Journal
Reading receipt metadata like an auditor
Most reviewers stare at the amount and the merchant name. Useful, but incomplete. Metadata rarely proves misconduct on its own; it does tell you whether the story on the claim form is coherent.
Timestamps that disagree politely
Phone captures, email forwards, and PDF export times can differ by hours without drama — especially across travel. Drama appears when a receipt claims Thursday lunch while the capture device says Sunday evening and the card feed agrees with Sunday.
Merchant identifiers
Descriptor codes often survive even when the friendly name on a claim is rewritten. Pin both in your forensic expense review app so a later reader can see the rename without hunting chat threads.
Know the limits
Compressed scans strip EXIF. Forwarded emails rewrite headers. Treat missing metadata as absence of evidence, not evidence of absence — and record that judgement in the file.