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Managing your receipts from your phone
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: March 13, 2015
Here are five phone apps that you can use to manage your receipts while you’re on the go. Each has different levels of functionality and learning curves, so try them all out to see which one might be right for you.
Receipts. The most basic app has the most basic name, is the simplest to use, but might be the one most people wind up preferring. Receipt uses your phone camera to capture a receipt, which you then categorize. The app then builds a comprehensive expense report. Free app. Use as soon as you download it—no account required.
OneReceipt also has basic functionality, allowing a user to photograph and tag the receipt, but it has the added feature of connecting directly to the user’s email account, so the receipt gets emailed to you. All digital and photographed receipts are stored in the cloud. iPhone only, at this point. Free app, needs you to open an account, can work off of your desktop, as well.
Shoeboxed also acts as a business card scanner and organizer. Among categories available are choosing whether the receipt is deductible or reimbursable. Creates expense reports. Also functions as a vehicle mileage tracker. Free app. You can also send the company a pile of receipts through the mail, which they will scan and organize for you. All receipts can be sent to your Gmail account and separately archived in a searchable cloud app. Powerful stuff for free.
Certify is a cloud-based receipt app accessible through any device. Each uploaded receipt comes with a list of questions that anyone auditing that account may want to know, so those kinds of details may be useful for some people. This app is highly customizable, and designed more for employees. Not free, but seems to be much more highly developed that the previous apps.
If you want a receipt tracker that is little more traditional, NeatReceipts is PC-based, not phone based, costs $180, and comes with its own scanner. It operates in the cloud. Its OCR turns each receipt (or business card, or other document) into a searchable document, the excellent scanner can read even faded receipts, is integrated into Quickbooks, and has a folder system to organize files. You get what you pay for, as my grandfather Max always said.