1. Turn on Direct Expense as an Extraction Type
❗ Note: Direct Expense is an early feature. Your organization owner must enable multi-type extraction before it can be used.
Enable Direct Expense for your entity
Go to Entity Settings → Features
Under Document Extraction Types
Toggle Direct Expense ON
Once enabled, Tofu will extract paid expenses such as petty cash, card receipts, and bank-paid expenses.
2. Configure Direct Expense Settings for QuickBooks Online
Go to Entity Settings → Integrations → QuickBooks Online
Open the configuration panel
Under Direct Expenses:
Enable Auto-publish
Auto-import is disabled by default
💡 You can still manually import Direct Expenses from QBO at any time.
Recommend Settings
Enable Auto-publish - Automatically sends verified Direct Expenses from Tofu to QBO.
Self-Prompt - For newly added entities, Tofie learns from your accounting data and applies your rules automatically.
Note: For existing entities that already have a QBO integration, Self-Prompt won’t appear in the QuickBooks configuration settings. To update it, go to:
Settings → Entity Knowledge Base → Select Direct Expense → Click Self-Prompt.
3. Upload a Direct Expense Document
Go to the Source Documents column
Click Upload document
Select a receipt or expense file.
Tofu will detect and extract the document as a Direct Expense.
💡 Recommended: Connect Google Drive, SharePoint, or Email
For the easiest Direct Expense workflow, we recommend integrating Google Drive, SharePoint, or Email with Tofu. Once connected, any direct expense you upload to your chosen folder or send via email will automatically sync into Tofu, so you don’t have to upload documents manually every time.
4. Review the Extraction and Publish
Open the extracted Direct Expense from the Extractions column
Review the extracted details such as:
Supplier / Payee
Account
Transaction date
Payment type (Cash / Check / Credit Card)
Line items (category/account + amount)
Tax (if applicable)
🔔 Important:
You may notice a publish error at this stage. This is normal.
QuickBooks Online requires a Payment Type (for example, Cash, Check, or Credit Card) before the expense can be published.
Select the Payment Type
Make any necessary adjustments
Click Save Draft, then Publish
If Auto‑Publish is turned ON in your settings, clicking Save draft will push your latest changes to QuickBooks Online.
💡 Tip: Train Tofie to select your Payment Type automatically
Click Tofie in the upper-right corner of Tofu
In Knowledge Type, select Direct Expenses
Enter your instruction in the prompt, for example:
“Always select credit card for payment type for Direct Expenses.”
Click Generate, then Save
Now, when you re-extract the same document, Tofie will automatically select the payment type for you.
5. Make Changes in QuickBooks Online and Sync Back to Tofu
Open QuickBooks Online
Make changes to the expense if needed (for example, tax, category, or amount)
Go back to Tofu
Click Import
Any updates made in QBO will be reflected back in Tofu.
Important notes
Direct Expenses are for already-paid receipts. If the vendor invoice is unpaid and you need an AP workflow, use AP Bills instead.
Payment type matters in QBO. QBO “Purchase” supports Cash, Check, and Credit Card, and the account used should match the payment type (e.g., bank account for check, credit card account for credit card).
No automatic back-sync: Changes you make in QBO won’t automatically sync back to Tofu for Direct Expenses.
✅ You’re All Set
Your Direct Expenses are now flowing from Tofu to QuickBooks Online and staying in sync.
This lets you work in either system without re-entering data, keeping your expense records accurate and up to date.