Dext Costs vs Sales Email Addresses: Which Inbox Should You Use?

Dext Extract by email is not one generic inbox. Dext documents dedicated addresses for Costs and Sales, and each of those can use Single or Multiple processing. Users and accounts also have different address types, which affects ownership. The right destination depends on what the document is, how the file is packaged, and who should review it after Dext receives it.

Use Costs when the document represents money leaving the business: supplier bills, purchase invoices, card receipts, expense receipts, credit card proofs, and similar purchase-side paperwork. Use Sales when the document represents money coming in from customers: invoices you issued, sales credit notes, or other customer-facing sales paperwork.

Then choose Single or Multiple. Single means one document per file, even if that file has several pages. Multiple means one document per page. Finally, decide whether the user-level address or account-level address fits ownership and visibility.

Dext describes Extract by email as unique addresses that receive receipts, invoices, and other paperwork. The current help article says each user and account gets addresses for both Costs and Sales, with Single and Multiple processing modes. That distinction can cause confusion because the addresses look related but do different jobs.

A Costs Single address, usually on the @dext.cc domain, is for routine purchase-side documents where each attached file should become one Costs item. A Sales Single address is for sales-side documents where each attached file should become one Sales item. Dext notes that Sales items use an address ending in +sales@dext.cc, but users should copy the exact address shown in their own Dext account rather than constructing it from memory.

A Costs Multiple address, on @multiple.dext.cc, is for purchase-side batch PDFs where each page is a different document. A Sales Multiple address applies the same behavior to sales-side batch PDFs. Do not treat @multiple.dext.cc as a general upgrade. It is the wrong choice for one invoice that happens to be several pages long.

Single vs Multiple is a file-splitting decision. Dext says Single treats each attached file as one item, and Multiple treats each page in a multi-page file as a separate item. Multiple is built for batch PDFs of individual receipts, not for long invoices or statements that must remain together.

Dext current file guidance lists Costs and Sales formats including common image formats, PDF, HTML for email submissions, DOC, DOCX, ODT, RTF, HEIC, and ZIP files that contain supported file types. It also lists image and ZIP size limits and a PDF rule for multi-item documents: up to 200 items, one item per page.

There are important limits. Dext says it cannot extract password-protected attachments or documents from hyperlinks. If an email only says "view invoice" and links to a portal, do not expect forwarding the link to create a clean Dext item. Download the document first, or keep the email in a review workflow until a person can retrieve the file.

One PDF containing one three-page invoice: Single. One PDF containing ten one-page receipts: Multiple. Five separate PDF invoices attached to one email: Single can process each file as one item. Portal link with no file: review first, because Dext says it cannot extract from hyperlinks.

Dext separates user-level and account-level Extract by email addresses. The current Dext help says sending to a user address assigns that user as the Document owner, while sending to an account-level address leaves the owner blank. Dext also notes that only users with access to all documents can see documents without a Document owner.

That distinction matters for accountants and bookkeepers. A named user address can keep client submissions tied to a known reviewer. An account-level address can be useful when a practice wants a shared intake point, but the team must understand who can see unassigned documents and who receives notifications for them.

Forwarding setup can also depend on notifications. Dext says account-level forwarding may require email notifications so provider verification messages are delivered correctly. If a provider sends a verification code or link to a Dext address that no one can open, the forwarding rule may never start. For account-level addresses, Dext documents selecting a user under Business settings > Extraction > Email notifications for documents with no owner.

Expensent finds current and historical receipt and invoice emails and sends selected documents to the Dext Costs or Sales address you configure.

Confirmed sender-and-subject patterns can route new recurring documents automatically. Dext then handles extraction, ownership, review, and publishing.