How to Keep Receipts Organized - Tax Solutions Canadataxsolutionscanada.com/.../04/E-Book-How-to-Keep-Receipts-Organi… · 3 Tax Solutions Canada - 1220 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 300

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Tax Solutions Canada - 1220 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario M2K 2S5 Tel: 1-888-868-1400 Fax: 416-496-9651 Email: [email protected]

How to Keep Receipts

Organized:

Valuable Free Apps That Make

Keeping and Maintaining

Receipts Effortless

mailto:[email protected]

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Table of Contents Overview

Page Number 3

Shoeboxed 4 OneReceipt 5 Receipts by Wave 6 Digital Receipts 7 Expensify 8 Smart Receipts 9 Conclusion 10 Author Bio 11-12


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Overview

If you do not track your expenses you will not be able to support your tax

deductions – and CRA can assess you penalties and interest. The good news is that

the days of an accordion file or separate envelopes for every different type of

claim are gone.

There are countless finance tracking expense apps available. The big “but” is that

they are not all created equal – far from it actually. This e-guide will give you a

breakdown of our favourite apps, how they work, and the pros and cons to help

you narrow down your search.

Some different apps for organizing

recipets:

Shoeboxed

OneReceipt

Receipts by Wave

Digital Receipts

Expensify

Smart Receipts


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Shoeboxed

What it is?

Shoeboxed is a photo scanning app for iOS and Android.

Once you have downloaded the free app, you simply open it

on your device and scan the document.

How it works

When you scan a receipt, business card, or other important document to the app,

the data retrieved and the important information (vendor, total, date, payment

type, etc.) is extracted and verified to ensure accuracy. This information is then

logged and categorized to make is searchable and to keep it organized.

Pros/Cons

We like this app, firstly, because it is free. There is no trial for the DIY package,

which lets you submit up to 5 receipts per month, and the information is extracted

by a Shoebox team member. With this package you also get unlimited document

storage and access to all of their add-ons.

However, after you have met your 5 receipt per month limit, you can still scan the

receipts, you just have to do the extracting and logging on your own. This is ok if

you have the time, but if you are getting the app in order to have this work done

for you, you will have to go with the premium plan.

Ideal for the small or mid-sized business - premium plans start at $9.95/month for

50 documents processed, to $99.95/month for up to 1000 documents processed.

Other additions included in the premium plans include QuickBooks integration and

tax advice.


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OneReceipt What is it?

OneReceipt is an iOS app that lets you track and store

spending as well as manage your bank and credit card

statements. The features allow for categorization, making it

easy to search and file both new and older receipts.

How it works

OneReceipt lets you import receipts a few different ways.

Obviously taking a picture is the simplest way to import

paper receipts, but you can also track email receipts (which

the app automatically pulls in), or you can manually enter

the information on your own.

Pros/Cons

We like OneReceipt because it is extremely easy to use, both in its ability to import

pictures as well as its logging methods and tracking tools. A month-end spending

report keeps you up to date, and the ability to separate purchases, even on the

same receipt, to help manage, for example, business vs. personal expenses, is also

incredibly handy.

For the cons, the manual entry form could be a bit more robust. Also, the app does

not offer customization, so tailoring the organizational tools to suit your needs is

not possible. Furthermore, older versions of iOS, do not support OneReceipt.

As far as costs, OneReceipt is completely free.


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Receipts by Wave

What is it?

Receipts by Wave was created by Wave Accounting Inc. This app allows you to

easily track and categorize all of your purchases and then connects them to your

small business accounting.

Receipts by Wave is available for iOS and Android users.

How it works

When you snap a picture of a receipt, Receipts by

Wave uses character recognition technology to

analyze the information and organize it. The original

image is then stored in the system if you need to

access it later.

Pros/Cons

Receipts by Wave’s ‘Freemium’ account is completely free, the only additional add-

on being the payroll option, which starts at $9 a month. Unlike some other apps, it

can download your most recent transactions from the bank and credit card

companies, which is really convenient.

Cons – some users have companied about inconsistencies when it comes to

updating bank accounts, so be wary of this. Also, there is no automatic log-off with

Wave, which can be especially problematic for an accounting/finance app.

Furthermore, your initial account set-up has to be done from the website – it can’t

be done from the app itself. It is also sponsored by an accounting company and it is

unclear if and how they might plan to use your information.


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Digital Receipts

What is it?

Like so many of the other apps looked at in this e-guide, Digital Receipts is an app

that lets you organize and track spending by collecting and logging your receipts.

Digital Receipts is available for iOS and Android.

How it works

When you take a picture of a receipt, or by using the

Touch-and-Go tagging technology (where available), the

app collects those receipts digitally. Those purchases can

then be logged and categorized to help manage your

weekly/monthly purchases.

