Accounting technology / Glossary / Receipt capture

What is receipt capture?

Definition

Receipt capture is photographing, forwarding or uploading receipts so software can read them and attach them to the right transaction. It extracts the merchant, date, amount, currency and tax, matches the receipt to a card or bank transaction or starts a reimbursement request, and stores the image as evidence for the accounts, tax returns and audit.

Also calledreceipt scanningreceipt OCRreceipt matching

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Reads: Merchant, date, amount, tax
Matches to: Card or bank transaction
Category: Expense and spend management

How receipt capture works

Receipts arrive by phone camera, an email forwarding address, uploads, or direct feeds from suppliers such as airlines and ride services. Optical character recognition and machine learning read the fields; the software then looks for a matching card or bank line by amount, date and merchant and links them, or flags a transaction still missing its receipt. Category, cost centre and tax code are suggested from past behaviour. The stored image replaces the paper receipt in most cases, as long as it is complete and legible, and it carries the details needed to reclaim sales tax or VAT. Missing receipts are the most common delay in closing card spend, so card platforms prompt for them the moment the card is used. Dext captures receipts and invoices for bookkeepers; Expensify, Pleo, Payhawk and Ramp capture them on company card spend.

Common questions

Do I need to keep paper receipts after capturing them?+

Usually not, if the digital copy is complete and legible and kept for the required period, but rules vary by country and by document type. Check the local tax authority's guidance before discarding originals.

What is the difference between receipt capture and document capture?+

Receipt capture handles small expense receipts, usually matched to card spend. Document capture covers all finance documents, such as supplier invoices, statements and contracts, often in much larger volumes.

How does receipt matching work?+

The software compares the amount, date and merchant on the receipt with card and bank transactions and links the best match, allowing for currency conversion and tips. Unmatched receipts and transactions are listed for the user.