How do I quickly find an old receipt in bexio?
Where you search for old receipts in bexio, where the built-in search hits its limits — and how you find any receipt in seconds.
By Roman Brüngger — Fiduciary with a Swiss federal diploma · Founder rombro ag
As of: July 2026
The short answer: bexio offers a full-text search across the content of your receipts only in the Document Archive on the Optima (CHF 69/mo.) and Ultimate (CHF 119/mo.) plans — and there, according to bexio Help, reliably up to about 20 pages per document. The Inbox has no content search: its search only finds file names — no document content, no metadata (verified on a live account, as of July 2026). So on Basic and Advanced you search by file name, date, and assignment. The two most effective workarounds: (1) consistent renaming on upload and (2) a mirror of your receipts in Google Drive, whose built-in OCR full-text search finds scans by any word in the document — supplier name, amount, item description.
Why searching in bexio so often fails
The root problem is the file names. Receipts from the former bexio Scanner app
were automatically named something like bexio Scanner Januar 12, 2019 12:09.pdf —
two scans in the same minute even collided in their name (documented user report
in the bexio ideas portal, SALES-I-478, archived).
One user described the daily reality like this: “We have 4 field reps in the
business who add receipts/invoices every day, no chance of finding them all
quickly.” Even today’s bexio Go app only names files automatically using the
pattern bexio scan 07.07.2026 09:11:15 (reproduced on a live account): a
meaningful naming scheme is something you set up yourself — it doesn’t happen
automatically.
And for a long time bexio itself described its own receipt storage in sober terms: “…that bexio is a digital filing system and not an electronic archive” (bexio.com/de-CH/beleg; wording from before the Document Archive launched). What the document contains — supplier, amount, line item — stays invisible to the Inbox search.
What works inside bexio itself (the built-in tools)
1. Narrow down by date and assignment
If you know the approximate date, narrow down the Inbox by creation date — often the fastest route. Receipts that have already been posted can also be found via their status (“done”).
2. Go via the entry instead of the receipt
If the receipt is linked to an entry or a supplier invoice, search for the entry (amount, contact, receipt number) and open the attachment from there. For amounts, this is usually more reliable than any file search.
3. On the go: bexio Go
The bexio Go app advertises a text search for receipts in the mobile Inbox. In a hands-on test, it only searches file names — no document content, no metadata (tested on a live account, as of July 2026). bexio Go only uses text recognition when you capture a supplier invoice: date and amount are pre-filled from the receipt; you pick the supplier manually. So don’t count on an old scan without a meaningful name being found.
4. Rename on upload
The only sustainable built-in solution: consistently sticking to a naming scheme
like 2026-03-12_Supplier_Amount.pdf. This only works if everyone on the team
plays along — and it doesn’t help retroactively.
5. Document Archive (Optima/Ultimate only)
Since March 2026, bexio has offered OCR full-text search and tags there — according to bexio Help “reliable for documents up to about 20 pages”. Incidentally, fiduciaries assigned in bexio automatically get access to the archive. On Basic and Advanced, none of this is available (what the archive can do — and the alternative). If you process receipts through Kontera, you have a separate search path there — but that only applies to the documents captured via Kontera.
The way out: search your receipts where full-text search is free
Google Drive automatically indexes uploaded documents — Google documents this
officially: “Drive automatically indexes documents for search when it recognizes
the file type, including text documents, PDFs, images with text, and other common
types”
(developers.google.com).
Searching Bosch finds the hardware-store receipt, 847.30 finds the payment,
supply contract March finds the contract — regardless of the file name.
This is exactly what quintio.ch uses: the service continuously mirrors all your bexio documents — Inbox and invoice PDFs, including the complete history — into your own Google Drive, neatly filed by year and month. After that, finding a receipt is no longer a bexio login but a Drive search: on your laptop, on your phone, or directly by your fiduciary once you share the folder with them.
| Search in the bexio Inbox | Search in the Drive mirror | |
|---|---|---|
| What gets searched? | File name, date, assignment (content search not documented) | Document content (OCR), file name |
| Old scans with cryptic names | Hard to find | Findable by content |
| Plan requirement | Full-text only on Optima/Ultimate (Archive) | Every bexio plan |
| Access for your fiduciary | bexio login required | Simple folder share |
In practice: A fiduciary who, during the quarterly reconciliation, is hunting
for a missing receipt for a CHF 847.30 payment types the supplier name into the
Drive search of the shared folder — eight seconds instead of email ping-pong with
the client and scrolling through hundreds of Scan_20260412_093322.pdf.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Does bexio have a full-text search for receipts? Only in the Document Archive (Optima/Ultimate, since March 2026; according to bexio, reliable up to about 20 pages). For the Inbox, bexio does not document any content search.
Where do I find the Inbox in bexio? In the main menu under “Apps” → “Inbox”. It requires the “Receipt upload” permission — users without this right don’t see the Inbox.
Where do I find the receipt number in bexio? On the posted receipt or in the entry screen; the journal can be filtered by receipt number. For sales documents it matches the document number (e.g. the invoice number, RE-…).
How do I download a bexio invoice? Your own customer invoices: in Sales as a PDF, individually or in bulk as a “Multi-PDF”. bexio’s subscription invoice to you: in Settings under Contract/Plan.
Can I improve the search without switching plans? Yes: consistently rename receipts on upload — or mirror your receipts into Google Drive and search them there via OCR full-text search (e.g. with quintio.ch).
Does Google Drive also find handwritten or poorly scanned receipts? Google’s indexing is remarkably robust with printed text, even on photos; handwriting is only partially recognized. For cash-register receipts and printed invoices, the content search works reliably in practice.
Do I have to file every receipt twice for this? No — a mirror service handles it automatically: capture the receipt in bexio as before, and a few minutes later it’s sitting searchably in your Drive.
quintio.ch continuously mirrors all documents from bexio into your own Google Drive — searchable, with OCR, no effort. Try it free → Sign in with bexio, sync your first documents for free. No credit card needed.
Sources
- bexio Help 000002502 “Document Archive” — OCR full-text search, ~20-page limit, fiduciary access
- bexio Help 000001814 “Inbox & file upload”
- Google Drive: automatic indexing
- bexio ideas portal SALES-I-478 (Wayback archive) — scanner file names, user quote
quintio automatically mirrors your bexio documents into your own Google Drive.
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