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Expense Attachments in LeanLaw

How to sync expense receipts and attachments from QuickBooks Online into LeanLaw, and deliver them to clients with LEDES files or invoice emails.

LeanLaw’s expense attachment feature lets you attach receipts and supporting documents to hard cost expenses in QuickBooks Online, sync them into LeanLaw, and include them automatically when you bill clients, either in a LEDES package or as a ZIP file linked in the invoice email.

📋 Pro and Elite only: Expense attachments are available on Pro and Elite LeanLaw subscriptions. Core subscribers can’t use this feature. To upgrade, go to Settings → Subscription.

Step 1: Enable Attachment Sync in LeanLaw

Before attachments can flow from QuickBooks Online into LeanLaw, enable the sync setting in your expense settings:

  1. Click the gear icon ⚙️ → Settings.
  2. Under Integrations, click QuickBooks.
  3. Click Edit Expense Settings.
  4. In the Expense Configuration section, check Sync attachments from QuickBooks to LeanLaw.
  5. Click Done, then refresh the page to save.

💡 What this does: With this setting on, any attachment added to a QuickBooks Online expense in the Advanced Client Costs account (or similarly named account) syncs into LeanLaw along with the expense. Attachments added before you turn on the setting don’t sync retroactively. Only new attachments come through.

Step 2: Enable Attachment Delivery on Invoice Emails (Optional)

You can also choose whether expense attachments are automatically included in invoice emails. There are two delivery settings: firm-wide and per-client.

Option A: Send Attachments to All Clients

  1. Go to Settings → Invoice Email → Email Settings.
  2. Enable Expense Attachments for All Clients.

With this on, every client who receives an invoice email gets a link to download any expense attachments on that invoice.

Option B: Send Attachments to Specific Clients Only

If you want to track attachments in LeanLaw for all expenses but only email them to certain clients:

  1. Go to the Clients tab and open the client’s record.
  2. Under Lean Align Settings, select Attach expense receipts to invoice emails for this client.
  3. Click Save Changes.

📋 Note: Per-client settings override the firm-wide setting for that client. Use this when most clients don’t need attachments emailed but a handful of corporate or LEDES clients do.

⚠️ Lean Align required for email delivery: Sending expense attachments by invoice email is only supported through Lean Align. If your firm isn’t set up with Lean Align, you can still download attachments from Manage Invoices, but they won’t be emailed automatically.

Step 3: Attach Receipts to Expenses in QuickBooks Online

For hard cost expenses, attachments are added in QuickBooks Online, not in LeanLaw:

  1. In QuickBooks Online, open the expense or bill you want to attach a receipt to.
  2. Use the QuickBooks Online attachment feature (usually a paperclip icon or an Attachments section at the bottom of the transaction) to upload the receipt as a PDF, JPG, or PNG.
  3. Save the transaction in QuickBooks Online.
  4. Return to LeanLaw and go to the Expenses tab. The expense syncs with its attachment, which you can open from the expense record.

💡 Adding attachments directly in LeanLaw: You can also add or remove attachments on an expense from the Expenses tab after it syncs. This is useful for adding more documents or correcting an attachment without going back to QuickBooks Online. Note: Changes made to attachments in LeanLaw don’t affect the expense in QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online remains the source of truth for the expense record.

Managing Attachments from the Mobile App

You can also manage expense attachments from the LeanLaw mobile app, which is useful for capturing receipts on the go:

  • Add from gallery: Select an existing photo from your phone’s photo library.
  • Add from file manager: Select a document (PDF, etc.) stored on your device.
  • Take a photo: Open the camera from the app and photograph the receipt.

Attachments added on mobile sync to LeanLaw and are available for billing just like attachments added on the web or synced from QuickBooks Online.

How Attachments Are Delivered to Clients
Billing Method How Attachments Are Delivered
LEDES billing In Manage Invoices, use the LEDES & Expenses button instead of the standard LEDES button. This downloads one ZIP file containing the LEDES file and all expense attachments for that invoice. This download works one invoice at a time.
Invoice email The invoice email includes a link for the client to download their expense attachments as a ZIP file. This requires the email attachment setting to be enabled firm-wide or for the client (see Step 2).
Email Invoice Group When you send several invoices to the same client with Email Invoice Group, the expense attachments from every invoice in the group are combined into one ZIP file with a single download link. Receipts aren’t sorted by invoice, and LEDES files aren’t included. See Attachments on Invoice Emails in LeanLaw for details.
Manual download From Manage Invoices, click the three-dot menu on any invoice to download the LEDES & Expenses ZIP file or view the attachments directly.

💡 Sending backup for several invoices to the same client? Email Invoice Group bundles the expense backup for every invoice in the group into one download, so you don’t have to collect receipts invoice by invoice.

Limitations
  • Multi-line QuickBooks Online expenses: Attachments on multi-line QuickBooks Online bills (bills with more than one line item) don’t sync to LeanLaw. For a multi-line bill with a receipt, add the attachment in LeanLaw after the expense syncs instead of attaching it in QuickBooks Online.
  • QuickBooks Online is the source of truth: Deleting or changing an attachment in LeanLaw doesn’t change the attachment in QuickBooks Online.
  • Hard costs only via QuickBooks Online sync: Automatic sync from QuickBooks Online applies to hard costs entered in QuickBooks Online. Soft costs created in LeanLaw can still have attachments added manually in LeanLaw, but they don’t sync from QuickBooks Online.
  • Lean Align required for email delivery: Automated delivery of attachments by invoice email requires Lean Align.
  • LEDES & Expenses downloads one invoice at a time: To deliver expense backup for several invoices to the same client in one download, use Email Invoice Group.
  • Group ZIP files aren’t sorted by invoice: Receipts from all invoices in an Email Invoice Group sit together in one ZIP file. Use descriptive receipt file names if your client matches receipts to individual invoices.