Scanning and storing receipts

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ianh100
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Scanning and storing receipts

Post by ianh100 »

In previous years I have kept paper receipts and referenced then in a spread sheet for my accounting.

I would rather store everything electronically but not sure the best way to manage that. Do any of you scan and store receipts? How do you link them back to the list of expenses in your accounts?

I currently have a spreadsheet that records the date, value, purpose for each item. I am scanning all receipts and storing in a folder using a file name that includes the date, value and purpose. This is still a painful process.

Any suggestions on how to do this more elegantly would be most welcome.
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teapot
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Post by teapot »

Years ago I used paperport for exactly that, one hard drive failure later, I am back with receipts and a folder.
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Zingara
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Post by Zingara »

And I do both...how sad is that!

I have to e-mail them to my French accountant, so do them in batches during the year...and have an external drive on auto-back-up...they'll still catch me out somehow...
sparkJS
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Xero

Post by sparkJS »

I use Xero for this. You can buy other apps which are easier however this is included in the price of Xero which I can get for £9 a month.

You can use it as an app on your phone. Snap the receipt. And then when your bank transaction comes through on the bank feed you match it.

I throw away all receipts. I'd lose them anyway
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e-richard
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Re: Scanning and storing receipts

Post by e-richard »

ianh100 wrote:..Any suggestions on how to do this more elegantly would be most welcome.
Realistically one is only keeping all the detailed receipts for the very rare occasion that you are audited by the Inland Revenue.

Should that happen, I would show them a neat printout of the summary accounts and hand over either a cardboard box of paper receipts or a USB stick and say: "There, all the evidence is in that, go find it !"

Just my 2c worth.
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zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Here is a post by Newtimber from a previous thread on exactly the same subject
Essar wrote:
Like everyone else I log all my receipts, income & expenditure and give that to the accountant to sort out the tax return. I keep all receipts in a box for each year. I would leave it to Herbert to match them up to the log with just the advice that the most recent are on the top! Laughing


Unfortunately, Herbert will choose a few payments that he thinks look suspicious and ask you to produce just those receipt(s). It is you who has to look through the box to find them.
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Jenny C
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Post by Jenny C »

I scan all of my receipts, and discard the original. I write a numerical reference on the receipt before scanning it, and this reference is entered onto my spreadsheet expense listing.

As long as you have a digital version of the receipt, HMRC do not require you to keep the original. Indeed, till receipt ink fades over time and therefore storing receipts digitally is far more likely to mean that a receipt is readable in future years.

I am an accountant, and much prefer to deal with digital records from clients than boxes full of receipts!

As long as you have a good backup system on your PC, then there should be no worry about keeping receipts digitally.
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