Tax Day Celebration (or Commiseration?) – NeatReceipts Review
April 15 is one week away. Have you filed your taxes yet? I’ll admit that I have not. We’re paying this year, and I’m putting it off until almost the last minute. I’ll probably file over the weekend and mail payment on Monday.
One of the hardest parts about being self-employed and doing my own taxes is categorizing all my receipts at tax time. So far my filing system includes a folder on my computer and a file folder in my filing cabinet. When tax time rolls around, I pile the receipts in different categories and enter the info in my tax program.
It would be a lot easier if I kept things categorized throughout the year, but I hate dealing with the bulky scanner in the other room, and I don’t want to add any more file folders to my already huge filing system.
Enter NeatReceipts. I’ve been wanting to review this product for a while now. It seemed like it would be a great solution for keeping track of tax deductible receipts. When I was contacted by the NeatReceipts company about giving away their product, I jumped at the chance to review it. Did it live up to my expectations? Read to find out!
The NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner
I reviewed the NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner, which is designed to be…well…mobile. At 10.8”W x 1.6”D x 1.3”H and 10.6 oz., it’s certainly portable. It would easily fit in any laptop bag. Included in the package were the scanner, an installation CD, a USB cord, a quick start guide, calibration paper, dry cleaning paper, and alcohol cleaning paper. The Neat Mobile Scanner comes in Mac and PC versions. I tested the PC version.
The quick start guide and installation CD were easy to follow, so setup was a snap. I appreciated the little sticker placed right across the USB connection port, warning me to stop and run the installation CD before connecting the scanner to my computer. As someone who sometimes skips ahead of the directions (or doesn’t read them at all), it probably saved me a headache.
Installation took me about 10 minutes, only because I didn’t turn my antivirus completely off before beginning. Once I turned it completely off, as stated in the instructions, it took about 30 seconds. The instructions also remind you to turn your antivirus protection back on, so you don’t leave your computer unprotected for long.
The NeatReceipts Process
Once I had the NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner set up, I was ready to begin scanning. Upon opening the program, I was given the option to watch a short introductory video. Having learned from my mistake of not following the directions, when it came to turning off my antivirus program, I opted to watch the short video. It was very clear and informative. Once I knew what I was doing, I felt comfortable trying to scan a few documents.
The scanner is set up to scan documents that are up to 8.5” wide. I scanned a couple of receipts, a business card, and a document, which I inadvertently scanned upside down. The NeatReceipts software categorized all three types of documents into the correct categories: receipts, business cards, and documents.
The software also correctly imported the information on the receipts and business card. Plus, it correctly oriented the document I had scanned upside down.
Once scanned in, it was easy to categorize my receipts into folders to keep track of my expenses. When categorizing, the NeatWorks software makes it easy to choose categories from Schedule C, so when tax time rolls around, your receipts are already neatly split into the correct categories.
There are many different options for importing and exporting data. NeatReceipts works with .XLS (Microsoft Excel), .RTF(Word), .OFX(Outlook), .QIF (Quicken), .TXF (Turbo Tax), .IIF(Quickbooks), .CSV, HTML, and Plaxo formats. Plus you can create quarterly or end of the year tax reports from within the software. And if you want to scan something into a PDF file, saved directly to your hard drive, you can do that too.
You can also search your receipts. I tried a couple of searches, and it pulled up the correct receipts every time. That’s I feature I personally would find very useful.
My Opinion
I’m kind of a techno-geek, so I thought the NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner was really cool.
The Pros:
- Easy to set up and use
- Small and portable
- Reads the info on receipts, so you don’t have to type in the info
- Intuitive organization system
The Cons:
- One more piece of equipment to keep track of
Overall, I can see where the NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner would be very useful for the self-employed person. Especially if that person travels a lot. It would be nice to be able to scan in receipts while on the road, rather than dealing with a big pile of receipts when I get home.
