Best Receipt Scanner Apps
The best receipt scanner apps must include a document management system, cloud storage, great optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities for high-quality image capture, and automatic data capture to save data entering time.
Accounting software integration may also be an essential function if receipt management is not a component of accounting software, such as QuickBooks Online.
What does a receipt management app do for you?
If you’ve been running your own business or freelancing for a time, you’ll be familiar with the following difficulties:
Keeping massive filing cabinets, as the IRS mandates you to keep records for three years.
Digging through a heap of coffee-stained paper slips. Losing your receipts, so denying you tax deductions
Inputting the contents of your receipts into Excel when you’d rather be doing anything else is a tedious task.
Just getting started? You will eventually tire of all of this.
The top Selections for Best Receipt Scanner Apps are:
- Dext Prepare
- NeatFiles
- QuickBooks Online
- Shoeboxed
- Wave
- Zoho Expense
Dext Prepare – Scanning & Resulting Software
Receipt management is only one of the many features of Dext Prepare (powered by Receipt Bank) that can be used alongside its basic accounting, expense reporting, and analytics features. You may scan documents like bills and invoices using this software on your mobile device.
The data is then analysed by its OCR technology, sent to your accounting software, and sorted in various ways, including by tax and regional classifications. Bookkeepers and accountants will find its Partner Accounts feature particularly useful, allowing them to centralize client management.
Pros
- QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage Accounting integration
- Extracts line item data
- App captures receipts and generates expense reports.
- Cost, sales, or bank classifications
Cons
- Not a complete accounting software
- No built-in cloud storage
Pricing
Business Plus: $25 monthly/5 users; process up to 300 documents per month
Premium: $50 monthly/20 users; process up to 3,000 documents per month
Enterprise: $75 monthly/30 users; process up to 4,000 documents per month
Features
For example, Dext Prepare can parse through the bank records and receipts, pulling out relevant data to file or add in fields. You don’t have to manually review the scanned receipts and bank statements because the extracted data is searchable within the program.
Cost, sales, or bank can sort documents: The origin of a document might be used to categorize it. Any form of disbursement documentation will increase the final price. Include invoices in the total sales amount. Add the bank paperwork.
Our Take
Dext’s line-item data extraction, document classification, and cost classification features are apt to use to handle scanned documents before they are sent to your accounting software. Invoices from clients can be processed in Dext and then transferred to other accounting applications.
NeatFiles – Receipt Management App
Since NeatFiles can store scanned receipts in the cloud and even scan paper receipts, it is our preferred receipt management app. Scan paper documents with the mobile app or an external scanner. The Desktop Utility Scan program allows users to change scanned documents on their desktop computers. NeatInvoices, Neat’s billing software, is fully functional for the duration of your membership.
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface
- Combines high-quality scanning, different capture options, and human verification
- System for reporting expenses, sales tax, and expenditure details
Monthly rates - QuickBooks Online, Xero integration
Cons
- Two-sided scanning is tricky
- Not a complete bookkeeping system
- Unreconciled invoices
Pricing
$29 per month with a 14-day free trial.
Features
You can import files in a few different ways, including using the mobile app, email, or a straight upload. And before you even upload them, you may sort them into categories.
Quickly find the files you need using the dashboard’s filters, which allow you to narrow your search by everything from file format to file size. It is not necessary to go over each point individually.
A NeatFiles subscription includes access to NeatInvoices, a cloud-based invoicing solution. It can generate invoices and send out billing reminders to ensure clients pay their bills promptly.
Our Take
NeatFiles can assist you with maintaining document order, classification, and archiving. It’s an ideal service for companies of any size who need to scan and save endless receipts in the cloud. It’s cheap, and you won’t need to sign up for a separate cloud storage service to keep your files safe.
QuickBooks Online – Best Bookkeeping Software
Receipt management is integral to QuickBooks Online, complementing the software’s other advanced accounting functions like bill paying, payroll, and expense monitoring. It has a mobile app that can snap pictures of receipts; these can then be attached to invoices and sent from an individual’s email account. You can use your computer’s hard drive or your Google Drive account to transfer files. Images in PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF, and PNG formats are accepted in QuickBooks Online.
