Light's AI engine processes receipt uploads to automatically capture spending details and assign expense categories. This article explains how to capture receipts and how Light categorizes them.
Last updated Jul 22, 2026 · 3 min read
Light's mobile app and web interface make it easy to capture receipts on the go. Upload a photo or PDF, and Light's AI extracts the spending details, categorizes the expense, and prepares it for reimbursement or ledger recording.
When you upload a receipt, Light's AI parsing engine captures:
The AI only extracts information that is explicitly present on the receipt. If it can't confidently determine a value, it leaves the field blank for you to fill in. Light stores this information and links it to your user profile for easy tracking.
Light's AI automatically suggests an expense category based on the receipt content. The categorization system:
For example, if you upload a receipt from a restaurant and your company has a "Meals & Dining" category, Light suggests that category. If no category is a good match, none is suggested and you select one yourself.
Good to know: Light extracts the merchant name and website domain directly from the receipt. When a domain is found, Light enriches the merchant with a clean display name and logo — so recognition works whether you're spending locally or while traveling.
After Light extracts the receipt data:
Light doesn't retrain itself on individual corrections. To improve future suggestions for similar expenses, add guidance to the category's Context field at Settings (gear icon) → Reimbursement category — the AI uses this context every time it parses a receipt.
To ensure Light accurately captures receipt data:
Receipts with blurry text, extreme angles, or poor lighting may require manual entry.
Tax codes come from your company's reimbursement categories. Each category, configured at Settings (gear icon) → Reimbursement category, maps to a GL account and, optionally, a tax code.
When Light assigns a category to your receipt, the tax code set on that category is applied to the expense. This helps ensure accurate tax reporting and expense deductions.
Light's AI parses each receipt independently — it doesn't remember previous receipts or build vendor-specific rules. Instead, you steer it explicitly:
Tip: Batch upload receipts from a trip or week. Light processes each one automatically, making expense review easier.
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