Expense report game: snap the receipt before it fades
An expense report game about the app that never takes the photo. Snap each receipt when the corners turn green, before the ink fades. Every receipt brings another coffee, and a shakier hand.
Snap when the corners turn green, before the ink fades.
On shift
Month end. Twelve receipts. More coffee each time.
Done for todayToday's round done
- Your bestBest
- Next round
Month end. Twelve receipts. More coffee each time.
Today's round Reimbursed $0 Filed 0 Coffee 1
Paused
You're on a break. The clock waits until you press Resume.
Space or the button snaps.
Tap the button or the picture.
Time card
- Meeting or Email , Not punched yet
- Boss Key , Not punched yet
- Reorg , Not punched yet
- Seen and Gone , Not punched yet
- You're on Mute , Not punched yet
- Work memes , Not punched yet
- Pizza Party , Not punched yet
- Expense Report , Not punched yet
- Self-Review , Not punched yet
- Close the Door , Not punched yet
- Trust Fall , Not punched yet
- Jargon quiz , Not punched yet
- Real or fake , Not punched yet
- The Application , Not punched yet
- Reply game , Not punched yet
The next shift starts at midnight.
How to play Expense Report
Twelve receipts come to your desk, one at a time. Your expense app holds a frame over the middle of the picture, and your hand shakes, so the receipt swings through the frame and out again.
Press Snap, press Space or tap the picture when the frame’s corners turn green. Amber means the app found the receipt but not sharply: it files it and reads the total as a tenth. Snap with no colour and the app says the image is too blurry, and its flash fades the ink.
The ink fades while you wait. Once it’s gone, the receipt is blank and the claim is denied.
What gets harder
- Every receipt comes with another coffee, so your hand shakes faster and wider.
- From the seventh receipt the desk fan is on, and a gust blows the receipt out of the frame for a moment.
- A long till roll, one cough drop and 31 coupons, shows smaller, so the frame is tighter.
Good to know
- Quarter close runs everything a step faster. A short trip is eight receipts.
- Twice a round a VP’s napkin crosses your desk, approved. You press nothing.
- Every shop on a receipt is made up.
- Turn on Take your time and the round runs at half speed.
How the expense report game scores
Your score is the dollars you get back, rounded down.
| When you snap, the corners are | You get back |
|---|---|
| Green | The whole receipt |
| Amber | A tenth of it, the decimal slipped |
| No colour | Nothing yet, and a fifth of the ink |
| The ink runs out first | Nothing |
Your grade is the share of the pile’s total you got back. All twelve green on today’s pile is the best it can do.
Daily and solo rounds
Everyone playing today snaps the same twelve receipts. A solo round shuffles a fresh pile from all 40.
Real expense policy
The $75 receipt line
Under US tax rules, an expense below $75 needs no receipt unless it’s lodging. Lodging needs one at any price.
A hotel night and a dinner
The federal travel allowance caps a hotel night and a day’s meals. These are the rates for the 2027 fiscal year, which starts on October 1, 2026.
| Federal allowance, most of the continental US | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lodging, a night | $113 |
| Meals and incidentals, a day | $68 |
Breakfast, lunch and dinner, by the federal book
The federal meal money for a day splits four ways.
| Federal meal money | Amount |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | $16 |
| Lunch | $19 |
| Dinner | $28 |
| Tips and other incidentals | $5 |
| A day at 75%, on the first and last day of a trip | $51 |
Mileage
The IRS rate for business driving went from 72.5 cents a mile to 76 cents on July 1, 2026. At 76 cents a mile, a hundred miles comes to $76.
Receipts made by AI
34% of employed adults in the US and the UK have used AI to fake a receipt.
| Employed adults who | Share |
|---|---|
| Used AI to make a fake receipt, in the US | 40% |
| The same, in the UK | 29% |
| Made up a purchase outright, in the US | 19% |
| Raised the price of a real one, in the US | 15% |
Client gifts
US tax rules let a business deduct no more than $25 a year for gifts to one person.
Questions about the expense report game
Is there a game about expense reports?
Expense Report is one, free in the browser. You snap twelve receipts with the expense app's camera before their ink fades, and the money you get back is your score.
Why do VPs get away with it?
In the game, a VP's napkin sails through approved with no receipt at all: dinner, $9,000. Your $6.40 latte needs a sharp photo.
Does every expense need a receipt?
Not under US tax rules, which let anything below $75 but lodging go without a receipt. Lodging always needs one, unless your employer pays a per diem.