Running a business means time is a precious commodity. Keeping on top of sales targets and cash flow, rushing between appointments and jobs and juggling everyday issues can result in some things being constantly pushed down the priority list.
Retaining and filing receipts is frequently one of these. In spite of the fact that both income and expenditure have to be carefully monitored for tax purposes, receipts are often lost or ‘filed’ in unsafe places such as coat pockets, glove compartments or the floor of the car!
Here at AMR we are constantly trying to find ways to help our clients’ businesses run more smoothly, and as a result we are signed up to membership of ReceiptBank. It’s a web-based app which can be accessed from a PC, tablet or smartphone, and is a simple, practical way to solve the problem of lost receipts or other documents. Put simply, it acts like a digital filing system.
Once you have downloaded the app, you receive an email address for as many accounts as you need. Receipts, purchase invoices and other financial paperwork from customers or clients can be captured instantly on the app camera and sent to your email address, from where they can be forwarded directly to your business account. It’s much easier to train yourself to snap each document immediately than it is to find a particular receipt which has gone astray four months later. Some businesses, for example Construction Industry Scheme sub-contractors, still produce quite a number of handwritten documents, so photographing them as they are produced is important as there’s no record online.
The app assists us in extracting key information from the submitted document which can then be reviewed as an email, exported as a csv file or uploaded to your cloud-based accounting software; the service integrates seamlessly with Xero and other accounting applications. You can also invite your financial adviser to view your data, which can be a major time-saver for the end-of-year accounting processes. Crucially, once you’ve sent this information you can still see it in the app for instant confirmation at a later date. ReceiptBank can read important details from receipts and then categorise them according to your chart of accounts, and it enables you to extract key information, such as all invoices from a particular supplier.
The importance of a paper trail in case subsequent issues arise can’t be over-estimated. A step-by-step history of a transaction can cover your business in the event of legal proceedings, and it’s also required for billing purposes and audits.
AMR’s subscription to ReceiptBank enables all our clients to receive the considerable benefits at no cost to themselves. In the long run, using it will save you hours of time which could be better spent running your business.
If this sounds like a service which could be of use you, get in touch, and our helpful and friendly team will be delighted to give you more details and set you up with an account.
