How to Email Receipts to Xero
The complete guide to Xero's receipt email systems—Files Inbox, Email-to-Bills, and Hubdoc—how they differ, file format requirements, common issues, and how to automate the whole process.
Last updated: February 2026
In This Guide
- 1. What is Xero?
- 2. Xero Receipt Emails: Files Inbox vs Hubdoc
- 3. Prerequisites: Before You Email Receipts
- 4. Step-by-Step: How to Email a Receipt to Xero
- 5. File Format and Size Requirements
- 6. Why Xero Doesn't Have Native Receipt Email
- 7. All Receipt Submission Methods
- 8. Common Issues and Troubleshooting
- 9. Automate It with Expensent
- 10. Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Xero?
Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform founded in 2006 in Wellington, New Zealand. With over 4.2 million subscribers worldwide, Xero is the dominant small business accounting software in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, and is rapidly growing in North America and Southeast Asia.
Xero provides invoicing, bank reconciliation, expense claims, payroll, inventory management, and financial reporting. Its core strength is bank feeds—direct connections to over 21,000 banks globally that pull transactions into Xero automatically for reconciliation. For businesses that need to match receipts and invoices to those bank transactions, Xero relies on its document capture ecosystem.
Unlike expense-first tools like Expensify or Dext, Xero is a full accounting platform. Receipt capture is handled through Hubdoc—a document extraction tool that Xero acquired in 2018 and now includes free with every Xero subscription. This guide focuses on getting receipts into Xero via email, whether through Xero's built-in @xerofiles.com addresses or Hubdoc's @app.hubdoc.com email.
2. Xero Receipt Emails: Files Inbox vs Hubdoc
Unlike most accounting tools that give you a single receipt email address, Xero has three different email-based systems for receiving documents. Understanding which one to use is the key to getting receipts into Xero properly.
Files Inbox — Document Storage Only
Every Xero organization has a unique Files Inbox email:
xero.inbox.[unique-code]@xerofiles.com- •Stores emailed documents in your Xero Files library
- •No OCR extraction—documents are stored as-is with no data pulled from them
- •Files must be manually attached to transactions for reconciliation
- •Found in Xero under Files > Inbox (top-right icon)
Email-to-Bills — Draft Bill Creation
Xero also provides a Bills email address:
bills.[unique-code]@xerofiles.com- •Creates draft bills in Xero Accounts Payable
- •Basic OCR attempts to extract supplier and amount (limited accuracy)
- •Accepts PDF, JPG, and PNG attachments (25 MB max)
- •Found in Xero under Business > Bills to pay settings
Hubdoc — Full OCR Extraction (Recommended)
Hubdoc provides a customizable email address:
[your-prefix]@app.hubdoc.com- Full OCR extraction: supplier, date, amount, currency, and tax
- Publishes directly to Xero as bill, spend money, or bank transfer
- Customizable prefix for easy memorability
- Supports PDF, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, HTML, DOC, ZIP (35 MB max)
| Feature | Files Inbox | Email-to-Bills | Hubdoc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email domain | @xerofiles.com | @xerofiles.com | @app.hubdoc.com |
| OCR extraction | None | Basic | Full |
| Creates transaction | No | Draft bill | Bill, spend money, or bank transfer |
| Max file size | 25 MB | 25 MB | 35 MB |
| File formats | Most formats | PDF, JPG, PNG | PDF, JPG, PNG, HEIC, HTML, DOC, ZIP |
| Best for | Archiving documents | Simple bill entry | Receipt processing |
Recommendation: For receipt processing with automatic data extraction, use Hubdoc. The Files Inbox is useful for archiving contracts or statements that don't need OCR. Email-to-Bills is a middle ground for simple invoices, but Hubdoc's extraction accuracy is significantly better.
3. Prerequisites: Before You Email Receipts
Before emailing your first receipt, make sure these requirements are in place.
Connect Hubdoc to Your Xero Organization
Hubdoc is included free on all Xero plans (Starter, Standard, and Premium), but it must be connected to your Xero organization before it can publish documents.
- In Xero, click Hubdoc in the left sidebar
- Follow the prompts to connect Hubdoc to your organization
- In Hubdoc, go to Settings > Connected Organizations to confirm the link is active
If Hubdoc does not appear in your Xero sidebar, contact your Xero admin—they may need to enable it in the organization settings.
