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Lost a Receipt? What to Do When a Business Expense Has No Paperwork

By Di Ma, Project Manager 26 OCT 2026 · 4 MIN READ

Every month there is one: a payment on the bank statement — HK$1,280 to a restaurant, US$49 to a software company, HK$650 in a taxi app — and nothing to show what it was. Multiply that by twelve months and it is the single most common gap in a small company's books, and the first thing an auditor's sample turns up.

Here is what to do about the receipt you can't find, and how to stop the next one going missing.

Why the receipt matters

In Hong Kong, everyone carrying on a business must keep sufficient records of income and expenditure, including invoices and receipts, for at least seven years (section 51C of the Inland Revenue Ordinance; see invoice requirements and record keeping). Beyond the rule itself, the receipt is what shows an expense was a business expense: what was bought, from whom, for what. A bank line shows that money left; it does not show why.

Step 1: get a copy

Most "lost" receipts can be found again in a few minutes:

• Search your email for the supplier's name or the amount. Most online purchases, subscriptions, flights and hotels send a receipt or invoice by email.
• Log in to the supplier's account. Software subscriptions, marketplaces, airlines and ride apps usually keep a billing history with downloadable receipts.
• Ask the supplier for a copy. A shop, restaurant or contractor can usually reissue a copy invoice or receipt on request.
• Check the card or payment-app record. It won't replace the receipt, but it often shows the merchant's full name, which tells you whom to ask.

Step 2: when there is no copy, write it down

Sometimes there is no way to get one — a small cash payment, a market stall, a taxi. Then make a written record now, while you still remember, and keep it with the bank or card line:

• the date and the amount, in the currency paid;
• the supplier, as precisely as you can;
• what was bought and the business reason — "taxi from the client meeting in Kwun Tong", not "transport";
• who paid, and why there is no receipt.

Step 3: if it wasn't a business expense, say so

Sometimes the honest answer is that the company card paid for something personal. That is not a business expense and should not be booked as one. It is money the company paid on your behalf, recorded against the director's current account — which you either repay or which is set off against what the company owes you.

Payments that never need a receipt

Not every bank line has a receipt, and asking for one wastes everyone's time. The statement itself, or another record, is the evidence for:

• bank charges and interest — the bank statement is the document;
• transfers between your own accounts (see own-account transfers);
• exchange differences and conversions;
• customer payments — the invoice you issued is the document;
• salaries and MPF — the payroll records;
• money between the company and a director — recorded on the director's current account.

Stop the next one going missing

• Capture it in the moment. A photo taken when you're handed the receipt beats any search later.
• Forward e-receipts as they arrive, rather than leaving them in an inbox.
• Keep the books monthly. A question about last week gets answered in a sentence; the same question in the next spring, after the year end, takes an afternoon.
• Digital copies are fine for most purposes; the IRD publishes guidance on keeping business records in electronic form on its record-keeping page.

How Certanta handles missing receipts

• One to-do list in your client portal. It holds your bookkeeper's questions about specific transactions, and bank lines still without a document after 14 days.
• Answer in a sentence, or with a photo. Take a photo of the receipt or upload it — it goes straight into your books next to the payment — or explain what the payment was. Your bookkeeper confirms it.
• It clears itself. As soon as a document is filed against the line, by you or by us, the item leaves your list.
• Only what needs a receipt is asked for. Bank charges, interest, exchange differences, transfers between your own accounts, customer payments, payroll and director's account movements never appear on it.
• Receipts on the go. Snap a photo or email a receipt the moment you're handed it; it's added to your books, classified and matched to the bank line.

The to-do list comes with every plan — see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information about record keeping in Hong Kong, not tax or legal advice. Whether a particular expense is deductible depends on the facts; ask your tax adviser.