Advice On How Everyone Currently Manages Receipts

LWanderWoman on 19/05/2017 - 11:46

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum so wanted to say a quick hello and give a brief intro.

I'm working on a new project at the moment and something that came up again and again at work seems to be the different ways in which everyone manages receipts. My colleagues all seemed to be shocked when I suggested that I kept mine in my wallet or in my sock draw, whereas they seem to use a little bit more of a sophisticated system by means of a personal organizer or file.

I was wondering how everyone else currently keep track of them all?

Thanks

Sakhita

Financial

Comments

  • bobwokeup on 21/05/2017 - 15:18

    On the iPhone I use Scannable and then send it to Google Drive. In Google Drive, I have folders either by the financial year or by type (ie Home Related). Then most of the time I throw out the receipt.

    I've been using Google Drive for too long now but if I started again I would use Evernote. Scannable is designed to work best with Evernote I believe. Being able to search the content of receipts in Evernote is the main reason.

  • Oliver on 21/05/2017 - 18:10
    +5

    It should be illegal for businesses to use thermal printers as these shitty receipts fade so fast. Receipts should be permanent if you take care of them and file them away yet even doing this doesn't prevent fade.

  • sparkles on 21/05/2017 - 18:31

    Plastic shopping bag. Not recommended.

  • Piranha2004 on 21/05/2017 - 19:37

    Manila folder with receipts (anything for non groceries) . Important ones are scanned and sent to email. Utilities are separated by paperclips/butterfly clips.

  • gimme on 21/05/2017 - 22:02
    +1

    Everthing (not just receipts) scanned encrypted and kept on nas and cloud for redundancy. I keep no hard copies of anything unless legally necessary. ie passport. Initially spent 3 months doung it, now it's just easy to maintain.
    Lol i haven't even seen a manila folder in 10 years.

  • Gelato on 21/05/2017 - 22:17

    I use mobile Apps Cam Scanner to scan important receipts, and pretty much that's it. Will print them out when it is required (e.g. warranty, tax deduction, etc)
    For some items i do track my expenses and i have a personal excel spreadsheet for that. Will input the amount from receipt to the file and chuck the receipts..

  • Munki on 21/05/2017 - 23:02

    Scanned and stored electronically.

    E.g. Purchased item name - date.pdf

  • stickyfingers on 21/05/2017 - 23:49

    For my business, I have a folder of receipts with subfolders named yyyymmdd_1 where '1' increments if there were multiple receipts for that day.
    Within that folder is a jpeg, pdf, etc named yyyymmdd_1_1 where the last '1' increments if there are multiple files for the purchase (eg, EFTPOS receipt and tax invoice).
    Then I add a record to a table in my SQL database with the seller's name and invoice date and file name. Then add items from that invoice as assets to another table and reference that invoice record.

  • everypenny on 22/05/2017 - 00:20

    Take a pic and send to an email address dedicated for Receipts.

  • movieman on 22/05/2017 - 08:26

    Physical reciepts… Totally, sorted every month,with a coverpage summary.

    All online purchases go into my email folder ie "2017 Purchases".

    Recently needed to return a faulty vacuum to ALDI and it was really quick to find.

  • ruddiger7 on 22/05/2017 - 09:51

    Manilla folder, I even print my digital receipts to add to this but I dont have heaps (probably 20 or so a year for tax purposes), the rest I keep for warranty and whatnot.

  • bonezAU on 22/05/2017 - 12:00
    +3

    I give them to my wife. When I need them again to take something back because it's broken, I just ask her for it and it magically appears. This is the best system I've ever used, would recommend 10/10.

    • Munki on 30/05/2017 - 09:21

      So your wife's services are open to the OzB community?

      • bonezAU on 30/05/2017 - 09:22

        Not all of them.

  • iDroid on 22/05/2017 - 12:48

    Shoe box, open lid, put on top, close lid.

    Are naturally chronologically ordered.

    Receipts for trivial amounts and groceries go in the bin.

    This has worked great for the past 20 years, will keep this going.

    Every few years get a new shoe box, start a new and keep older ones just-in-case.

    • cupcake on 22/05/2017 - 13:05
      +1

      Try it with no lid. Even easier when it's on a shelf. Chuck receipts straight in!

