Make an evidence package for an auditor or lender

Steps

1. Open Journal Entries (under Books) and narrow the list with Search, From and To, or More filters, until it shows exactly the transactions you were asked for. The package holds what the list shows.
2. Choose Evidence package. The screen reports Listing documents, then Fetching document 1 of n, then Building the package, and your browser saves the ZIP.
3. Inside the ZIP: README.txt says who made it, when, for which period and selection, and names any transaction with no document; manifest.csv lists every line for a spreadsheet; manifest.json holds the same with amounts in cents; the files folder holds the documents, one folder per transaction.
4. Each document is listed with its SHA-256 fingerprint. The person you send it to can compute the fingerprint of a file and compare it with the list to show it is the file in your books.
5. The documents are exactly those stored at the moment named in README.txt. Anything attached or removed after that moment is not in the package; make a new one to include it.
6. One package holds at most 10,000 transactions, 250 documents and 25 MB of documents, and 10 MB for README.txt and the two manifests together. These limits are the same on every device.

What you should see

The Journal says “Saved evidence-…zip” with the number of transactions and documents, and the ZIP is in your downloads.

If it goes wrong

A selection over a limit is refused before anything downloads, and the message names the limit: too many transactions, documents too large for one browser download, or a list of transactions too long. Choose a shorter date range or fewer transactions and choose Evidence package again. There are no partial packages: if a document cannot be fetched, arrives different from the stored file, keeps changing while the package is made, or you switch company, the message says so and nothing is downloaded.

Related guides

• Export your books and understand backups
• Trace a report balance
• Work with your accountant