Starting today, you do.

Here’s how to manage receipts for small business, personal or any other purpose faster and more efficiently so you can get back to living your life.

Dump the clutter

First thing’s first – you need to figure out the best way to manage receipts you already have before you can deal with any new receipts coming in.

Whether you have alphabetized receipts stored in filing cabinets, or a big ‘ol pile of paper scattered across your desk, the first step in how to manage receipts is to go paperless.

• Scan each receipt into a digital record using a traditional desktop scanner or the camera on your smartphone.
• Use a service like Shoeboxed to mass-upload all of your receipts for you. Simply dump your receipts into the Shoeboxed Magic Envelope, drop the envelope in the mail, and watch as your account is magically populated with all of your receipts and data.
• Recycle all of that paper and clear the way for a more organized receipt management future.

Set up systems

Clearing the clutter is only half the battle. There’s no point in getting rid of all your receipts only to start collecting new ones. Set up systems to manage what happens to a receipt every time you receive one.

For example, every time you’re handed a receipt you could…

1. Add your name to the vendor’s email list to receive future receipts by email.
2. Snap a photo of the receipt with your smartphone.
3. Recycle the receipt BEFORE getting back in your car or returning home.
4. Log-in to your receipt management software program or app and modify the transaction details as needed.

You could also implement a similar system involving a desktop scanner or mobile receipt scanner. The key is developing simple tasks that you’re likely to do on a regular basis. Create systems that complement your lifestyle and habits, which will make it easier to keep receipts organized.

Choose the right tools

When wondering how to manage receipts, you might feel like you’re drowning in a sea of paper clutter. The right tools, however, can serve as organizational lifeboats to help you manage, organize, and digitize your receipts with top-rated technology and the best receipt scanning apps out there.

If you want to do more than merely scan a receipt, you need technology that lets you work with the scanned data. What’s more, you need robust tools that connect the information on your receipt with your accounting software, invoicing software, and other financial applications.

In addition to Shoeboxed, there are a number of receipt-scanning apps that digitize data and have integrations with Quickbooks, Evernote, Outright, Wave, Scansnap, and more. Choose a receipt scanning tool that integrates with your accounting software to make receipt management even more powerful.

When you mass-dump paper clutter, set up systems to prevent future clutter, and use tools to make the most of receipt scanning technology, you can easily manage receipts without losing your mind.

Whether you’re a busy business owner or a work-from-home mom, you need a convenient, reliable way to transform your paper receipts into digital documents that can be retrieved whenever you want, from wherever you want.

Here are the top 5 qualities to consider when looking for the best receipts app:

1. Convenience

A great receipt scanner app will make your life easier, not harder.

The best apps allow you to instantly digitize your paper receipts by snapping a photo with your smartphone or scanning to your PC. This process should be easy, seamless, and stress-free, and require the least amount of effort on your part.

2. Cost

There’s a wide range of costs when it comes to receipt scanning apps. Some are free, but lack the robust storage and security you need to keep your sensitive info safe. Others are overpriced or only cost-effective for big businesses.

The best app for receipts is one with a range of pricing options to fit your budget. Look for one that offers a free app download for your devices along with monthly pricing plan choices.

3. Multi-platform functionality

You can’t just download a receipt app to your phone or tablet and call it a day.

Why?

Because receipts creep up in every area of your life, and require a multi-tiered approach to their management. For instance, you might get handed a receipt at the gas station, emailed a receipt from an online subscription, and dumped with a stack of paper receipts to be sorted at work.

A great receipt app will have you covered no matter where the receipts are coming from. Shoeboxed has a smartphone app, but they also offer done-for-you receipt scanning and traditional scanning options.

With this service, you can

• Dump receipts and stacks of paper in an envelope, drop the envelope in the mail, and have everything scanned for you while you sleep
• Snap photos of receipts with your phone or tablet while you’re on the go
• Scan receipts yourself from your home or office scanner

Look for a receipt app that offers all of these options and more.