I only tested it for a short time, but during that time, I didn’t have any computer or technical problems.
If I traveled more, I’d be tempted to buy myself a NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner. But since I’m frugal and don’t travel that often, I really can’t justify the expense as a necessary one. I wouldn’t mind receiving one as a gift, though.
Disclosure: I was provided a review unit of the NeatReceipts scanner, which I will need to send back to the company. All opinions are my own.
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Author
By Lynnae McCoy, on Apr 8, 2010
I'm Lynnae, wife of one and stay-at-home mom of two. I'm committed to getting out of debt by being frugal with my choices in life.
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I'm just an average mom, trying to live a frugal life and get out of debt. I write about things that have (and haven't) worked to improve my family's financial situation. What works for me may or may not work for you, and you should always consult a financial advisor before making important financial decisions.
In accordance with FTC guidelines, I state that I have a financial relationship with companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways.
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I can’t tell you how many receipts I’ve lost! This is a fabulous idea. I think it’s great because it’s helping you keep your receipts but not clutter!
My company accountant wants to kill me because I lose receipts all the time.
I am good for having little pieces of paper EVERYWHERE! My wallet is full of assorted receipts that I keep meaning to file or put away…but, I am so disorganized I make the Collyer brothers look good! Nice little gadget, and even though it’s one more thing to keep track of, it would mean less little scraps of paper everywhere!
A friend of mine is a freelancer and I do her accounting and taxes. She never remembers to scan in her receipts and they are all fading away to a blank slip of paper. I would use this to help her scan in her receipts so she actually has support for all of those expenses she’s taken deductions for on her taxes! :)
We have a rental house that we have to keep receipts separate for when we do repairs or buy supplies for it. I’ve noticed that some receipts fade or become black for some reason making them illegible after 6 months or so. NeatReceipts would be the perfect solution to this problem!
This would be great for my parents who own a farm. It would make it much easier for my mother to have everything ready for the CPA.
We have a very good habit of keeping receipts for purchases that have warranties and those that we may need to return. Currently they are all stored in a small box but that box is getting full and unorganized. It would be great to be able to scan them, save them online and have them neatly organized by category. Plus, the less paper, the less to loose.
I think it would be great to keep track of all the little papers I get for personal purchases. I’d love to go paper-free at home, and this would be a big help.
My husband and I work for the same company, and need to be better at turning in reimbursements. This would help a lot!
I would use the scanner for my budget, which doesn’t work too well. So any help is great.
Honestly, I just need a scanner to cut down on the paper I feel obligated to keep.
Definitely budgeting, but maybe for some items that are warrantied for a long time.
I tend to save all credit card receipts for a year and this would be a huge space saver! I also have a habit of tearing articles out of magazines and I could use this to get that clutter under control.
My husband is consultant and is always traveling. He needs his receipts to get his expenses reimbursed and he loses half of them. If he had something like this, he could just toss it into his laptop bag and scan the receipts each night.
We track ALL of our receipts for personal budget tracking. This would save so much time!
I generally keep all my receipts every month so I can use them when I balance my checkbook. This results in a ton of receipts scattered around my desk…which would be made much easier if I could just can them into the computer and stick them in Quicken. It looks like an awesome little gadget and I would love to have one to simplify my life.
We go through the same pain at tax time – Eric’s unemployed and I can’t even begin to tell you how taxing it is to do our taxes LOL – he’s just got a big box near his desk that he dumps everything into. It’s a disaster! Having this gadget would probably get us MORE money back at tax time!
I’ve looked at these and *yikes* trying to buy a house just doesn’t put room in the budget for this.
I think this could definitely cut down on all the filing I have laying around the tiny office area of my home. I could just scan any documents I feel I need to save and then recycle or shred the originals. And this is so small, it wouldn’t be hard to find room for it!