Find Your Hubdoc Email Address
Every Hubdoc organization has a unique email. Find it by navigating to:
- Open Hubdoc (via Xero sidebar or directly at app.hubdoc.com)
- Go to Settings > Organization
- Your email address appears as
[prefix]@app.hubdoc.com - Optionally customize the prefix to something memorable (e.g., “receipts-acmecorp”)
Xero Plans and Hubdoc Availability
Hubdoc is included at no additional cost on every Xero plan:
- •Starter—20 invoices and 5 bills per month. Hubdoc included.
- •Standard—Unlimited invoices and bills. Hubdoc included.
- •Premium—Adds multi-currency and project tracking. Hubdoc included.
Alternatively: Find Your Xero Files Inbox Email
If you prefer to use the built-in Files Inbox or Email-to-Bills instead of Hubdoc, find your @xerofiles.com addresses by clicking the Files icon in the top-right corner of Xero. Your unique inbox email is displayed in the Files section. The Bills email is found under Business > Bills to pay settings.
4. Step-by-Step: How to Email a Receipt to Xero
The recommended path for receipt processing is through Hubdoc. Here's the complete workflow:
Set up Hubdoc and find your email address
Connect Hubdoc to your Xero organization (it's free on all plans). Go to Hubdoc > Settings > Organization to find your unique email address: [prefix]@app.hubdoc.com. Save this address in your contacts for easy forwarding.
Forward the receipt email to Hubdoc
Forward the original receipt or invoice email to your Hubdoc email address. Hubdoc processes both file attachments (PDF, JPG, PNG, HEIC) and HTML email bodies (for e-receipts from services like Amazon, Uber, and airlines). You can also compose a new email with the receipt file attached.
Hubdoc extracts the receipt data
Hubdoc's OCR engine automatically extracts the supplier name, date, amount, currency, and tax information from the receipt. Processing typically takes 1–3 minutes. You can review and correct the extracted data in the Hubdoc dashboard before publishing.
Publish to Xero
From Hubdoc, publish the document to Xero as a bill (accounts payable), spend money transaction (direct expense), or bank transfer. The receipt image is automatically attached to the transaction in Xero, ready for bank reconciliation. You can also set up auto-publish rules in Hubdoc to skip the manual review step for trusted suppliers.
Alternative path: If you just need document storage without data extraction, email to your xero.inbox.[code]@xerofiles.com Files Inbox address. For basic draft bill creation, email to bills.[code]@xerofiles.com. However, neither provides the full OCR extraction that Hubdoc offers.
5. File Format and Size Requirements
File requirements differ between Xero's built-in email inboxes and Hubdoc. Here's what each system accepts.
Hubdoc (Recommended)
Accepted Formats
- •PDF — Invoices, statements, receipts
- •JPEG / JPG — Photos, scans
- •PNG — Screenshots, exports
- •HEIC — iPhone photos (auto-converted)
- •HTML — E-receipt email bodies
- •DOC / DOCX — Word documents
- •ZIP — Archives (contents extracted)
Limitations
- •35 MB max — Per document file size
- •300 docs/24hr — Rate limit per organization
- •No hyperlink extraction — Cannot follow links in emails
- •XLS / CSV — Not processed for OCR
- •Password-protected PDFs — Cannot be read
Xero Email-to-Bills
- •Accepted: PDF, JPG, PNG
- •Max size: 25 MB per email
- •Note: Fewer formats than Hubdoc, no HEIC or HTML support
Hyperlinks won't work: Many e-receipts (Amazon, Apple, Google) include a “View your receipt” link instead of attaching the actual receipt. Neither Hubdoc nor Xero's email inboxes can follow these links. You need to download the receipt PDF first, then forward it as an attachment. Expensent handles this automatically by forwarding the complete original email.
6. Why Xero Doesn't Have Native Receipt Email
If you've used Expensify (with its simple receipts@expensify.com) or Dext (with per-user @dext.cc addresses), you might expect Xero to have a similar receipt-to-expense email. It does not—and the reasons are rooted in Xero's architecture and acquisition history.
