Attachments
Attachments keep supporting documents — a vendor's invoice PDF, a receipt photo, a contract — with the transaction they support, so the next reviewer can go from the entry to the source document.
Where this stands today. Attachments are stored and served by the app, and you can add and download them through the REST API. The desktop screens don't yet have an attach button on transactions. To turn a PDF receipt or invoice into a bill, use Import Receipt in the sidebar (Money Out).
How attachments are stored
- Encrypted, with the same password as your books. Attachments live in their own database inside the company file's
.solidfolder, encrypted with the same key. One password opens both, and backups, restores and Accountant's Copies carry the attachments with the books. - Kept out of the way of your reports. Because documents sit in their own database, reports, search and drilldown never have to read them.
- Stored once. Each document is identified by a hash of its contents, so the same receipt attached to a bill and its payment is stored once, and its integrity can be checked by re-hashing it.
- Very large files. Documents up to 25 MB are stored inside the encrypted attachment database. Larger ones (a big scanned deed, for example) are kept as separate files in the company file's folder, with their hash recorded.
Attachments added by an older version as plain files can be moved into the encrypted store with Encrypt attachments (Settings → Backup & Restore → Backup settings…, under More). It's safe to run more than once; already-encrypted attachments are skipped. A company file whose attachments have moved into the package needs an up-to-date version of Solid Accounting to open.
Adding and reading attachments through the API
| Endpoint | What it does |
|---|---|
GET /journal-entries/{id}/attachments | List the attachments on a transaction |
POST /journal-entries/{id}/attachments | Upload an attachment to a transaction |
GET /attachments/{id} | Download an attachment |
API uploads go through the same encrypted store as everything else. See REST API.
Access and retention
- Anyone who can open the company file can open its attachments; there is no per-document permission. Keep documents that need tighter control (HR files, sensitive legal documents) in a separate document system.
- Attachments stay until you delete them. For US tax records, plan on keeping supporting documents about seven years.
Backups
Attachments are inside the company file's .solid folder, so copying that folder copies them, and every backup includes them. See Backing up your books.