Pros/Cons

Besides the big advantage of being free, Digital Receipts offer a number of features

that put it at the top of our list. You can stitch together multiple images for longer

receipts, and can easily search receipts by store name or label.

We also like that the app will generate expense reports as CSV (Concurrent

Versions System) for excel or PDF file – this can save you a great deal of time. The

information within these reports can be filtered by label and time period.

Although the Touch-and-Go technology is great, not all (or even many) stores seem

to have introduced it yet, so taking advantage of those benefits can be tough.


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Expensify

What is it?

Expensify is an app that (surprise,

surprise) lets you track and categorize

expenses.

Expensify is available to both iOS and Android users.

How it works

First, you sign up for an account, and use the web interface to enter and organize

expenses. You can use your mobile device to take photos of receipts and upload

them to your account. Once all of your purchases are uploaded, you can log into

your account, categorize those purchases and create a report.

Expensify does not automatically categorize the information – you have to

manually do this yourself, but it gives you the ability to add additional information

that you perhaps would not be able to with some of the other apps listed here.

Pros/Cons

There are several pros here, including the fact that you can import expenses

automatically from a credit card. The app lets you track email receipts as well,

which can be forwarded straight from your email account to your Expensify

account and then entered and categorized.

The app also offers seamless QuickBooks integration – a major bonus.


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Expensify is totally free for personal use, but if you want to upgrade to a Team Plan

or Corporate Plan, there are additional costs per user ($6 and $11 per month

respectively).

As far as cons go, Expensify does not support taxes as a separate line item, so this

can be an issue if you are looking for something specific to keep track of taxes

separately – it doesn’t support HST tracking in Canada.

Smart Receipts What is it?

Smart Receipts is a receipt scanner and expense report

generator that lets you organize your purchases into a

handy, easy-to-read report that can be emailed to you

at the end of every week.

How it works

Smart Receipts lets you take pictures of your receipts

and then email them to yourself in PDF or CSV format. PDF reports are tabulated

to improve readability and look professional so that expense reports can be

submitted.

Pros/Cons

Smart Receipt is simple and easy to use. Automatic categorization helps you save

time by sorting purchases depending on the time of day, etc. (i.e. lunch, dinner).

These categories are fully customizable.

Purchasing the full version ($3.31) supports further development of Smart

Receipts, and eliminates ads.

Smart Receipts seems to be the most basic of the apps examined here, but if all

you want to do is track spending and generate reports, simple is probably the best

way to go!


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Smart Receipts is only available for Android users.

Conclusion

There are so many different expense

tracking apps available in the

marketplace that it can be incredibly

difficult to choose one that meets your

needs most effectively.

Using an app to store and organize

your receipts will make you more efficient, but the right app for you will depend on

your goals. Are you using QuickBooks? Does QuickBooks integration matter? If so,

this reduces your options down to two apps that we reviewed in this e-guide. This

is just one example of things that you should consider when selecting the right app

for you.

We hope that this review of a number of different apps for storing and organizing

your receipts digitally helps you narrow down that long list of potential contenders.

With tax time just around the corner, it is probably becoming pretty clear that a

system to track your spending is crucial, so start tracking now for next year and

reap the benefits.


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Author Bio

James Bell is the Director of Tax Solutions at Tax Solutions

Canada.

A member of the Farber Financial Group, Tax Solutions

Canada is a firm that helps individuals and businesses

struggling with tax problems ranging from small matters

to the most complex negotiations.

Prior to James’ tenure at Tax Solutions Canada, James

worked in increasingly senior roles across many departments at Canada Revenue

Agency, including but not limited to: Audit, Investigations, Enforcement and

Appeals.

Through Tax Solutions Canada, James brings to bear his outstanding technical

knowledge, negotiation skills and deep understanding of the CRA processes and

mindset to assist individuals and businesses who:

Are at risk of being accused of tax evasion

Are being notionally assessed by CRA

Are dealing with CRA audits and/or investigations

Want to file an objection to an assessment or an audit

Want to apply for Taxpayer Relief

Want to apply for Voluntary Disclosure

Want to negotiate regarding the removal/reduction of enforcement action

such as wage garnishments and liens on houses

Want to negotiate payment plans and more…

In addition to working with the public, Tax Solutions Canada also supports

accountants, legal professionals, mortgage brokers and other financial

professionals in helping their clients put an end to their tax problems.


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If you would like to contact James for a free consultation:

Call: 1-888-868-1400

Email: [email protected]



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How to Keep Receipts Organized - Tax Solutions Canadataxsolutionscanada.com/.../04/E-Book-How-to-Keep-Receipts-Organi… · 3 Tax Solutions Canada - 1220 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 300