How to Email Receipts to Pleo
The complete guide to Pleo's receipt email address, the Fetch AI feature, Outlook admin approval, file formats, troubleshooting, and how to automate the whole process.
Last updated: March 2026
In This Guide
- 1. What Is Pleo?
- 2. Pleo Receipt Email Address
- 3. Prerequisites: Before You Email Receipts
- 4. Step-by-Step: How to Email a Receipt to Pleo
- 5. File Formats and Requirements
- 6. Pleo Fetch AI Feature
- 7. Outlook Admin Approval
- 8. Privacy and Security
- 9. All Receipt Submission Methods
- 10. Troubleshooting
- 11. Automate It with Expensent
- 12. Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Is Pleo?
Pleo is a European expense management platform built for small and medium-sized businesses. Used by over 30,000 companies across Europe, Pleo provides smart company cards that give employees spending power while keeping finance teams in full control.
When an employee makes a purchase with a Pleo card, the transaction appears in real time. Pleo then expects a receipt to be attached to each transaction for compliance and bookkeeping. This is where receipt forwarding comes in—emailing receipts to Pleo is one of the fastest ways to match receipts to card transactions.
Key Pleo Features
- •Smart company cards — Physical and virtual cards with spending limits
- •Real-time tracking — Transactions appear immediately in the Pleo dashboard
- •Pleo Fetch AI — Automatically discovers receipts in your email inbox
- •Accounting integrations — Syncs with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and more
- •European focus — GDPR-compliant, multi-currency support, local entity support
2. Pleo Receipt Email Address
Pleo provides a single email address for forwarding receipts. Unlike some expense tools that give each user a unique address, Pleo uses one shared address for all users:
forward@fetch.pleo.ioSingle shared address for all Pleo users
When you forward a receipt to this address, Pleo's AI identifies who sent the email, extracts the receipt data, and matches it to the corresponding card transaction on that user's account. The matching is based on the sender's email address being registered in Pleo.
Important: Verify your receipt email address in your Pleo dashboard before forwarding. Pleo must recognize your email address to match receipts to your account. If your email is not registered, forwarded receipts will not be associated with your transactions.
3. Prerequisites: Before You Email Receipts
Before forwarding your first receipt to Pleo, make sure these requirements are met.
Active Pleo Account
You need an active Pleo account with at least one company card (physical or virtual). Your company admin must have invited you to the Pleo workspace and assigned you a card. Without an active account, forwarded receipts have no account to match to.
Email Address Registered in Pleo
The email address you forward receipts from must be registered in your Pleo profile. Pleo uses the sender's email address to identify which user's account to match the receipt to.
- Log into Pleo (web or mobile app)
- Go to your Account Settings
- Verify your email address is listed and confirmed
- If using a different email, add it to your profile
Corporate Outlook: Admin Approval Required
If your company uses Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft 365, your IT administrator must approve the Pleo Fetch add-in before you can use it. Gmail users can connect directly without admin involvement. See the Outlook Admin Approval section below for details.
Understand the Attachment Requirement
When manually forwarding to forward@fetch.pleo.io, Pleo primarily processes file attachments (PDF, JPEG, PNG). Receipts embedded in the email body as HTML may not be fully extracted via manual forwarding. The Pleo Fetch AI feature has better support for HTML body receipts when auto-discovering directly from your inbox.
4. Step-by-Step: How to Email a Receipt to Pleo
Once your email is registered in Pleo, here's how to forward a receipt:
Verify your email in Pleo
Check your Pleo dashboard to confirm the email address you'll be forwarding from is registered and verified on your account. If you've already done this, skip to step 2.
Forward the receipt email
Forward the receipt email to forward@fetch.pleo.io. Make sure the file attachment (PDF, JPEG, or PNG) is included in the forward. If the receipt is in the email body only, consider saving it as a PDF first and attaching it.
Pleo matches the receipt
Pleo's AI automatically extracts the vendor name, amount, and date from the receipt. It then matches the receipt to the corresponding Pleo card transaction on your account. This typically takes 1-5 minutes.
Verify in the Pleo app
Open the Pleo web app or mobile app to confirm the receipt has been matched to the correct transaction. If the AI did not match it automatically, you can manually attach the receipt to the right transaction from the "Unmatched receipts" section.
5. File Formats and Requirements
Pleo has specific requirements for receipt files sent via email.
Accepted
- •PDF — Document files
- •JPEG / JPG — Image files
- •PNG — Image files
Not Processed
- •HTML email body — May not be fully extracted via manual forward
- •Other formats — DOC, XLS, TIFF, etc.
- •Corrupted files — Unreadable attachments
Tip: For best results, forward the original receipt email rather than composing a new one. This preserves the original attachment and metadata that helps Pleo's AI match the receipt to the correct transaction.
6. Pleo Fetch AI Feature
Pleo Fetch is an AI-powered feature that automatically discovers receipt emails in your connected inbox. Instead of manually forwarding each receipt, Fetch scans your email for invoices and matches them to your Pleo card transactions automatically.
How Pleo Fetch Works
- Connect your Gmail or Outlook account to Pleo Fetch
- Fetch scans your inbox for receipt and invoice emails
- When a receipt is found, Fetch extracts the data automatically
- The receipt is matched to the corresponding Pleo card transaction
- You get a notification in the Pleo app confirming the match
Supported Email Clients
- •Gmail — Works directly, no admin approval needed
- •Microsoft Outlook — Cloud/Microsoft 365 (admin approval required)
Not Supported
- •Exchange on-prem — On-premises Exchange servers
- •Apple Mail — macOS and iOS Mail app
- •Other clients — Thunderbird, ProtonMail, etc.
Manual fallback: If Pleo Fetch does not auto-detect a receipt, or if you use an unsupported email client, you can always manually forward the receipt to forward@fetch.pleo.io as described in the step-by-step section above.
