Write receipt descriptions that make documents easy to find

A supplier name explains where money was spent, but often not why the business made the purchase. A short description can preserve the context the accountant would otherwise ask you to reconstruct months later. It also makes document search more useful when a filename is only a camera number or a generic download name.

The goal is an understandable reference, not a second set of books. Just Invoice stores the description with the receipt and uses it in browsing and the annual index. It does not turn the words into an accounting category, project ledger, or automatic tax decision.

Use three pieces of context

Start with the purchase purpose, add a recognizable project or business activity when relevant, and flag anything unusual. Keep the description short enough to scan. You do not need a paragraph for every ordinary purchase, but an unexplained one-word label rarely helps.

These examples explain context without asserting deductibility. The accountant still reviews the source, the transaction, and the relevant treatment. Avoid labels such as “fully deductible” unless the professional process has actually established what applies.

Keep searchable references consistent

Use a project name consistently if it helps identify related documents. “Maple Avenue” is easier to search than alternating “Maple,” “MA job,” and “the house repair.” If the supplier's PDF filename is clear, preserve it and add the missing business context rather than copying the same name into every field.

A description can also explain a late upload: “November purchase; supplier replacement copy received in February.” The purchase date should still reflect the source evidence. Search context and date indexing solve different problems.

Correct the customer's description when needed

If the accountant asks what a purchase was for, the customer can clarify the receipt description in their own account. The accountant's scoped access does not edit the customer's metadata. Use private notes for the firm's review work and communicate questions through the agreed channel.

Do not put passwords, payment-card details, unrelated health information, or other unnecessary sensitive data in a description. An authorized accountant can read customer receipt descriptions, and the annual CSV index carries that text with the package.

Search with the year and month

Start with the likely purchase year, then use the description or original filename to narrow the collection. If you cannot find a known receipt, inspect whether its date was entered correctly. A search term cannot recover a document that was never successfully uploaded.

For year-end, the whole-year ZIP remains a complete selected-year package even when browsing is filtered. Use the index to explain documents, then keep accounting adjustments in the firm's separate working files.