4. Security

Did you know that the IRS accepts electronic versions of your receipts? You can now digitize just about anything and everything, making receipt scanning a great way to stay organized and clutter-free.

But what happens to all of your sensitive information when you scan it to the cloud? If you choose the best app for receipts, your credit card info, social security number, and other sensitive financial information will remain secure.

Look for an app that guarantees your security with SSL encryption and TRUSTe certification.

5. Flexibility

A great receipt scanning app won’t only scan receipts. Look for an app that can handle business cards, bank statements, and all types of hard copy clutter.

Which receipt scanning apps have you tried before? What did you love or hate the most? Let us know in the comments below!

While there are dozens of different receipt scanning options available, many of them are complicated, expensive, or just plain confusing.

Here’s what to look for when choosing receipt scanning software to get organized:

• User-friendly – Great receipt software is easy to use and has an interface that allows you to hit the ground running. This means that from the first receipt you scan, you can easily see how your info is stored, organize and categorize each receipt, and pull up individual receipts by amount, date, or company.

• Powerful – The best receipt software will give you a powerful interface for scanning and storing receipts. You’ll have lots of storage space, enhanced security, and be able to scan/upload stacks of paper receipts quickly.

• Integrated – The receipt scanning software you choose should offer lots of different integrations. Once you scan and upload receipts, you’re going to need to extract the information from those receipts and use it to complete your taxes, create budgets, or track spending. Make sure the software you choose offers integrations with QuickBooks, Evernote, and all of your most-used apps.

• Flexible– There are many different ways to digitize receipts, so your receipt software should offer flexible scanning options. Whether you want to scan stacks of paper receipts using your scanner at home or quickly upload a receipt using your smartphone on the go, the software you choose should be able to do both.
  The Neat system is useful if you want to do the scanning yourself. But if you want more flexible receipt scanning, Shoeboxed is a great option because you can digitize your receipts from anywhere – at home, from your phone, or by outsourcing the job entirely using the Shoeboxed Magic Envelope. This option lets you dump all of your receipts into a big envelope, which gets mailed to Shoeboxed and scanned into your account by their team.

• Secure – In the age of identity theft, security is more important than ever in online applications. But it’s especially important to consider when you’re looking for the best receipt software. Since receipts contain personal information like your name, credit card number, and where you shop, it’s crucial to choose software with enhanced security to protect your sensitive information.

Once you have found receipt scanning software that is user-friendly, powerful, integrated, flexible, and secure, make sure the price is right. Choosing a subscription-based software solution is usually the most cost-effective way to go, because it lets you pay based on how many receipts you scan or how much storage you need. A receipt scanning service like Shoeboxed starts at just $9.95/month – not bad when you consider how much time, energy, and money gets wasted searching for lost receipts!

Armed with the right receipt software, you’ll be able to get organized and go paperless faster than you ever thought possible.

There’s more to being clutter-free than the requisite sweeping and mopping. A truly clean house can only be achieved when you establish easy-to-follow systems that prevent the buildup of clutter and keep your home free of both dirt and distractions.

Here’s a proven 3-step system for preventing clutter before it starts and creating the kind of peaceful, organized house you’ve been dreaming about:

Step one: Assign homes within your home

The first step to decluttering is to assign every object in your home its own home.

This means that everything – from a pair of scissors to an old stack of photos – has a home where it “lives” and where it’s meant to be.

Items without homes quickly turn into random clutter that makes your house look disorganized. Invest in organizing bins, toss what you don’t need, and feel free to make use of a good old-fashioned label gun when creating homes for everything you own.

Step two: Digitize your documents

The second answer to the question of how to keep a clean house is to digitize your paper documents.

Paper is a huge culprit in keeping homes cluttered and disorganized. Bills pile up, stacks of receipts line the kitchen table, and before you know it, your home looks more like a disorganized office than an inviting place to relax.

Use a service like Shoeboxed to quickly and easily scan your paper documents. Simply snap a photo of each document with your smartphone, or drop piles of paper into Shoeboxed’s Magic Envelope.

The company will digitize all of your paper documents into data within a secure account without you having to do any heavy lifting.