Xero is an Accounting Platform, Not an Expense Tool
Xero was designed as a general ledger and invoicing platform. Receipt capture was never its primary focus. When users needed receipt OCR, Xero's answer was to acquire Hubdoc in 2018 rather than build it natively. This means receipt processing lives in a separate product (Hubdoc) that publishes data into Xero, rather than being built into Xero's core email system.
The Two-System Confusion
The result is that Xero users must navigate two separate systems with different email addresses, different dashboards, and different capabilities. You have @xerofiles.com addresses (Files Inbox and Email-to-Bills) plus @app.hubdoc.com (Hubdoc). New users frequently email receipts to the wrong address and wonder why their documents are not being processed. This is one of the most common support questions in Xero's community forums.
Community Requests for Native Receipt Email
The Xero Product Ideas forum has multiple threads requesting a simple “email receipts to create expenses” feature built directly into Xero. Users want a single email address that creates expense entries without the Hubdoc intermediary step. As of 2026, Xero has not implemented this natively—Hubdoc remains the only path for OCR-based receipt processing, and the Files Inbox and Email-to-Bills remain limited to document storage and basic bill creation.
Gmail Verification Fails with Both Systems
Making matters worse, Gmail's auto-forwarding requires a verification email to be sent to the target address. Since users cannot access the @xerofiles.com or @app.hubdoc.com inboxes to click the confirmation link, Gmail auto-forwarding cannot be set up for either system. Outlook has similar limitations. This means there is no built-in way to automatically route receipt emails from your inbox to Xero or Hubdoc without third-party tools.
The Solution: Expensent
Expensent bridges the gap between your email inbox and Xero's receipt ecosystem. It connects to your email via secure OAuth (no forwarding rules needed), uses AI to detect invoice emails from any vendor, and forwards them to your @app.hubdoc.com or @xerofiles.com address automatically. No Gmail verification needed, no two-system confusion, and no manual forwarding. See Section 9 for setup details ↓
7. All Receipt Submission Methods
Xero and Hubdoc offer several ways to submit receipts beyond email. Here's how they compare:
Email to Hubdoc
Forward receipt emails to your [prefix]@app.hubdoc.com address. Hubdoc extracts supplier, date, amount, tax data via OCR and publishes to Xero. Best for digital receipts that arrive in your email. This is the method that Expensent automates.
Hubdoc Mobile App
Open the Hubdoc mobile app (iOS or Android) and snap a photo of a physical receipt. Hubdoc processes the image with OCR and publishes it to Xero. Best for paper receipts at restaurants, shops, and in-person purchases.
Hubdoc Auto-Fetch (150+ Providers)
Hubdoc can automatically retrieve invoices and statements from over 150 online providers by connecting to your supplier accounts (utilities, telecoms, insurance, SaaS). Particularly well-developed for New Zealand, Australian, and UK providers. Set up in Hubdoc under the Fetch tab. Best for recurring bills from supported providers.
Xero Mobile App Receipt Scan
The Xero mobile app includes a receipt capture feature that lets you photograph receipts and attach them to expense claims. OCR is more limited than Hubdoc but works for simple receipts. Best for quick capture when you do not have the Hubdoc app installed.
Web Upload
Upload receipt files directly to Hubdoc or Xero's Files section via the web interface. Hubdoc processes uploads with the same OCR as emailed documents. Best for batch uploads of accumulated receipts at month-end.
Xero Email-to-Bills
Email invoices to bills.[code]@xerofiles.com to create draft bills in Xero. Basic OCR extracts some data, but accuracy is limited compared to Hubdoc. Best for simple supplier invoices when Hubdoc is not set up.
Manual Entry
Create bills or spend money transactions manually in Xero by entering the supplier, amount, date, and account code. No receipt image required (though your accountant may request one). Best as a fallback when no receipt document is available.
Key insight: None of Xero's or Hubdoc's built-in submission methods automatically capture receipts from your email inbox. You must manually identify each receipt email and forward it, snap a photo with a mobile app, or upload a file. Expensent is the only way to fully automate the email-to-Xero receipt workflow.
8. Common Issues and Troubleshooting
If your receipts are not appearing or processing correctly in Xero or Hubdoc, work through these checks:
1.Gmail/Outlook verification fails for forwarding
Most common issue. Gmail and Outlook require you to verify the forwarding address by clicking a link sent to it. Since you cannot access the @xerofiles.com or @app.hubdoc.com inbox, the verification cannot be completed. There is no workaround within Gmail's settings—you need a third-party tool like Expensent that connects via OAuth instead.
