Believe it or not, receipts are not created just for the purpose of filling your wallet or purse with small pieces of paper for you to use to scribble out a last-minute shopping list!
Treated with the respect they truly deserve, receipts can help you out in a number of different ways.
- Records of major expenses: when it gets to tax time there are often a number of things you can claim a tax deduction on if you’ve spent over a certain amount. Whether it is money spent on medical, your home, your car, investments – having the receipt can help you work out your eligibility for refunds. We’d like to note that this is particularly relevant in the current climate where many of us are working from home and incurring costs that we wouldn’t normally incur.
- Warranties and insurance: when you spend money on valuable items it is possible you may need proof of purchase sometime in the future. So whether it is a new air fryer, a lap top for high school or an engagement ring, storing the receipts in a logical manner will be of benefit.
- Returns and exchanges: we have all bought a pair of jeans we loved in the store and hated when we got home. Receipts are the easiest way to prove proof of purchase and obtain a refund or credit on an item we bought and regretted. That same receipt is also useful if your purchase is faulty in same way.
- Budgeting: It’s not that exciting but it’s true – if you’re trying to get your head around what you’re spending your money on your bank statement might not give you all the information you need. Spending $100 at Big W is one thing but trying to remember later on what exactly that money was spent on is made much easier by checking the details on the receipt.
But the days of just shoving receipts into a shoebox and sorting it out at tax time is no longer the best way to manage your receipts. Technology has made the management of receipts into something much simpler and more accessible.
Below we’ve listed three receipt apps we think you’ll find useful.
- Genius Scan
This app can record several receipts at a time and integrates with Dropbox, Evernote and others. It has a simple interface which helps you record high quality copies of your receipts. It is also useful for saving supporting documents (such as warranties or user manuals). - Expensify
This app allows you to scan receipt, track business and personal expenses and even book travel. It also allows you to track mileage, integrate with accounting systems like Xero and Quickbooks and create custom reports. - Smart Receipt
Scan receipts, track mileage, generate expense reports and then file them into folders of your choosing to help you keep track of everything. This app also has tagging capabilities to help generate reports as needed.
We’d also like to highlight one more which is useful for people who need an app to track their receipts purely for business purposes:
- Abukai Expenses
This is for those of you who need to meticulously record expenditure for work so that it aligns with your companies polices and reporting procedures. It integrates with a number of accounting tools and can also be customised to work with systems such as SAP or Oracle.
Don’t forget – no matter which app you use – the key to success is actually using it!
Disclaimer: The ideas, discussions, options and details expressed in SCCU Blogs are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific personal advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security or investment product. We intended only to provide education about the financial and banking industry to make the complex simple, and help everyday customers realise their dreams.
