Submit as at the top of the camera.
Choose the user, or search for them.
Take the photo as usual.
The document is then assigned to the user you chose.
Upload photos or PDFs from your phone
To upload a photo or PDF that's already on your phone, use the + button on the Costs tab:
Go to the Costs tab and tap +.
Under Upload, tap Photos or PDF.
Choose your files.
Check the details, then tap Submit.
You can also upload from the camera. Tap the gallery button at the bottom left, then choose Photos or PDF files (max 50). To upload a sales document, open the camera from the Sales tab first.
Tip: You can also share a file straight to Dext from another app on your phone. Tap Share, then tap Dext.
Check and edit a document before you submit
After you take a photo or choose a file, the Review screen opens so you can check the document before you submit it:
Tap Retake to take the photo again, or use the rotate and crop buttons at the top. On the crop screen, tap Auto to crop to the document's edges.
Expand a page to check it full size.
Open Item details to add details such as Category, Owned by or a description. More has extra fields, such as Mark as rebillable.
Tap Submit, or Submit all in Multiple mode.
You don't need to fill in every field before you submit. Dext extracts the details from the document.
If a photo looks blurry, the Review screen shows "This image looks blurry" with a Retake button. A clear photo helps Dext extract the right details.
What happens after you submit
After you submit, the document appears in a Processing section at the top of the Costs or Sales list. It shows "Uploading" and then "Extracting" while Dext reads the details from the document.
Tap Processing to open the Extracting screen and follow each upload. Extraction usually takes a short time. When it's done, the item moves into the list, with details such as the supplier, date and total filled in.
If an upload doesn't appear in the list, Dext may have rejected it or treated it as a duplicate. For details, go to Why was my document rejected? and Why was my Cost item marked as a duplicate?
Change your camera settings
To change how the camera works, go to More > Settings:
Open on camera: the app opens straight on the camera.
Save to gallery: photos you take in Dext are also saved to your phone's photo gallery.
Camera shot suggestions: the camera finds your document, suggests a crop and warns you about blurry photos. For details, go to Use camera shot suggestions in the Dext mobile app
Next steps after uploading
Once your documents have finished processing, you can:
Group receipts into an expense claim. Go to Manage expense claims in the mobile app
Publish items to your accounting software. Go to Publish items from the Dext mobile app
Common questions about scanning and uploading
These are the questions people ask most about scanning and uploading in the Dext mobile app.
Where's the camera button?
The camera button is the Add button (camera icon) at the bottom right of the Costs and Sales tabs. It used to sit in the middle of the tab bar. You can also go to Costs > + and tap Camera under Upload.
Can I upload a photo from my camera roll to Costs?
Yes, you can upload a photo that's already on your phone to Costs. Go to Costs > +, then under Upload, tap Photos. Choose the photo, check the details and tap Submit.
Do the details I enter in Multiple mode apply to every receipt?
No. In Multiple mode, each receipt is a separate document with its own Item details. On the Review screen, swipe between the documents and add details to each one before you tap Submit all.
Why did my receipt disappear after it finished processing?
If a receipt disappears after Processing, Dext has usually rejected it or treated it as a duplicate:
The same file uploaded twice is rejected, and a rejected upload banner appears. Go to Why was my document rejected?
A different photo of a purchase that's already in Dext follows your account's duplicate setting. With Automatic, Dext deletes it, and you can only find it in Submission history in the web app. With Review, it stays on the Costs tab with a Duplicate label.
To restore a deleted duplicate, go to Why was my Cost item marked as a duplicate?
The camera shows a black screen. What can I do?
If the camera in the Dext mobile app shows a black screen, check that Dext is allowed to use your camera. Open your phone's Settings, tap Dext and turn on Camera. If that doesn't help, close the app and open it again. You can also upload the photo from your phone instead.