Try to recover the original record first.

Contact the merchant with the information you know: purchase date, location, approximate time and amount. Ask whether they can provide another copy. Share payment details only through an appropriate channel; do not send a full card number in an ordinary email.

For an online purchase, search the original order email and your customer account. For travel, check the hotel, booking or transport account for the final receipt. A confirmation and the final paid document may be different, so verify what you recover before attaching it.

Write down what you know while you look.

Record the merchant, date, amount and work purpose, and mark which document is still missing. This gives the reviewer a clear account of the issue and helps you recognize a replacement if the merchant sends several files.

Keep uncertain details separate from confirmed ones. If you remember the meeting but not the exact amount, do not fill the gap with a plausible number. Check the transaction record or ask the merchant. Do not edit an unrelated receipt or create a document that pretends to be the missing original.

Ask which alternative evidence is acceptable.

If you cannot recover the receipt, contact the person who handles your expenses before submitting. Explain the gap and ask what process they want you to follow. They may request another document, a written explanation or a particular exception form; do not assume a form found online applies to your workplace.

The University of Michigan’s student organization guidance, for example, distinguishes recovering a receipt from an approval-dependent missing-receipt process. That is its policy, not a general permission for employees elsewhere. Your reviewer must decide whether the evidence meets your own requirements.

Make the request easy to answer.

Here is an illustrative message you can adapt: “I am preparing the report for the October client visit. The parking receipt for October 21 is missing. I have requested a copy from the operator and have the transaction record. What documentation should I provide if the copy cannot be recovered?”

Use the real details and say which evidence you actually have. A specific request lets the reviewer answer the missing-document question without searching through an entire report. Avoid claiming that a replacement has already been approved when you are still asking.

Keep the gap visible in your expense record.

Keep any explanation or replacement with the relevant expense. If an app warns that a receipt image is missing, an expense total on its own does not resolve the documentation problem. Check whether the image failed to save or whether you never had it in the first place.

In BillBack, review the saved image before exporting and resolve missing-image warnings before relying on the receipt pages. A PDF summary can record an amount, but the app cannot decide that your employer will accept it without the requested proof.

Change the point where the receipt gets lost.

If paper slips disappear during the day, capture them at the purchase or before leaving the venue. If the problem is a camera roll full of unidentified photos, save each image with its expense and note the job or meeting. If receipts arrive by email, import the actual file when you receive it.

The useful habit is completing the record once, while the context is still available. Keep originals for the period your organization requires and retain the version you submitted. That makes a later question easier to answer without reconstructing the purchase again.