What’s more, the digital versions of your documents are legally binding, allowing you to scan and then recycle 90% of the paper in your house – even bank statements and tax records!

Step three: Create ongoing systems

Assigning homes within your home and digitizing your paper documents will clear out any remaining clutter and give you the truly clean home you’ve been looking for.

But how do you prevent clutter from coming back?

You need to create ongoing systems that make it easy for you and your family to keep the house clean.

Look at the items that most frequently clutter up your living room, dining room, office, or bedroom. Then, create specific systems that dictate where the item should be at all times, whether it’s being used or not.

For instance, you could create systems for how to handle paper receipts every time you get one. You might scan them to your Shoeboxed account, file them in a specific folder, or recycle them.

Another system that works well for keeping a clean house is to establish specific “drop zones” for items like shoes, purses, and coats.

It’s practically impossible to learn how to keep a clean house if your cleaning efforts stop with the mop and broom.

Dig deeper to create systems of organization that prevent clutter, make papers go “poof!”, and give you the kind of organized home you’ve been longing for.

But if you’re currently buried under piles of paper clutter, cleaning house can be frustrating and it can be overwhelming to know how to dig yourself out.

Not only do you have to clear the clutter you already have; you must implement systems to keep those paper stacks from coming back.

Luckily, it’s possible to completely clean house with nothing but a scanner, your smartphone, and a recycle bin.

Step One: Scan What You Need to Save

Nearly every document you need to save can be scanned and stored in its digital version. The IRS accepts digital receipts with your tax documents, and nearly every type of digital document is now accepted as legally binding, as long as it’s legible.

This means that you can scan nearly every scrap of paper in sight, freeing up precious space in your home or office and creating a more organized, harmonious environment.

If you have large amounts of paper to scan, you may want to use a service like Shoeboxed to scan everything for you.

Shoeboxed will provide you with “magic envelopes” for all your clutter. All you have to do is drop your papers into the envelope, drop the envelope in the mail, then sit back and relax as the Shoeboxed team scans and digitizes all of your documents to a secure cloud-based account.

Step Two: Recycle the Remains

Once you’ve figured out how to clean house with your scanner or a document scanning service, it’s time to truly clear the clutter!

Recycle all of the documents that have been successfully scanned, making sure you have high-quality digital versions saved on your hard drive and in the Cloud.

Keep in mind that you may want to shred sensitive financial documents before recycling them.

Step Three: Create a New System

There’s no point in cleaning house and going paperless if the clutter simply creeps back in over time.

In order to maintain a workspace that’s consistently free and clear, it’s crucial to look at how you got into this (paper) mess in the first place.

Once you’re able to identify where the majority of the clutter is coming from, you can tackle it head on and prevent it from returning.

For instance, if you seem to collect a large number of receipts, put rules in place for digitization as soon as someone hands you one.

Instead of stuffing the receipt in your purse or wallet, tossing it in your car, and dragging it back into your home or office, use a receipt scanning app on your smartphone in the same way you used a scanner in Step One.

Besides scanning your documents for you, Shoeboxed also has an app that lets you snap a photo of a receipt with your smartphone and automatically beam the information to your account. This means you can toss the receipt before you’ve even left the store, preventing paper clutter from returning.

If you’ve been wondering how to clean house, remember to scan and digitize what needs to be saved, recycle the hard copies, and maintain your clutter-free space by implementing easy-to-follow, clutter-free systems.

Creating a completely paperless workspace is a lot easier than you think.

What’s more, going paperless will save you money, help you stay organized, and increase your focus and productivity.

Here’s how to go paperless in just 3 easy steps:

Step One: Take Inventory

The first step to going paperless at home or at work is taking inventory of the paper clutter you’ve already accumulated.

Whether you have file cabinets that are bursting to the brim, or just a messy desk, your first job is to decide what needs to be kept and what can be recycled.

Sort all of your papers, files, receipts, and business cards into two piles: one for recycling and one for paperless processing.

