So I hate receipts. I hate them. I hate the stack of paper next to my desk. I hate filing them. I hate having containers next to my desk where they have to be stored!

So I'm thinking about going paperless! The basic premise would go something like this...

1) Get the receipt.
2) Bring it home.
3) Scan it.
4) Store the receipts in "month" folders on my hard drive.
5) Throw the receipts away.

Questions

1) Which scanning system should I use?

-- Option 1: I found this really cool service today when I was searching around called ShoeBoxed: https://www.shoeboxed.com/. They have been described as the Netflix of the receipt industry. You mail them your receipts (free shipping), they scan them for you, and then ship them back -- all of $20 per month. Bonus is that all of your business receipts are stored in a web based application. I guess this would be good for security.

-- Option 2: this is a nifty product called the NEAT Receipts Scanner: http://www.neatreceipts.com/. Looks pretty cool...it scans the receipts, turns it into a PDF, and then you save it on your computer.

-- Option 3: I could buy a normal document scanner.

2) Is this legal?
-- If I get audited by the IRS, will I be in big trouble for not having actual paper receipts?

Any thoughts you can share are greatly appreciated!
~ Charles

While I don't have answers for your questions, I'm watching anxiously to see what info comes across... 'cause I, too, despise paper. (Well, not the pretty kind like stationary... )




Ginger
Proponent for the Fair Tax

I don't know about the legality of using scans instead of originals for receipts, but I can recommend the HP Laser Jet 3050 as a good document scanner. The software that comes with it will save scans to PDF.

I'm paperless, other than my signed contracts. I scan them in as well though, then file them away never to be touched again. It's very convenient to have them scanned I've found since I list all product and services the couple will receive on their contract. I've had to email them to more than one couple in the past.

As far as receipts go, my accountant assures me that a copy is fine. I've even returned things from a print out of the pdf. Do make sure that the barcode comes out well if you think you might return something though. Think about it, if you buy something from a Mac store they email you the receipt.

I can't stand filing, and papers sitting out drive me insane! Plus, I own several businesses and travel alot so, it's just more convenient for me to be able to have everything with me wherever I go.
Here's how I organize them:
Monthly Folder
-Weekly folder
-each pdf labeled what it is a receipt for

You will never go back once you start scanning stuff. My advice would be to buy a fast scanner however, the flat panel scanners take forever and I am just not a very patient person. LOL

This could be really great! Everything Choli says makes sense. Plus, I've noticed that most of my gas receipts are fading away to nothing anyway, surely a copy would be better than that.


Or we could just get rid of the I R S with the FairTax.....I'm just sayin'.

I am pretty close to paperless, even my contracts, questionnaires and model releases are online. I also dispise paper! I pay all my bills online and try to have as many of those sent as e-bills. Now if I could only stop the junk mail. I haven't even thought about doing this with receipts, but it's a great idea. It's my understanding that a copy of a receipt is perfectly fine in the eyes of the IRS. It's a good idea, especially since a lot receipt are printed with ink that seems to disappear after 6 months - have you guys noticed that? I believe retail stores are doing this on purpose. I'm looking into the Neat System... especially if it works with Quickbooks. Anything to make life simpler and with less paper.

I live in IL and I asked an accountant about doing this, and for tax filing purposes, as of mid 2007, receipt scans are not allowed, only real ones. Big bummer! 'cuz I hate papers as well.

I have NeatReceipt and it works great.

NeatReceipt comes with a program that helps you organize your receipts and documents into different categories. It also has a feature that will help you track your expenses into different tax categories and will run a report at the end of the year. We have two different businesses we need to keep track of plus our homeschooling and personal documentation.

It also syncs with a variety of different programs depending on your need. If you stay on top of it, it should only take you a few minutes a day.

I checked on the NEAT Receipts website and found this information. Their site give IRS supported documentation of scanned receipts. I called the IRS directly myself just now to double check. I spoke with one of the tax law reps at the IRS and she stated that scanned receipts were acceptable to the IRS.

I would recommend talking with your own personal accountant to see what your various state laws allow. This is our first year of scanning tax documents so I still have the hard copies filed away in a box just to make sure I am protected. Some day I will embrace the totally paperless office.

I've noticed the same thing as Ginger... a receipt that's too faded to read kind of seems like it can't be preferable to a scanned copy of the fresh original. I talked to a banker friend last year about finances in general; he recommended scanning receipts but I haven't done it, I confess.

WOW! What an obvious thought! I didn't even think about it that way. And with emailed receipts, I don't print them out...I just store them on my hard-drive.

To everyone: thank you SO much for the marvelous suggestions & ideas! You are a wealth of knowledge! Thank you!!!

I am heading to Best Buy today, I am buying a plain old scanner (hopefully a fast one), and I'm going to start scanning some receipts! :-) Whether or not I can toss them out...I'm have to run that by the old accountant!

Thank you again!
~ Charles

We have NeatReceipts too, and we think its great. Plus its a skinny little scanner w/a feed so you don't have to lift a cover, place the receipt straight, scan it, lift cover again and remove. My husband's got it mounted to the desk and keeps a trash can under it. We keep the paper copies of big ticket items just in case, but for everyday stuff, its a real 'pile saver'

What a great idea!!! I just ordered the Neat Receipts online after reading this post. (That was also after several hours of sorting paperwork tonight and several comments to my hubby about how I don't want to do this again next year!)

Hopefully this will make tax prep so much easier, simplify our lives and help us to stay on track! We have already started scanning our client contracts and keeping them in folders on our hard drives, but this just seems so great! I would love to never have to manually file another piece of paper again!

Thanks for the tip! I am about to become a scannin' fool!

Steph