Pros
- Class, location, or project profit-and-loss tracking
- Access to QuickBooks ProAdvisors
- Mobile app tracks miles, expenses, and receipts
- Capture receipts on a mobile device or online
- Create a receipt email address
Cons
- Upgrade plans for more users
- Costlier than competitors
- No cost variance analysis
Pricing
- Simple Start: $30 per month per user
- Essentials: $55 per month/3 users
- Plus: $85 per month/5 users
- Advanced: $200 per month/25 users
Any plan includes a 30-day free trial—50% off for three months for new subscribers.
Features
Using the QuickBooks Online mobile app and your phone’s GPS, you can easily track the customers’ driving expenses. In addition, if you forget to record the mileage, you may always enter it afterward.
Financial statements and other reports can be generated, such as A/R summaries, aging schedules, tax reports, A/P summaries, and inventory reports.
Complete accounting capabilities are available in QuickBooks Online. This includes the ability to keep track of inventories.
QuickBooks Online makes it easy to keep tabs on and adjust sales tax rates based on the destination of invoices. You’ll appreciate this function if you serve clients in multiple locations (cities, states, etc.).
Our Take
Because it is flexible and reasonably priced, QuickBooks Online is our top pick for small business accounting software across all sectors. Because you can utilize scanned images for record-keeping and ledger entry, the platform’s receipt-scanning features complement its accounting capabilities. With this low-priced option, you may get all the features you need in a modern accounting program, including the ability to manage receipts.
Shoeboxed – Mobile App for Receipt Scanning
Shoeboxed is a mobile app for managing receipts and keeping track of expenses hosted in the cloud. Either use the app to manage your receipts on the go or send them to Shoeboxed, and they’ll do it for you. The document management system is where all your receipts will go up, making it easy to sort them into different files. The managed files can be used in audits and for general tax compliance purposes.
Pros
- Mileage and expenditure tracking
- Shoeboxed can scan Magic EnvelopeTM receipts.
- Unlimited file storage
- QuickBooks Online, Xero integration
Cons
- Limited receipt processing
- Outdated support page
Pricing
Annually billing cycle:
- Startup: $23/month for 600 digital and 300 physical documents/year
- Professional: $47/month for 1,800 physical and digital documents/year
- Business: $71/month for 3,600 digital and physical documents/year
Features
Included with all subscription tiers is a feature called “Magic EnvelopeTM,” which is essentially a scanning service provided by Shoeboxed personnel on your behalf. Simply drop your documents into the Magic Envelope, and they’ll magically appear in your online Shoeboxed account. The receipts can be returned to you after processing if you choose.
Glean the information from scanned business cards. This makes finding people easy without having to shuffle through business cards.
Receipts can be submitted for processing via this mobile app by simply scanning them—both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Market feature the app.
Our Take
If you’re looking for software to help you manage receipts, go no further than Shoeboxed. Shoeboxed will manage your receipts, so you don’t have to, allowing you more time for other, more important activities. Now, all you have to do is sit back and wait for your receipts to be uploaded to your account.
Wave – Cloud-Based Accounting Software
Wave is free, cloud-based accounting software tailored to create invoices, and it also has a mobile app that can scan and upload receipts. You may also choose to upload a picture or PDF of the receipt instead.
Pros
- Free bookkeeping, invoicing, and mobile receipt scanning.
- Endless users
- Multi-currency
Cons
- Large enterprises can’t benefit
- No auditing or time tracking
Pricing
- Free bookkeeping, receipt scanning, and invoicing.
Features
- Basic accounting features: Wave can track sales, purchases, and banking activities. You can also generate conventional financial statements and specialized reports.
- Recurring bills: Wave can produce invoices automatically to recurring invoices to save time in the billing process. You can utilize this option for customers that pay a standard monthly price.
- Payroll: For a low price, you can outsource payroll to Wave and comply with tax regulations as well.
- Connectors: Wave features many integrations with third-party apps, including Shopify, Mailchimp, and Slack.
Our Take
Wave is what you need if all you need is the ability to manage receipts. Because of its costlessness, it’s ideal for startups, small businesses, and independent contractors. Take a picture of the receipt or save it as a PDF or image file to upload it.
