Accounting Questions

Accounting questions allow users to ask and answer questions about specific documents or bank transactions. Questions can have multiple answer options and are used for clarifying accounting treatment during document processing.

Endpoints

List Questions

GET /api/v2/questions

Retrieves a paginated list of accounting questions.

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
client_account_id	integer	Yes	ID of the client account
document_id	integer	No	Filter by document/voucher ID
bank_transaction_id	integer	No	Filter by bank transaction ID
status	string	No	Filter by question status
order_by	string	No	Sort field
page	integer	No	Page number (default: 1)
per_page	integer	No	Items per page (default: 25)

Note: The document_id query parameter above filters by the underlying document, but the field name in the request/response body is voucher_id (see Attributes) — the API uses different names for the same relationship in the query string and the JSON body.

Note: created_by and answer_options are not included by default — pass ?with=answer_options (or ?with=created_by,answer_options) to embed them, as shown below.

Response

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "created_by_id": 7,
      "created_at": "2024-03-15T10:00:00Z",
      "client_account_id": 7,
      "voucher_id": 123,
      "bank_transaction_id": null,
      "question": "Which account should this expense be posted to?",
      "answer_action": "CHOOSE_OPTION",
      "question_status": "OPEN",
      "answer_options": [
        {
          "id": 1,
          "created_by_id": 7,
          "created_at": "2024-03-15T10:00:00Z",
          "question_id": 1,
          "option": "6300 - Office Supplies",
          "selected_answer": false
        },
        {
          "id": 2,
          "created_by_id": 7,
          "created_at": "2024-03-15T10:00:00Z",
          "question_id": 1,
          "option": "6800 - Other Operating Expenses",
          "selected_answer": false
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "page": 1,
    "pages": 1,
    "per_page": 25,
    "records": 1
  }
}

The example above was requested with ?with=answer_options; omit the parameter to get the question without the answer_options field.

Get Question

GET /api/v2/questions/{id}

Retrieves a specific accounting question by ID.

Create Question

POST /api/v2/questions

Creates a new accounting question.

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
client_account_id	integer	Yes	The client account ID
voucher_id	integer	One of `voucher_id` / `bank_transaction_id`	ID of the related document/voucher
bank_transaction_id	integer	One of `voucher_id` / `bank_transaction_id`	ID of the related bank transaction
question	string	Yes	The question text
answer_action	string	Yes	How the question is answered. See Answer Actions

Note: answer_options cannot be supplied on creation — it is not accepted by this endpoint, even for CHOOSE_OPTION questions. CHOOSE_OPTION questions with pre-populated options are created internally by Snapbooks’ own document-processing workflows, not through the public API.

Creating a duplicate open question (same client_account_id, voucher_id/bank_transaction_id, and answer_action) is rejected with a validation error.

Example Request

{
  "client_account_id": 7,
  "voucher_id": 123,
  "question": "What should this expense be categorized as?",
  "answer_action": "TYPE_ANSWER"
}

Response

Returns the created question with status 201 Created.

Answer Question

POST /api/v2/questions/{id}/answer

Submits an answer to an accounting question and closes it (question_status becomes CLOSED). Answering an already-closed question is a no-op. The request body shape depends on the question’s answer_action:

answer_action	Request Body	Description
`CHOOSE_OPTION`	`{"options": [<answer_option_id>, ...]}`	Marks the given answer option IDs as `selected_answer: true`
`TYPE_ANSWER`	`{"answer": "<text>"}`	Creates a new answer option with the free-text answer, selected
`STATEMENT`	`{"statement_id": <id>}`	Creates a new answer option referencing a statement, selected
`ATTACH_FILE`	`{"file_id": <id>}`	Creates a new answer option referencing an uploaded file, selected
`BUSINESS_PARTNER`	`{"business_partner_id": <id>}`	Creates a new answer option referencing a business partner (must belong to the question’s client account), selected
`BANK_ACCOUNT`	`{"bank_account_id": <id>}`	Creates a new answer option referencing a bank account (must belong to the question’s client account), selected

Example Request (`TYPE_ANSWER`)

{
  "answer": "6300 - Office Supplies"
}

Response

Returns the updated question with question_status: "CLOSED".

Answer Actions

Value	Description
`CHOOSE_OPTION`	The question is answered by selecting one or more of the provided `answer_options`
`TYPE_ANSWER`	The question is answered with free-text
`STATEMENT`	The question is answered by referencing a statement
`ATTACH_FILE`	The question is answered by attaching an uploaded file
`BUSINESS_PARTNER`	The question is answered by referencing a business partner
`BANK_ACCOUNT`	The question is answered by referencing a bank account

Attributes