Blog

Did you know that 50% of small business expenses are generated on the go? It’s no wonder the majority of expense receipts end up shoved in coat pockets or an old shoebox.

In spite of all of the high-tech options out there, 47% of small businesses are still using spreadsheets for expense management, leaving room for errors that could really hurt their bottom line come tax time.

Let’s be honest, it’s hard to get excited about expense tracking software. For employers, the goal is to keep up-to-the-minute financial records; for employees, they just want to upload their receipts or get reimbursed in a timely manner without tearing their hair out.

Why not take the uncertainty and disorganization out of expense tracking by going mobile?

These five apps can be used anywhere, anytime, to ensure no penny goes unlogged or unclaimed.

1. Hubdoc: eliminate data entry

Hubdoc extracts key information from your receipts, invoices, and bills. No more data entry, no more filing.

Like a great personal assistant, Hubdoc does it for you.

Publish your docs and their data directly to accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks Online and Bill.com. Use Hubdoc’s Supplier Rules to automate how receipts, bills and statements are coded.

Simply take a photo of your receipt, invoice or bill with our mobile app and throw out the paper copy. Hubdoc scans, extracts and stores your documents, ready to be published.

When you sign up, Hubdoc automatically creates a personalized email address just for you. Email in your documents and they’ll do the rest.

If you’ve already scanned your receipts, invoices, statements or bills, you can upload them directly to Hubdoc and they’ll extract the key data for you.

2. Dext (Receipt Bank)

With Dext, you can easily do away with expense-related data entry altogether. Simply snap a photo of your receipt and submit it for processing; the app automatically extracts all relevant data including vendor, total amount, payment method, and date.

Connect with your accounting software or e-commerce platform in one click. Push accurate, categorised data to Xero, QuickBooks or whichever platform you choose.

3. Expensify: your “virtual accountant”

Expensify makes it easy to capture receipts, record business-related mileage, log billable hours, and more. Stand-out features of this app include:

• SmartScan technology that “reads” your receipt and creates an expense automatically;
• GPS mileage tracking to automatically calculate distance traveled for work;
• Bank and credit card import (the app can automatically pull all your business transactions into your Expensify account).

Budget-conscious business owners take note: Expensify’s SmartScan feature allows 10 free scans per month.

4. AutoEntry: “easier lives”

AutoEntry captures the data from your invoices, receipts and bank statements; you categorize them and then publish them through to your accounting software or share with your accountant.

This removes the grind, pain and hassle of manual data entry.

• Photograph, scan or email the documents
• Let AutoEntry do the data entry work for you
• Publish results to accounting software

5. Shoeboxed: the “ultimate receipt-manager”

Like Dext, Shoeboxed allows you to snap a picture of your receipt, and then the app extracts vital information for you. This tool also allows you to create an expense report on your phone in a matter of seconds, using your stored images.

Another great feature is a searchable, categorized archive of logged receipts, which facilitates expense-exporting into Xero, QuickBooks, Wave Accounting and Excel.

With mobile apps like these, you’ll never lose track of a receipt or claimable expense ever again. Here’s to building your business with smart technology that moves as quickly as you do!