-This article was last updated on 20 September 2021-
There’s no doubt that expense management software has helped organisations of all sizes streamline staff time spent on handling expenses. The continuing advancement of cloud technology has played a major part in this software revolution. Yet there are some areas of record-keeping that are still living in the past. One such area is undoubtedly the way in which organisations store and communicate receipts. Is there also a way to save time in this area?
Saving Time with Receipt Scan Technology
Every business out there – whether sole trader or corporation – has an issue when it comes to receipts. For example, it’s not unusual to find many sole traders stuffing their receipts into a drawer until, once a year, they frantically tip out the contents to get their accounts in order. Or when a member of your financial department sits for hours capturing data from each crumpled up, faded receipt that has been meticulously collected from hundreds of staff members.
It doesn’t have to be like that; there is a better way. The proliferation of smartphones, with quality cameras, allows for the above process to be completely revolutionised. Software allows for a member of staff to take a quick photograph of their receipt and upload it to a cloud-based expense management software system. For the vast majority of expenses, HMRC accepts scanned copies. So, once you’ve got digital records of receipts, you can dispose of the paper copies. But the technology doesn’t just stop there.
Today’s receipt scan software can actually read the photograph of the receipt for the amount spent (including the currency), the merchant, the date, and the tax amount. This saves time within your organisation by virtually eliminating the need for data entry – allowing your organisation to wave goodbye to traditional, timely receipt handling.
The Simple Process Behind Receipt Scan Technology
The way in which receipts are handled within organisations has existed for decades; but, like every aspect of your business, time and speed are of great importance in today’s market. Yet that should never be substituted in place of a high degree of accuracy and competence either. Receipt scan technology can offer all of the above – time, speed, accuracy and competence. Here’s how the simple process works within ExpenseIn.
Your employee takes a photo of their receipt with the Android/iOS app.
The photo of the receipt is almost instantaneously scanned using the latest OCR technologies.
A member of the ExpenseIn team verifies your scanned receipt to ensure the highest level of accuracy. Don’t worry, we anonymise account and user information and our staff adhere to the strictest privacy and data protection policies.
When your employee is ready they can now make use of the scanned data saving them even more time when creating and submitting their expenses.
Your employee can recycle, lose or even give the paper copy back to the vendor – because there’s no more need for physical storage of receipts. ExpenseIn’s receipt scan technology can even scan PDF and email receipts.
