Digital receipts are increasingly replacing paper receipts as the standard, more efficient means of maintaining expense records. Receipt scanning software like Dext are essential workhorses that make keeping track of pay stubs, credit card statements, bills, etc significantly easier—and ensure you remain well-prepared for the tax-filing season.
However, due to a myriad of myths surrounding receipt management software, plenty of businesses still rely on paper receipts over paperless receipts to maintain finance records.
In this article, we’ll be breaking these myths one by one and exploring the merits a receipt scanning app presents to your business.
Myth #1: You require technical skills to operate a receipt scanning app
Business owners avoid adopting technological solution for their paper mess because they believe operating a software app might require technical competence. However, that’s not necessarily true—maintaining digital receipts on the cloud is fairly simple.
Receipt scanning apps like Dext are designed for use by accountants, bookkeepers, and even business owners who lack a technical background. All you have to do is take a snap of your receipts and upload it on the cloud. You can sort and organize your receipts by date, vendor, purpose, mode of payment, and so on.
Myth #2: In case of hardware malfunctions, you end up losing stored data
Another common myth surrounding receipt scanners is one might end up losing valuable records in the event of computer crashes. However, modern receipt scanners are cloud-based—which means you can rest assured about the safety and security of your data despite hardware or software failures.
Contrary to receipt scanners, you have a good chance of losing your paper-based receipts as they keep piling up. As per a government survey, 65% financers and accountant have admitted having lost valuable paper receipts. Most of the time, business owners barely even come to know when they lose a receipt or two. This can translate to serious trouble for you when filing taxes, applying for rebates, or attending to insurance tasks.
Myth #3: You require external hard drives to store large volumes of data
As mentioned previously, modern receipt scanners leverage cloud technology to provide instant access to authorized individuals at any time, using any device. Therefore, you don’t need a storage device or external piece of hardware to keep your receipt data; your receipts snapshots are stored securely on the cloud.
Paper receipts, on the other hand, are tossed into filing cabinets where they remain in an disorganized manner and impair a business’s ability to access specific records when needed.
Furthermore, they are costlier to maintain. The UK government requires businesses to maintain up to 6 years of tax records; this demands a significant amount of storage space at your end and translates to inflated costs.
Myth #4: Your internal data is is vulnerable to unauthorised access
Receipt scanners like Dext rely on first-grade security systems to keep your data well-protected and secure from malicious attacks. There are level-based security configurations to provide access to authorized personnel based on their clearance levels.
This ensures your data will not fall into the wrong hands as opposed to paper receipts which we tend to leave lying around our offices and desks.
Myth #5: You need to invest in a scanner to digitize receipts
While this may be true for desktop or portable scanners, it’s not so for modern cloud-based receipt management software. You can sign up using any device with a camera and instantly take snapshots of receipts to upload to the software.
Thereafter, they are sorted for on-demand access and creation of expense reports, further streamlining finance management processes.
There—5 of the most common myths surrounding receipt scanners busted!
Sign up on Dext receipt scanning software now and start tracking your receipts!