What's in it
- Receipts: one row per expense, with who it was for, where you saved the receipt, and when you reimbursed yourself. A Check column flags expenses from before your HSA opened, missing receipts, and reimbursements larger than what you paid.
- Summary: what you've paid out of pocket, what you've reimbursed, what's still reimbursable, and how much of that has no receipt behind it yet, in total and by year.
- Start here: how to use it, and what the IRS expects you to keep.
How to use it
- Enter the date your HSA was established. Expenses from before that date can't be reimbursed.
- Add each medical expense you pay out of pocket, and save the receipt somewhere you'll still have it in 20 years.
- Paste the link or folder path to that receipt into the row.
- When you reimburse yourself, fill in the date and amount.
There's no deadline for that last step. IRS Notice 2004-50, Q&A 39, lets you reimburse a qualified expense years later, as long as it came after your HSA was established and you can show it. Expenses you pay with your HSA card need the same proof, so log those too.
What to keep for each row
Publication 969 says you need records showing that a distribution paid for qualified medical expenses, that those expenses weren't already paid or reimbursed from another source, and that you didn't deduct them. In practice that means an itemized receipt or bill, plus your insurer's explanation of benefits when there is one. A card statement alone doesn't show what you bought. Our guide to HSA reimbursement records goes through it, and how long to keep HSA receipts covers the timing.
Where a spreadsheet falls short
A spreadsheet holds the list, not the receipts. The files live somewhere else, links break when you change accounts, and thermal paper fades. Typing in every receipt by hand is the part most people stop doing.
Curious what keeping it up is worth? The HSA shoebox calculator estimates it from your own numbers. For a look at the apps that do this, including free ones, see our comparison of HSA receipt apps.