7. Outlook Admin Approval
If your company uses Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft 365, connecting Pleo Fetch requires your IT administrator to approve the add-in first. This is a standard Microsoft security policy—not a Pleo limitation.
Why Admin Approval Is Needed
Microsoft 365 requires IT administrators to explicitly approve third-party applications before they can access corporate mailboxes. This means individual employees cannot connect Pleo Fetch to their Outlook account on their own—the IT team must approve the Pleo Fetch add-in first.
This does not affect manual forwarding. You can always forward receipts to forward@fetch.pleo.io from any email client without admin approval.
Steps for IT Administrators
- Log into the Microsoft 365 admin center
- Navigate to Settings > Integrated apps or Enterprise applications
- Search for the Pleo Fetch add-in
- Review the permissions requested by Pleo (email read access)
- Approve the add-in for your organization or specific user groups
- Employees can then connect their Outlook account to Pleo Fetch
Gmail users: Gmail does not require admin approval. You can connect Pleo Fetch to your Gmail account directly without IT involvement.
8. Privacy and Security
A common concern with email-based receipt submission is data privacy. Here is how Pleo handles your email data:
Pleo Does Not Store Your Emails
Pleo only extracts receipt data (vendor name, amount, date, currency) from your emails. The full email content is not stored by Pleo. This applies to both the Fetch auto-discovery feature and manual forwarding to forward@fetch.pleo.io.
GDPR Compliant
As a European company, Pleo is fully GDPR-compliant. Your data is processed in accordance with EU data protection regulations. Pleo provides transparency on how your data is used and allows you to disconnect your email account at any time.
Secure Connection
When connecting your email to Pleo Fetch, authentication is handled via OAuth (Gmail) or Microsoft Graph API (Outlook). Pleo never sees your email password. You can revoke access at any time from your Google or Microsoft account settings.
9. All Receipt Submission Methods
Pleo offers multiple ways to submit receipts. Email forwarding is just one option:
| Method | How It Works | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Email Forward | Forward receipt to forward@fetch.pleo.io | Email receipts with PDF/image attachments |
| Pleo Fetch AI | Auto-discovers receipts in Gmail/Outlook | Hands-free receipt capture for supported clients |
| Mobile App | Take a photo of a paper receipt | In-person purchases, paper receipts |
| Direct Integrations | Accounting software syncs (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage) | End-to-end accounting automation |
10. Troubleshooting
If your receipts aren't appearing in Pleo or matching correctly, work through these checks:
1.Pleo Fetch not finding receipts
If Fetch is not discovering receipts in your inbox, verify that your email account is still connected in Pleo settings. For Outlook users, check that the admin has approved the Pleo Fetch add-in. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your email account. If using an unsupported email client (Apple Mail, Exchange on-prem), use manual forwarding instead.
2.Outlook permission denied
If you get a permission error when connecting Outlook to Pleo Fetch, your IT administrator has not approved the Pleo add-in. Contact your IT team and direct them to the admin approval steps above. In the meantime, you can forward receipts manually to forward@fetch.pleo.io.
3.Receipt not matching a transaction
Pleo matches receipts to card transactions based on amount, date, and vendor. If a receipt is not matched: (1) The transaction may not have been processed yet—wait for it to appear in Pleo. (2) The receipt amount may not match the transaction amount (e.g., different currency or tip not included). (3) You can manually match it from the "Unmatched receipts" section in the Pleo app.
4.Forwarded email not appearing
Check that: (1) You sent to the correct address—forward@fetch.pleo.io. (2) Your sending email address is registered in your Pleo profile. (3) The receipt file attachment was included in the forwarded email (some email clients strip attachments when forwarding). (4) Wait at least 15 minutes before troubleshooting further.
5.Receipt is in the email body, not an attachment
Many vendors (airlines, SaaS, hotels, online retailers) embed receipts as HTML in the email body rather than as file attachments. When manually forwarding to Pleo, these may not be fully processed. Options: (1) Use Pleo Fetch, which has better HTML body support when auto-discovering. (2) Save the email as a PDF and forward it as an attachment.
11. Automate It with Expensent
Pleo Fetch is great for Gmail and Outlook users, but it does not cover every email client or catch every receipt. Expensent fills the gaps by automatically detecting all invoice emails in your inbox and forwarding them to Pleo.
Connect your email
Link your work email using secure OAuth—we never see your password. Gmail, Outlook, and IMAP supported.
Set your Pleo address
Enter forward@fetch.pleo.io as your forwarding destination.
Done. Receipts flow automatically.
When a new invoice arrives that you've set to auto-forward, it goes straight to Pleo automatically.
Why Expensent + Pleo Is Better Than Manual Forwarding
- Works with any email client — Apple Mail, Exchange on-prem, ProtonMail—not limited to Gmail and Outlook
- No admin approval needed — Unlike Pleo Fetch for Outlook, Expensent does not require IT administrator approval
- AI-powered detection — Recognizes invoices from any vendor, not a fixed list
- Complete capture — Every receipt is filed, nothing falls through the cracks
- 5-minute setup — Connect once, done forever
- Paper receipt capture — Built-in phone camera scanner for paper receipts, so everything goes to Pleo in one place
- AI price extraction — Automatically pulls amount, currency, and recipient from PDF, JPG, and PNG attachments
- Fine-grained control — CC your team on forwarded receipts, add vendor notes, filter by attachment type, skip $0 invoices, or block specific senders
Want to see how the integration works in detail? See the Pleo Integration Page →
12. Frequently Asked Questions
Stop manually forwarding receipts to Pleo
Set up Expensent in 5 minutes. Every invoice email flows to Pleo automatically—even from email clients that Pleo Fetch does not support.
Get Started