Once you’re clear on what you need to keep, it’s time to move on to Step Two.

Step Two: Clear the Clutter

In Step One, you created a pile (or garbage bag-full) of documents that were important enough to keep.

But when you go paperless, the truth is that you won’t really “keep” any of your paper documents – at least not in hard copy form.

It’s possible to securely store important documents by converting them to digital documents instead. This will save you space while ensuring that your documents are never lost or damaged. When thinking about how to go paperless, digital documents are the answer!

You have many options for clearing paper clutter by digitizing your documents.

You can….

• scan everything and save it on your computer
• use a receipt scanning service
• snap photos of your documents with your smartphone

Whether you decide to use a service or do it yourself, make sure the documents you scan are organized, stored, and backed up in a secure cloud-based system like iCloud or Google Drive.

Once your paper documents have been scanned, organized, and stored, feel free to recycle everything and further reduce the burden of paper clutter.

Finally, keep in mind that the IRS accepts digital versions of receipts and other documents for tax purposes. Unless it’s an original birth certificate, a deed to a home, or a car title, almost all paper documents can and should be digitized.

Step Three: Create Paperless Systems

In Steps One and Two, you cleared paper clutter from your workspace or home.

But how to go paperless permanently and make sure the clutter doesn’t start to creep back into your life?

The answer lies in creating paperless systems.

Take a look at the systems you currently have in place (i.e. the systems that created the clutter in the first place).

What happens when you get a receipt, print a document, or receive mail?

Chances are you’ve been filing hard copies in a filing cabinet, stuffing receipts in envelopes, or simply tossing paper on your desk.

In order to prevent paper clutter permanently, create rules that you follow every time you find yourself holding a piece of paper.

For example…

• Snap a photo of a receipt as soon as you get it, then toss it before leaving the purchase location
• Set aside one hour on Fridays to scan all the business cards and bills you received that week
• Spend 15 minutes at the end of every workday digitizing the day’s documents

Also, don’t forget to reach out to all of your vendors and contractors and request digital statements instead of paper statements.

When considering going paperless, it’s crucial to dump the clutter you already have. But it’s even more important to keep clutter at bay by eliminating paper each and every day!

Well, the good news is that, if you’re in that situation now – even if you haven’t started tax preparation yet – it’s possible to finish the process quickly, easily and accurately.

And if you’re not currently in that situation, then the good news is that you never have to end up in it again.

So what’s the secret to swift, painless taxes?

Using a digital receipt scanning service like Shoeboxed to help you.

Forget hiring a Virtual Assistant or spending hours upon hours poring over deductions and write off’s.

With Shoeboxed, you can save hours of time on your taxes by letting their human verifiers scan, digitize, and organize your receipts for you.

Here’s how it works.

Step One: Scan Your Documents

Whether you have piles upon piles of paper receipts, or a single folder just for saving receipts for taxes, Shoeboxed will scan and digitize everything for you.

Magic Envelope

Use one (or five!) of Shoeboxed’s convenient Magic Envelopes to rid yourself of paper clutter in seconds. Simply toss everything into the envelope, drop the envelope in the nearest mailbox, and check your account a few days later.

Every single receipt, business card, bank statement, and tax-related document will be scanned and uploaded to your secure Shoeboxed account – all without you having to lift a finger!

Smartphone App

You can also use the Shoeboxed smartphone app to scan receipts right from your phone.

Open the app on your phone, snap a photo of your receipt, and Shoeboxed automatically populates your account with all pertinent information including the purchase amount, date, location, and tax category.

The smartphone app is a great option for staying organized throughout the year. Instead of letting paper clutter build up, simply scan your receipt the second you get it, then recycle it and go about your (paper-free) day!

Step Two: Organize Your Receipts

Once your receipts are digitized within your Shoeboxed account, double check to make sure they’re assigned to the proper tax deduction categories.

Shoeboxed technology does this automatically, i.e. assigning airport receipts to the “business travel” category, but it’s a good idea to double check for accuracy.

You should also assign tax categories to any receipts labeled “uncategorized” in your Shoeboxed account.