Zoho Expense – Receipt Scanning App
A feature of the Zoho family of products, Zoho Expense, can scan and save digital copies of paper receipts for later use. Drag-and-drop receipt uploading and automatic receipt scanning are also possible. The reimbursement process can be sped up and made more convenient by allowing employees to upload scanned receipts.
Pros
- Premium and Enterprise plans offer unlimited scanning and storage
- Best for Zoho Books users
Cons
- Costly for small teams with minimal vendor bills
- Interface is confusing
- Complex learning curve
Pricing
Annually billing cycle:
- Free plan: Three users, 5GB receipt storage, 20 auto scans
Standard plan: $3 per active user each month; unlimited users, 5GB storage, 20 auto scans - Premium plan: $5 per active user per month; unlimited users, receipt storage; minimum of three users
- Enterprise plan: $8 per active user per month; unlimited users and receipt storage; minimum of 500 users
Features
The dashboard offers helpful information about expenses and special reports: real-time tracking of payments, reports, and other items.
Regarding reports, the expense approval flow is one of Zoho Expense’s strongest points. Expenses that comply with the company’s policies can be individually reviewed and approved. Approvers can easily reject reports without supporting evidence if a scanned receipt doesn’t accompany them.
If you’re concerned about the safety of your data when using Zoho, you should know that the service employs both SSL encryption and multi-factor authentication. Since Zoho supports SSO (single sign-on), existing users can log in with their existing credentials without registering a new account.
Our Take
To our fellow Zoho Books users: We strongly suggest you check out Zoho Expense. Because it allows you to review and process expenditures before they are recorded in the books, it is also an excellent auxiliary program to your leading accounting software and a great pre-accounting platform. It even helps lessen the accounting staff workload and guarantees accurate cost management.
Receipt Scanner Apps – Our Evaluation
We focused on its fundamental capabilities when evaluating receipt management’s usefulness for your company. These characteristics are:
Accounting software integration
For a more efficient process, the receipt management app must interact with your accounting program to transfer reports and documents for accounting. (Note: Because QuickBooks Online and Wave are accounting software systems, we did not utilize this criterion in our evaluation.)
Cost
A receipt management app is embedded into specific bookkeeping and cost management software. However, you may choose a third-party management tool if it provides more benefits at a higher cost.
Document management system
We looked for a document management system in standalone receipt scanning software that may help you arrange scanned documents into folders and categories for simple access.
Easy to modify and review
Aside from scanning capabilities, the app should provide a dashboard, analytic tools, and search options to allow users to examine, track rapidly, and amend the information. Furthermore, classifications and tags are included to facilitate data filtering.
Multiple capture options
The app must have different approaches for gathering data from receipts. It may either connect to a scanner or use your smartphone’s camera to scan images.
OCR-ready for line item extractions
Manually capturing data from receipts is time-consuming. To extract information from receipts, receipt management apps must have OCR capabilities. Furthermore, it must include intelligence features to extract information accurately into fields or categories.
When To Use a Receipt Scanner App
Do you allow remote employees to purchase supplies and charge them to your company? Even if you work from home, a receipt management app can assist you in processing costs.
A quick way to keep track of receipts
When you manage receipts, you can usually tie them to transactions. The receipt will be very easy to locate if the transaction is ever challenged.
Reduce paper costs
Traditionally, when it came to reimbursement, creating vouchers was the norm, but this practice only increased paper consumption. However, by utilising a receipt scanner and leveraging a receipt management app, you can effectively eliminate the need for paper and streamline the entire process, from recording expenditures to facilitating reimbursement.
You want to declutter your office
Receipts stacking up on your desk aren’t a nice sight. Almost all professionals would despise sorting through hundreds of receipts daily. Instead, you can scan these receipts and then discard them.
Takeaway!
Before settling on a receipt-scanning app, you should carefully examine your company’s workflow and needs. The receipt scanner apps we recommend all have helpful and promising features.
When deciding on software, it’s essential to consider how well it fits your needs, how much it will cost, and how much value it will add to your business. Once you’ve decided what features are most important to you, return here to this list and select the appropriate software. Want to get help from experts? Contact us here.
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