Scan and Organize Your Receipts with NeatReceipts

Are you anal about tracking your business (or personal) expenses? I mean: Really anal? Like the kind who keeps copies of copies in separate locations... just in case?

If you are, NeatReceipts is for you. It's combination of software and hardware (the hardware is awesomely called the Scanalizer), which makes scanning and archiving receipts child's play.

Install the software and plug in the ruler-sized Scanalizer (I love saying that), and you're pretty much ready to go. Just feed your receipts into the Scanalizer as you would with any sheet-fed scanner. The scanner feeds them to the NeatReceipts software, which uses optical character recognition to look for words and dollar amounts to fill in its integrated database. It works surprisingly well: Scanalizer correctly ID'd a Target receipt and got the total from the bottom, though it had trouble with a new restaurant and a hand-scribbled total (after tip). However the software did correctly discern that it was a restaurant receipt and classified it accordingly. Filling in the gaps took a matter of seconds. And in addition to the database of expenses, NeatReceipts keeps full copies, too, for you to refer to.

Delving into the intricacies of NeatReceipts ($230, but use coupon code DAD2006 for $40 off) could easily fill up an afternoon, but the bottom line is this: If you want a no-brainer way to keep track of expenses, manage what's tax deductible and what isn't, or make expense report filing a breeze, NeatReceipts is a neat solution.