Step Three: Report Your Results

Here’s where the magic really happens. Once your receipts for taxes have been scanned and organized, use Shoeboxed’s one-click reporting tool to calculate your deductions instantaneously.

You can export itemized receipts with assigned categories to a variety of different accounting applications, including Quickbooks, Evernote, Outright, and more, or simply export everything to an Excel or Google spreadsheet.

The reporting option makes it easy to share your itemized receipt totals with your accounting professional, calculate the results, and instantly obtain write-off amounts for each business deduction category.

The next time you prepare to do your taxes, there’s no need to spend hours analyzing bank statements and shuffling through paper receipts.

Use Shoeboxed to scan, digitize, and organize your receipts to finish your taxes faster than you ever thought possible!

If you’ve been thinking of going paperless, and have been wondering “How do I scan a document?”, you’re in luck.

There are 3 easy ways to digitize your documents – using a desktop scanner, using your smartphone, or using a mail-in service.

When you scan documents, all of your data becomes digitized and searchable on your computer or in the cloud. Once your documents have been scanned, you can recycle the hard copies, freeing up precious space in your home or office.

Here is how to scan a document using a desktop scanner, mobile phone, or mail-in service:

1. “How Do I Scan a Document with a Traditional Desktop Scanner?”

• Make sure your desktop scanner is connected to your computer, either wirelessly or through a USB cable

• Make sure your scanning software is installed. Most devices will automatically detect the scanner and download the appropriate software the first time you plug the scanner into your computer.

• Place hard copy documents face down on the scanner. Or, if you have a multi-feed scanner, place your stack of documents into the feed tray.

• Open your scanning software on your computer, adjust the settings, and click “Scan”

• Once the document is scanned, you’ll have the option to save it on your computer, create a PDF, share it via email, or export it to the program of your choice

2. “How Do I Scan a Document with a Mobile Scanner?”

If you need to get a document online but you aren’t at home, you can scan using your smartphone’s camera. Applications like Shoeboxed allow you to snap a photo of any receipt or document, and instantly send the scan to your cloud-based account.

• Gather any receipts or paper documents you’d like to scan

• Open your scanning application on your smartphone

• Take a photo of the receipt or paper document from within the application

• Make any needed edits or adjustments to the scanned data – for example, Shoeboxed allows you to categorize each scanned receipt right from your smartphone

3. “How Do I Scan a Document with a Mail-In Scanning Service?”

What if you don’t have time to scan your documents at home or on the go? In that case, you can use a mail-in scanning service and have someone else do the scanning for you.

In addition to their great mobile scanning app, Shoeboxed also offers a mail-in service for people who are either too busy to scan themselves, or simply don’t feel like spending hours going through stacks of paper!

• Sign up for a Shoeboxed account

• In a few days, you’ll receive one of their big blue Magic Envelopes in the mail

• Collect all of your receipts, business cards, bank statements and other documents and dump them into the Magic Envelope

• Shoeboxed will send you two envelopes to get started. Don’t worry. If you have more documents to scan than can fit in two envelopes – they will send you more envelopes once you’ve mailed them the first two.

• Drop your Magic Envelope(s) into the mailbox.

• Check your Shoeboxed account. In a few business days, all of your documents will be scanned, digitized, and accessible within your online account.

It’s never been quicker and easier to scan a document! Whether you have receipts to scan while on the go, or file cabinets filled with old bills and records, scanning doesn’t have to be a long, labor-intensive process.

Why?

Because a clutter-filled workspace forces you to spend hours per week searching for lost items instead of actually running your business. While you’re digging through a pile of receipts wondering where the heck you put that expense report, the competition is busy wooing your customers and closing deals.

Not to mention the fact that clutter can sap your energy, making you feel tired and unmotivated, which in turn translates to missed business opportunities and sluggish sales.

