The problem with chasing receipts and ways you can solve it

We know from speaking to 30,000+ businesses (yes, seriously!) in Australia that, without an automated expense management solution like Budgetly, tracking receipts can be about as fun as wrestling a croc in a bog (and if you’ve got a mobile workforce, well, you can add in a few more crocs!).

Fret not, we're here to help you make sense of it all, so you never have to play the "Where's Wally" game with receipts again!

Picture this, it’s 4:59pm on a Friday and you are closing down all the tabs on your computer ready to make the end of happy hour. But then, just as you're ready to dive headfirst into the weekend, you spot it – the infamous pile of receipts you've been shuffling to the edge of your desk all week. 

You realise that your next hour is destined to be a battle with an ancient, outdated receipt-scanning contraption that seems to have time-traveled from the '90s.

As you squint at those crumpled, fading receipts, you start to feel like a detective. There’s more problems than you realise – some of the ink of those receipts have faded into oblivion. No print, no reimbursement. And to make matters worse, two more receipts have gone walkabout. 🧐

Ros in accounts, isn’t the nicest person to deal with on a Monday morning. You’re not looking forward to that conversation.

If you think Ros is a bit of a prickly pear, maybe it’s because our staff are constantly making her expense reconciliation process harder than it needs to be.

From Ros’ perspective, she's got a puzzle to unravel and then solve. Ros needs to figure out how to correctly claim GST tax credits for the three purchases you made with the corporate credit card. One was for $90, another for $40, and the last for $50 – all from the supermarket.

You can practically hear Ros' frustration from here, muttering about not being able to claim the GST on those because it's a guessing game. We usually buy Tim Tams and fresh fruit for the office. Sometimes milk. What amounts are for GST free items?

You wonder why Ros always has a bee in her bonnet. Well, it’s very time consuming manually matching up receipts to transactions prior to closing the books.

The solution

So we have the manual process for employees and the manual process for Ros in accounts. Ros deserves better than a dragon's den of paperwork to tackle every month.

How do we solve this? Here are two steps to get started:

Step #1 - The Rules of Engagement:

First things first, we need a set of rules, like the pirate's code for business expenses. Think of it as a treasure map for your team. Your expense policy should spell out all the dos and don'ts. Receipts must be handed in, any budget-busting needs permission, and there should be a go-to person for questions. And if you're missing a policy, worry not, here's a free template to get you started. It's like a compass for your financial ship!

Step #2 - Tools of the Trade:

Now, to make Ros's life and your team's easier, you need tools. There are free options (well, kinda free if you don't count Ros's time) and paid ones that that offer full automation. Let's peek at a couple:

Freebie #1 - WhatsApp Wonderland:

You could create a WhatsApp group just for receipts – it's like your secret expense club! Every employee who makes a purchase, whether with a corporate card or their own hard-earned cash, sends a pic of the receipt along with a few details. It's quick, easy, and can save the planet by reducing paper use.

But, and it's a big one, Ros still has to play detective, matching receipts to transactions, which can be as time-consuming as teaching a wombat to tango.

Free/Cheap #2 - Xero Expenses app:

If you're a Xero fan, you're in luck! They've got a free app add-on that lets your crew snap receipts with ease. It’s definitely better than having Ros wrangle paper receipts!

But hold your horses, this solution is only for staff reimbursements. If you've got a mix of payment methods, it might not be your best bet. And if you're sailing with a different accounting software, it's anchors away for this one.

Not-So-Free but Wallet-Friendly:

For a few shiny coins a month, you can find receipt capture apps that help, but not entirely solves our issues. If you run a quick google search, you can find apps that help with receipt capture, but not a whole lot else. With a five minute search, we’ve been able to find a receipt capture app that looks to start at around $32 per month.

This will allow you to remove paper based receipt processes, but Ros still needs to perform her magic to import, code, and reconcile (and that ain’t cheap).

If you've got a modest number of transactions, it's worth a squiz. But if you clock in at around 25+ transactions a month, full automation starts to beckon. 

Full Automation: The Holy Grail:

When you're knee-deep in receipts and you’d like to turn Ros' frown upside down, it's time for the grand finale – full automation! If you’re looking for full automation with expense management tools, to make it easier on your employees and much easier on Ros in accounts, you can find solutions that offer:

Instant card issuance, receipt capture and transaction coding, smart budgets with spending rules, real time visibility on transactions vs budgets they’re being spent from and one click sync into Xero—even for business fuel cards. With a built-in bill payment service, Budgetly is the leading budget management solution.

Our recommendation is to check out an independent review site like Capterra to see what others are saying to help you make a decision.

Some questions to ask yourself:

1. Do they offer telephone support, free training etc?
2. Is their support based in Australia or is it off-shore?
3. Do they offer both physical and virtual cards or virtual only?
4. Are there other businesses like mine already using their solution?

We hope the info provided helps with the problems around tracking and chasing receipts. From reading this you may have discovered that you have a few more problems with your expense process.

Want to look at the holy grail of expense automation?

The next best step is to talk to an expert - we offer free 1 to 1 consultations where will ask a series of questions to better understand your businesses’ specific problems and what’s most important for you to solve at this time.

We also have other helpful articles if you’d like to explore further in your own time. And if you're not quite ready for a personal parley, we've got an entire treasure chest of resources – feel free to dive in and explore.