Blog
Latest from Tidy Orders.
Product notes and practical guides for connecting purchase sources, cleaning up review queues, and keeping reports ready for tax time.
Tutorials
Set up two-factor authentication
Add authenticator-app 2FA to your account in about two minutes — scan the QR code, store your recovery codes safely, and know exactly what happens if you ever lose your phone.
Read tutorialUse the Upload tab in Tidy Orders
Drop screenshots, snap a receipt photo, paste from your clipboard, or import a multi-page PDF statement — the Upload tab reads them all and routes the line items into your queue.
Read tutorialTrack business mileage with Tidy Orders
Log one-off drives, save recurring routes for one-tap entry, or let Google Maps calculate the distance — with the IRS standard mileage rate snapshotted onto every trip.
Read tutorialConnect your bank with Plaid
How the Plaid connection actually works, what data Tidy Orders reads (and what we deliberately ignore), and how to safely link a bank or credit card in under a minute.
Read tutorialConnect Amazon Business to Tidy Orders
Authorize once and let Amazon Business orders flow into the review queue every two days, with line items, seller names, and order states matched against your bank and email receipts.
Read tutorialSet up Gmail receipt forwarding for Tidy Orders
Copy your unique inbound address, test with one receipt, then use targeted Gmail filters so purchase confirmations arrive automatically without forwarding every personal email.
Read tutorialForward receipts from Outlook to Tidy Orders
Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 rules, how to backfill existing mail, and what to do when your work tenant blocks external forwarding.
Read tutorialForward receipts from iCloud Mail to Tidy Orders
iCloud rules run on Apple's servers but allow only one condition each — here's how to structure them so receipts arrive and marketing mail doesn't.
Read tutorialUnderstanding categories
COGS vs. operating expenses: what's the difference?
Cost of goods sold reduces gross profit; operating expenses are deducted separately. Which purchases belong in each bucket, and why the split matters.
Read guideWhat counts as an operating expense?
The IRS test is "ordinary and necessary." A tour of the common Schedule C expense lines — advertising, software, shipping, professional fees.
Read guideAssets and depreciation: when a purchase isn't just an expense
A $2,000 laptop isn't deducted like a box of pens. When a purchase becomes an asset, and how the $2,500 de minimis safe harbor works.
Read guideMeals, travel, and the tricky deductions
Business meals are usually 50% deductible, travel has to be away from home overnight, and client entertainment mostly isn't deductible at all.
Read guideHow Tidy Orders classifies your purchases
Vendor memory, your rules, and AI confidence scores — how each purchase gets its category, and how your corrections teach the system.
Read guideComing next
- Connecting Stripe payouts and fees
- Syncing QuickBooks Online as a destination
- Choosing which bank and credit card accounts to sync
- Using vendor defaults to speed up review
- Preparing a year-end Schedule C export