This would be so helpful to both me and my husband! It would be great to scan the documents and save them on the pc instead of having a file cabinet with papers which the ink eventually fade out on. We could use the extra room in the house too.
thanks so much!
Oh!!! I have been eyeing one of these for a while now… I would love to be able to have all my receipts in one place!! The idea that the scanner is portable is wonderful, as I could take the scanner and reciepts with and scan while I am anywhere!!!
Thank you!
Oooh, I’ve always wanted one of those scanners! It’s unbelieveable how much room 7 years worth of receipts takes up in my files. I just haven’t been able to justify the cost of purchasing one yet.
that is one cool gadget – it would be great for keeping track of expenses and make budgeting so much easier!
I would love to have one of these! Between medical receipts, business receipts, and miscellaneous receipts for budgeting, I feel like I’m overrun with scraps of paper. And with the thermo paper that lots of stores use now, I’ve noticed that a lot of my receipts are faded and practically unreadable in less than a year.
offhand, I can think of several ways I could use the NeatReceipts Scanner. I have a file box full of business cards that we use all the time to contact local businesses. They could easily be scanned in. I like the idea of having them in a file on my desktop.
I could also use it to scan documents such as the ones associated with the purchase of our home, as a backup to he hard copies.
I could use it to more easily track expenses for our budget. Scanning store receipts would be very handy.
I like the portability! This is a very helpful review, Lynnae. Thanks!
I am my husband’s “secretary” as he calls me and I’m in charge of all his financial paperwork – challenging to say the least! This scanner would save SO MUCH TIME and make things so much easier at tax time.
I have a 5 year old Son who has Down Syndrome. I would use the scanner to scan my receipts that I have to keep for his SSI payment. I have drawers and drawers full of receipts that would be a nightmare to go through if I got audited! I would love this!
I’d like to have one of these because I notice that many receipts fade over time. For example, I keep all my home upgrade receipts in a special folder. I hadn’t done any upgrades for a while and when I finally did go back into this folder I noticed that I had a few almost blank pages that were once receipts. I had to overwrite them in pen. Now I make copies of my receipts in hopes that the copies will last longer.
I would love this, I would be able to take it to school with me and scan documents into my laptop.
Oh how I need this receipt scanner. The only reason I put off doing my taxes each year is because of all the receipts I have to go through for my direct selling business. Not only would this make tax preparation so much easier but would help with paper clutter for other things like warranties or keeping business cards from conference organized and handy.
Hi Lynnae! I can’t imagine something so wonderful that would eliminate all the paperwork floating around my house and in my filing cabinet!! Less paper = a good thing! :-)
Actually I wish I’d had one of these about 13 years ago when I first started into business for myself as a Medical Transcriptionist. Expense receipts are like gold, as you know, when you start trying to itemize every possible expense to counteract some of the whopping self-employmnent taxes we have to pay! Please enter me in the drawing!
To reduce the clutter in my house.
I would love one! Then my pile of receipts would be INSIDE the computer instead of 6 inches on TOP of my desk! :)
My new job requires some traveling. This would be ideal for keeping track of receipts while I’m traveling for work. My husband and I also keep a very strict budget so we current hold on to all receipts until we enter them into quicken. We keep receipts for any purchases that have warranties until the warranty has expired as well.
just need scanner that is portable and can be tucked away. mainly would use it for tax purpose as well
This is a great idea, if for nothing other than cutting down on clutter! Went out of state for a minor surgery and came home to ALL the receipts stuffed together, now must sort travel and medical receipts, portable scanner would be great for anyone!
I’ve had my eye on this mobile scanner for awhile. I love that the software automatically imports and categorizes receipt information. Convenient, and good for de-cluttering paper-strewn desks.
For me, it would definitely be keeping track of my receipts for tax purposes. I’m terrible about that, right now. It’s not good.
I would scan documents, tax deductable receipts and all the little notes i right information on and then loose around the house
This would be awesome for personal budgeting!