Here are our top 7 ways to make getting rid of clutter quick, easy, and painless:

1. Skip the “marathon session”

You may be tempted to spend an entire Saturday cleaning out the office – don’t do it! Instead, spend 10 or 15 minutes at the end of each day de-cluttering. Accumulated clutter is a habit that needs to be broken, not a one-time problem that can be fixed in a single swipe. Small changes made consistently are much more likely to last long-term.

2. Go paperless

The bulk of your clutter is most likely caused by scraps of paper and hard copies left lying around your workspace. Use a receipt scanning software program like Shoeboxed to digitize all of your receipts, reports, bank statements and business cards.

3. Give everyone a “home”

If you have a scissors, a stapler, and a bottle of White-out, you should have a “home” for your scissors, stapler, and bottle of White-out. Each item, no matter how small, should have a place to live. At the end of each day, make sure that each item is returned to its proper home, ensuring you’ll return to a de-cluttered office the following day.

4. Ditch the filing cabinet

You probably don’t need to hang on to half of the old documents you’re currently storing in your office, even if they’re important financial statements. The IRS accepts digitized copies of almost everything nowadays, so unless it’s your will or the deed to your property, scan it and recycle it.

5. Work as a team

Getting rid of clutter has to be a team effort. If there is more than one person working in your office, make sure everyone is on board with the plan to get and stay clutter-free.

6. Prevent “trackback clutter”

As a small business owner, you and your team members most likely spend a fair amount of time outside the office. Whether you’re meeting with clients, visiting another job site, or traveling for business, coming and going from the office makes it difficult to prevent “trackback clutter” – the kind of clutter that is dragged in off the street like a stray cat.

Train yourself and your staff to scan their receipts and digitize their reports before they return to the office, preventing new clutter from entering your space every time someone enters the office.

Shoeboxed has a great receipt scanning app that lets you take a photo of a receipt right from your smartphone, and then beam that receipt to your Shoeboxed account. With apps like these, there is no reason for receipts, expense reports, or paper of any kind to collect in your workspace.

7. Hold a fire drill

Whenever needed, hold an emergency clutter fire drill in your office – have everyone stop what they’re doing and spend the next 5 to 10 minutes scanning, digitizing, recycling, and filing.

There are 3 main ways to scan documents and email them:

1. Using a desktop scanner

When you scan a paper document using your desktop scanner, you have several options of what to do with that document once it’s scanned. While you may want to simply scan and save the file in question as a JPG, chances are you’ll also need to share scanned documents with others via email.

Most scanning software has an automatic scan to email option. Instead of saving the scanned document, then opening your email account and uploading the scanned file as an attachment, the process is much simpler.

After scanning a document, click on it to highlight it. Your scanning software will then have an email option in the toolbar – usually a command that says “scan to email” or  “forward as email.”

Your scanned document will then automatically be attached to an email that will open in your mail client. Simply fill in the “to” field and any relevant message you’d like to include, and hit “send.”

2. Using a portable travel scanner

Travel scanners are a fantastic option for emailing scanned documents. When you’re away on business at a conference or at an offsite work location, use your travel scanner for all of your scan to email needs. Chances are you’ll need to share expense reports with co-workers and employees back at the office, so this is a handy way to email documents right as you scan them.

Your travel scanner will come with scanning software that is similar to the software included with your desktop scanner. After scanning, select the document and click the “forward as email” option. Keep in mind that your software may word the option slightly differently, so also keep your eyes peeled for “email scan” options or “send to recipient” options.

3. Using your smartphone

Another great way to scan and email documents is by using your smartphone. Your phone’s camera functions as a built-in scanner that can be used anywhere and everywhere you go.

If you have large stacks of documents to scan, a traditional scanner is probably the best option. But for daily business dealings, snapping a quick photo of receipts and single-page documents is the quickest, easiest solution.

Simply take a photo of a receipt or other document using your phone’s camera. In iPhone, touch the arrow icon in the bottom lefthand corner of your screen. Then select “mail.” Fill in the “to” field and the subject field, and your scan will be emailed to whoever needs it. This also means you now have two digital records of your scanned document – one saved within your phone’s Photos folder, and another cloud-based copy in the “sent’ folder of your email account.