2.Document stuck in “Processing” in Hubdoc
Hubdoc OCR typically processes receipts within 1–3 minutes, but during peak periods or for complex documents, it can take longer. If a document is stuck in “Processing” for more than 15 minutes, try re-uploading it. Check that the file is not corrupt, password-protected, or in an unsupported format. Hubdoc's status page ( status.hubdoc.com) shows any ongoing service issues.
3.Wrong data extracted by Hubdoc OCR
If Hubdoc reads the wrong supplier, amount, or date, you can manually edit the extracted data in the Hubdoc dashboard before publishing to Xero. Common causes include blurry images, unusual receipt layouts, handwritten amounts, or multi-language invoices. For recurring suppliers, Hubdoc learns from your corrections over time.
4.Hubdoc defaults to wrong currency
In multi-currency environments (common for AU/NZ/UK businesses), Hubdoc sometimes defaults to the organization's base currency instead of the receipt currency. Always verify the currency field on published documents in Xero, especially for international transactions. You can override the currency in Hubdoc before publishing. Ensure your Xero organization has the correct foreign currencies enabled under Settings > General Settings > Currencies.
5.Hubdoc auto-fetch connection lost
Auto-fetch connections to supplier portals can break when the supplier changes their website, you update your password, or two-factor authentication is enabled. If auto-fetch stops working, go to Hubdoc's Fetch tab, remove the broken connection, and re-add it with your current credentials. Some providers require re-authentication every 90 days.
6.Exclamation mark in xerofiles.com address
Some Xero organizations have an exclamation mark (!) in their @xerofiles.com email address. While valid in the email spec, some email clients and forwarding rules do not handle the ! character correctly. If you encounter issues, use your Hubdoc @app.hubdoc.com address instead—it uses a customizable prefix without special characters.
7.Duplicate documents in Hubdoc
If you forward the same receipt twice, Hubdoc may create duplicate entries. Hubdoc has basic duplicate detection, but it is not always reliable—especially if the email subject or forwarding headers differ slightly. Check the Hubdoc dashboard for duplicates before publishing. If duplicates are published to Xero, delete the extra transaction in Xero and archive the duplicate in Hubdoc.
9. Automate It with Expensent
Expensent eliminates manual forwarding entirely. Connect your email once, and every invoice email is automatically detected and forwarded to your Hubdoc or xerofiles.com address.
Connect your email
Link your work email using secure OAuth—we never see your password. Gmail, Outlook, and IMAP supported.
Set your Hubdoc or xerofiles.com email as destination
Enter your [prefix]@app.hubdoc.com or bills.[code]@xerofiles.com address as your forwarding destination in Expensent.
Done. Receipts flow automatically.
When a new invoice arrives that you've set to auto-forward, it goes straight to Xero via Hubdoc automatically.
Why Expensent + Xero is Better Than Manual Forwarding
- Solves the Gmail/Outlook problem — No forwarding rules or verification needed. Bypasses the Gmail verification limitation for
@xerofiles.comand@app.hubdoc.comentirely. - No two-system confusion — Set the right email once and forget about it. Expensent sends to whichever Xero address you choose.
- AI-powered detection — Recognizes invoices from any vendor, not a fixed list. Catches receipts you'd forget to forward.
- Historical scanning — Finds past receipts in your inbox and forwards them retroactively. No more year-end scramble.
- 5-minute setup — Connect once, done forever. No scripts to maintain, no filters to update, no IT admin required.
- Paper receipt capture — Built-in phone camera scanner with edge detection. Snap paper receipts and they're forwarded to Xero just like email invoices.
- AI price extraction — Reads PDF, JPG, and PNG attachments to extract the invoice amount, currency, and recipient automatically. International invoices show both original and converted amounts.
- Fine-grained control — CC team members on forwarded emails, attach vendor notes, filter by attachment type, skip $0 invoices, or block specific senders entirely.
Want to see how the integration works in detail? See the Xero Integration Page →
10. Frequently Asked Questions
Stop manually forwarding receipts to Xero
Set up Expensent in 5 minutes. Every invoice email flows to your Hubdoc or xerofiles.com address automatically—no Gmail forwarding hacks needed.
Get Started