I use my debit card exclusively – no cash. I track my spending at mint.com, but sometimes I’m shopping at Meijer for something other than groceries – and it’s hard for me to remember what I bought, so I can break it down for my budget. This would be perfect, so I could search those receipts to see what I (and my forgetful husband) was actually spending money on.
My husband and I have to keep track of reimbursable medical supplies and expenses for his insurance (that includes diapers, otc medicine) for him to be reimbursed later. This would make that soooooooo much easier.
My wife and I keep all of our receipts for both personal budgeting and business expenses. The ability to easily digitize these receipts would be a godsend! I’ve tried with a traditional flatbed scanner and the process was far from optimal.
I have been looking at this and other paperless solutions for sometime. This scanner appears to be on par if not better than most of the available options. I think pairing this scanner with the Paperless software by Mariner would be one of the best solutions available.
This would be great to keep track of all my soccer referee expenses to take them off on my taxes.
I am my DH’s bookkeeper for his home based business, so this would be very helpful in keeping track of everything! I am the detailed organizer, he definitely is not! It is all I can do to get him to post receipts on a spindle for me. He does do field work for his business but I know he would not use it when he is out and about so I really don’t need it to be mobile. I would just use it in our home office. jgs0925 at gmail dot com
This would be a great tool to have to keep track of medical receipts for flexible spending account reimbursement! I always seem to lose track of these receipts and often miss out on money that we could be getting back. Thanks!
I would love to have this to keep all of our receipts separate. We raise Haflinger horses and Australian Cattle Dogs on our farm and I have to keep all receipts separate for tax time, plus our personal receipts. This would be a God send. Thanks!
This would be so useful for all the military items I need to keep track of (when Hubby is deployed there is a LOT of legal paperwork) or for our budgeting purposes, or even for just scanning my kiddos artwork easily! I love the idea of being able to search for the receipt and having it automatically filed appropriately!
I would absolutely love to have one to give to my husband for Father’s Day. He travels a lot and always has a handful of receipts and business cards. The other day he was asking where I had put his receipts after he returned. I would be much easier for him to put them into his laptop while in his hotel room.
I have yearned for the NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner since I first read about it a few months ago! I am a newly single mom with care of my 3 children and am trying very hard to find the most efficient ways to budget our resources and keep very accurate records without holding on to mounds of paperwork. One of my children has a lot of medical visits and expenses and I think the NeatReceipts scanner would also be a tremendous help in keeping track of doctor visits, instructions, testing results, and medication changes and expenditures.
I just started keeping track of my and my husband’s income and expenses in a filebox for next year’s taxes. We haven’t been married very long, and I’ve never had to file my own taxes, so this year was kind of nuts. I already don’t like having a mass of papers to keep track of for next year’s taxes and however many years after that. I’m also thinking about starting my own home bakery, and as you said, this would be super helpful for self-employment purposes!
With multiple clients, multiple receipts, multiple to do list, and multiple everything else in the world it would be great to have a scanner so I would no longer have multiple piles!
With the mobile scanner I could easily keep all of my caregiving receipts, school receipts, and medical receipts in proper order. Since we access our receipts for caregiving and medical four or five times a year depending on which program or which developmental doctor we are visiting. It would probably cut my time in 1/3 and the bulkiness down to a jump drive. Zapping important information to medical personnel would be heaven and mean we could proper attention to medical needs faster. Currently we are driving to Eugene everytime we need to accesss developmental issues. Thanks so much.
What a cool machine!
I am the queen of receipts! I have them EVERYWHERE!
This might help me stay more organized!
Wow, this is cool I would love this because I am just now getting ready to start my first online business and it would be very helpful! I think it would be an excellent way to keep everything in one place and easily accessible. Thanks,
My husband is always going on business trips and LOSING HIS RECEIPTS!!! We could REALLY use this!!
