While there are a lot of competitors for the title “lifeblood of a small business”, “receipts” definitely have to be near the top. Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker looks to make keeping track of all those receipts a whole lot easier.
Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker & Receipt Reader does, pretty much, exactly what the name implies. It allows users to take pictures of receipts with their smartphones and then have those receipts converted, automatically, into searchable data that can be compiled into easy to work with reports that can be further converted into Excel spreadsheets or the like, making tax time a whole lot easier. No scanning, no data entry, no endless key punching, just receipts turned into easy to use reports.
It only gets better when you consider that the service itself is free, as is the app. However, there are some down sides to this. For instance, the service is free, but you’d better not have more than 60 receipts to generate in a year’s time, because the free service only allows users to generate five document scans a month. The paid services, not surprisingly, offer much, much more scanning; the Lite service steps up to $9.95 and allows 50 scans a month. Classic offers 150 scans at $29.95 a month, and Business allows for 500 scans a month at $49.95 a month.
Additionally, there is turnaround time associated with these scans; the Lite service, for example, can take up to five business days to return scans from user receipts, so bear that in mind before choosing a service. In many cases, that lag may not matter so much, but at the same time, it’s important to note just in case it should ever prove to be important.
As vital as the proper management of source documents is, especially around tax time, it’s not just receipt management that can make or break a business; cloud-based telephony tools like hunt groups and find-me follow-me systems also help keep a business up and running by making it a lot easier for customers to get in touch with the people that are most likely to help them make purchases, and by extension, keep your business running.
While Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker may not be without its flaws, there’s no denying that keeping track of those expenses will not only make things easier for your small business, but will also go a long way toward making it better. Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker is one great place to start considering a receipt management system.