  • Austrian Oak on 22/05/2017 - 14:16

    SmartReceipts. A program for Android. It's awesome, take a photo, put in some details and it creates a database which you can export later on.
    I create a folder for each month and it automatically tallys your expenses.

    It's seriously awesome, even my accountant loves it. :)

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wb.receipts&hl…

  • hummel on 22/05/2017 - 15:11
    +1

    I use Expensify for my work related receipts.

    Find it good for fuel, travel, accommodation etc - Take a photo and at the end of the months it's put into a .pdf that I send to accounts!

  • nickj on 22/05/2017 - 16:12

    I always get a receipt for anything more than a few dollars, and have 3 tiers of receipts, applied in order:

    1) Anything tax-deductible goes in the tax folder.
    2) Anything that's long-lasting durable goods for the household (e.g. fridge, vacuum, washing machine) I staple the receipt to the manual and file it.
    3) The rest: the 99% that's left is for non-tax-deductible and non-durable goods (e.g. groceries, clothes receipts, even restaurant receipts), and that goes in a concertina folder, with 20 sections. Receipts are filed by month, and when all sections are filled I just loop back to the beginning, and shred then recycle all the old receipts that are now 20 months old to clear out a month's section.

    I think 1) and 2) are pretty standard, but 3) works incredibly well - it prevents endless building up of receipts, it's very low-effort, but easy to retrieve, and surprisingly often I can and do retrieve receipts for faulty items or unused items, and return them to the store. If a non-grocery item hasn't been used within a month or two it usually goes back (most likely we never needed it in the first place), and if it's faulty within 12 months it goes back for a refund or replacement. For returns, it's always easier with the original receipt.

    It's also handy sometimes when I get the credit card statement and cannot identify a transaction, I can verify that I did make that transaction, and the paper receipts usually have more clues about what it was for.

    And 20 months or sections is probably overkill - probably 12 sections would be ideal, as most returns or faults happen within the first 3 months of purchase.

  • DollarSnake on 22/05/2017 - 16:46
    +1

    I use google drive. Ive created folders. the root directory is receipts, then below that are the financial years. go into the folder you want, hit scan, take a photo of the receipt, google analyses the text and stores it, the receipt becomes searchable.
    https://www.wired.com/2016/04/scan-search-pdfs-google-drive-…

  • redpump on 22/05/2017 - 17:01

    I keep them in Manilla folders sorted by company. When it becomes too full I data entry it to my excel sheet, after that I put them into a box labelled "receipts".

  • letmesingh on 22/05/2017 - 17:25

    I was thinking to design an app that can scan receipts and organise them by dates, categories and do some maths too tell the user how much he spent on what. Designed 2 screens. but been 2 busy to design more

    • iDroid on 23/05/2017 - 11:58

      There are already lots of these apps.

      • letmesingh on 23/05/2017 - 12:01

        yea I noticed. I had that Idea back in 2011 when I worked for a app design studio in India

  • dbun1 on 22/05/2017 - 20:16
    +1

    I use ScannerPro (by readdle) to scan my receipts. I have a "workflow" setting to auto rename the scan and upload it to my Google Drive in a Receipts folder.

    It works, but I know it's not the best method.

  • factor on 23/05/2017 - 11:35

    Why keep any receipt?

    My electronic equipment is all purchased online during a sale. Receipt in email. Don't sort it, search on the tiny chance you ever need it again.

    Spend control - review credit card online weekly. I don't use cash anymore. I also use credit card chargeback ruthlessly on any shop that doesn't follow the rules (they negotiate much better after I'm holding the money rather than them).

    If you must have the tax invoice - Expensify and similar are good. Photo at the checkout, let the store keep the dead tree. That helps you categorise for financual purposes of reimbursement or tax.

  • iamw0man on 30/05/2017 - 09:23

    Dropbox YYYY.MM.DD-[Business]-[ReceiptType]

  • thydzik on 02/06/2017 - 11:04

    scan with OCR and a good file name.

  • Debt Free on 24/02/2023 - 15:15

    just a tin— and now they are all faded? Why do they give us receipts that fade so fast

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