Great review. I am like you and have been postponing owning one of these for a year or better. I am on the road 5 days a week and always have trouble getting my receipts together for the eventual expense report. Not to mention it would be great to send the scanned receipts via email to our accounting department at the end of the week instead of having to mail it in. Even if I don’t get picked, the review was helpful and I might have to purchase one.
Thanks, Brian C
What an awesome tool to keep an office and business organized. I would really like this product.
I knew about these with the last job I had – they got them for all the sales people who traveled – it made expense reports SO much easier! My doctor’s office also uses a similar device for scanning medical cards – talk about saving paper! I’d love to have one to keep track of regular budget expenses – groceries, gas, and the like. This year, we’re going to have more deductions than last (new baby, large charitable donations, education expenses, side business expenses) and it would be so nice to have a scanner like this one to just run the receipts through to manage and track.
I would love this for my husband. He travels on weekends selling service/labor and parts at motorcycle race tracks up and down the east coast. If he could scan in the invoice slips and send them to his shop they could process the credit cards right away and then there may not be any issues of a fraudulent credit card purchases.
This would be a great tool!
I would love this! I too have been interested in the NeatReceipts system since I first heard about it. I have receipts everywhere and this would go a long way to help me be more organized and stick to a budget.
This would be so great to keep track of our reciepts!! I have receipts all over and end up losing some and not being able to find what I’m looking for. And then when the time comes to figure out my budget it is a mess! Not to mention the unsightly eyesore it creates. And with my husband making less money and our first baby on the way I really need to get our budget on track. thanks for the opportunity to win something so useful!
Whenever I send in rebates, I never get to make a copy of it, so i just send in the original. Some rebates I never get back since I don’t have the original receipt anymore so i can’t send it in again so I’m out of luck. This would be a great tool to keep track of which ones were successfull
My husband travels a lot for work, and always has to build in an extra 1/2 day upon return to do his expense report. This would allow him to use his airport time to get it done, so he is ready to play with the kids as soon as he gets home.
I have had my eye on one of these for receipts! Would be awesome to win! BTW, the posts you have made about TBW and all the comments have been my lifeline through this mess and I know it has been for many others as well… so thanks!
Wow, a NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner would totally streamline my day! I have to keep receipts for tax and accounting purposes and hate having to sit down with a big accumulated pile, enter the information into my computer, and then stuff the pile in some file folder somewhere. Paperless freedom, be mine!
Our taxes are files. We had to pay more this yer. It was an unpleasant surprise.
Great Review. I have never heard of it, but have to get one! We have our own trucking business and small acreage farm. I believe that this would be useful tool to have. Thanks for the review!
I am always losing receipts, and my current storage method is throwing them all in a drawer, and at the end of the year emptying the drawer into a clasp-envelope. I have 5 years worth of receipts. Do I need to purge?! This would totally help with the receipts that I have to turn in for reimbursement too, and rebates!
I would like the scanner to scan in recipes from magazines and library books.
HI….I think its great thing to think about it we always loose our receipts but with this neat receipts scanner makes its very easy it would be very good and we can use for multipurpose so it will keep my receipts on track . great job i would be very happy to have a nice thing
Being in the military, this scanner would be an awesome addition to keep me organized when being dispatched to different parts of the world. I never am able to hold on to receipts long enough to place them in folders when i get home. It has always been nearly impossible to get myself organized because of this during tax time. This would be a great addition to my travels as i can take it in my laptop bag and scan the receipts in when I am away from home!
Wow! What a wonderful idea. As a teacher I know I spend several thousand dollars on my classroom every year, but lose the receipts. I end up with a standard deduction every year.
This would be fantastic!
I think this would be a great tool for clearing the clutter from my desk. I could scan all of the stuff that I need to keep but that does not need to be the original.
My CPA recommended that we invest in one of these for our home business…if only I had the extra cash to buy it. Sure hope I win the Neat Receipts prize!
I’d use it for the business I’m getting ready to launch. It would be very handy since I’m not used to keeping track of receipts.
I currently keep my receipts in an envelope weekly. Then I start a new one and put the old one in a shoebox in my closet to keep track of my spending. A neatreceipts scanner would keep my records more organized without needing to keep all my papers in the closet.
I would definitely use this for receipts. I keep track off all my purchases through a spreadsheet and having the receipts scanned into my computer would make it easier!
This will definitely help with keeping track of my receipts. I’ve been trying to save money and a friend said I should keep track of all my purchases. I’ve been using the multiple pockets folder to keep all the receipts, then input everything in a spreadsheet later.
The scanner will be really handy and my receipts will be a lot more organized.
I’ve been looking for a process to start scanning receipts, and especially medical bills. Our daughter had some problems after she was born that we’re still having follow-ups for a year later (she’s fine, thankfully). It’s not often a week goes by that we don’t get an EOB from the insurance company. It sounds like this might make it easy to track those pieces of paper and help me reduce the stack of stuff on top of my filing cabinet!
Gracious! As a freelancer myself with an added helping of ADD, this machine sounds like it would restore the ever-elusive organization and calm I seek around T-time. Also, I appreciate the regular tips from y’all that keep my number-challenged brain aimed in the right direction.
I am a paper junkie! I hate to throw away receipts or papers of any kind. BUT, if I could scan them and have a digital copy, just maybe I could declutter my house and be FREE of all the paper litter!
What a great way to organize all the paper clutter 10 people in a house can create. I am a techo-junkie too!
I’m on a budget and can’t afford to buy a laptop until I pay down some of my credit card debt. I think the portable scanner would be a blessing to help with my writing career. Not having a laptop – I write ideas or quotes or clips of conversations on napkins or slips of used paper. The scanner would help me organize all those slips into a more organized collection of random thoughts. I could also scan receipts so I can see where the holes in my budget are and where the money keeps seeping out.
I use my laptop a lot while watching tv, so having a portable scanner that I can scan all of my documents right there would be awesome! I’ve seen other reviews of this scanner and they have all been great. I would love this!
I would love to use this scanner to scan all my shopping receipts and help me with my household budgets. :)
NeatRecipts would be awesome for home budgeting and for the non-profit organization I started.
I would love to use this product to keep track of my organic shopping receipts. I am working closely to try to keep my shopping done locally to support small farms and grocery establishments. Their small receipts often get lost in my purse. NeatReciepts would be GREAT!
I travel a lot for business, as well as trak all my personal receipts. What a mountain of crumbly odd shaped little papers! This would be a wonderful, useful item.
Like you, I tend to skip the directions, so I found comfort in knowing I’m not alone. I work for a non-profit, and cannot believe the amount of paperwork and filing. Our office provides materials to recovery groups throughout Southern California. We also keep track of all group contributions, meeting times, group locations, contact people, as well as changes. Our office manager is invaluable to us. She’s also drowning in paper. We rely on volunteers, and they work extremely hard at keeping incoming paperwork organized. We could also send you updates on the scanners usuage, if that would be helpful. I didn’t read the entire column, re:Free Neatreceits, so I hope I’ve told you what you need to decide. If I could, I’d tell you the name of our organization, however, anonymity prevents me from doing so. Thank you for the review and maybe for the ‘Neatreceipts.’
Sincerely,
J. Pendergast
I’m glad to see a normal everyday review on this product. I’ve been wanting to get one for quite awhile but have been afraid it’s just another impractical gadget. We have a good size farm where we raise both crops and cows. Between the bank, the tax man, & the government the paperwork is UNBELIEVABLE – enough to drive me right round the bend! And of course keeping receipts is a must. Did I mention we also run a hunting business on the side? I end up with so many boxes of paper by the end of the year that I absolutely dread doing taxes. As you can imagine I’ve been looking for something to simplify so I no longer end up a loon by tax day. Thanks for the review.