In a world dominated for decades by document management and accounting programs, receipt management is something of a new-comer. A hybrid between document management and accounting software, receipt management software concerns itself more with digitizing and organizing receipts than general documents, and more with tracking reimbursable expenses than trying to be a full-fledged ledger.
We caught up with Jeff Pickard, CEO of FileCenter — a company with two decades’ worth of experience in the document management arena — to ask him about the latest trends in receipt management.
First of all, why “Receipt Management”? It seems like a niche market.
You’d think so, but receipt management may be the fastest-growing segment of the file management software market. In fact, even people who don’t use document management are deeply interested in receipt management. And when you stop to consider who these users are, it makes sense.
Our grandparents were the consummate expense-trackers. Born from Depression-era parents, they knew the value of every penny. So they kept receipts. Any receipt that might lead to a tax deduction or a reimbursement ended up in a shoebox, way up on the shelf.
Our generation is no less concerned with getting our money back. Think of expense reports at work, reimbursable expenses from volunteering with clubs or non-profits, tax deductions, rebates, etc. We live in a society swirling with cash pay-backs. And thanks to the Internet, many people have started their own businesses on the side, businesses with trackable expenses. But it falls on us to track it all.
Does the “Paperless” trend play into this?
Absolutely. Our grandparents used shoeboxes. Our generation, on the other hand, is on an active quest towards simplicity and convenience. Digitizing our receipts is a natural progression along that path.
It helps that modern technology has made it so simple to digitize every piece of paper we touch. Most homes have a reliable scanner and scanning software. When we’re away from home, the cell phone in our hand is more than up to the task.
Tell us about FileCenter Receipts.
FileCenter Receipts is the natural follow-up to our flagship document management system, FileCenter DMS. Our users kept coming to us wanting a dedicated method for tracking receipts. A document management system doesn’t provide the expense categorization and reporting features they want, and a full-blown accounting package is overkill. Not to mention that accounting packages don’t emphasize the digitization portion of the formula. They’re simply not convenient enough for use on-the-go.
Users want a simple platform that makes it easy to digitize and store actual images of receipts along with enough expense information to keep categorized, running totals. To top it off, they want expense reporting — easy, flexible expense reporting.
Is FileCenter Receipts Cloud-Based?
No. We believe in keeping your sensitive data in your hands, on your own PC.
Software vendors have an infatuation with the Cloud, not as a useful option for some users, but as the only option for all users. The problem? End users aren’t buying it. End users are reluctant to entrust sensitive data to someone else’s servers, reluctant to get locked into a proprietary system, reluctant to the spotty file access and slowness that are intrinsic to Internet-based file storage, and reluctant to pay a monthly fee to access their own files.
Case in point: Neat Receipts. They took a very popular PC-based receipt management system and forced the user base to the Cloud. Users fled the platform in droves. FileCenter Receipts, on the other hand, recognizes that users want a say over how and where their data is stored, making it an ideal Neat Receipts alternative.
Most receipt trackers are apps, for the simple reason that your phone is where the transaction happens. What about FileCenter Receipts?
Our users want more than an app. They want PC software that can give them that extra bit of functionality, that extra bit of power — something that, while simple enough to actually be usable, can still push things to an “11” when needed.
And while you wouldn’t think so, being on the PC actually assists in receipt acquisition. FileCenter Receipts is able to pull in receipts from just about everywhere — your phone, a scanner, a website purchase, an email — not to mention bulk import of receipts you’ve already digitized. It’s the best of all worlds.
You mentioned categorization. This sounds tedious.
Not at all. It’s a relatively simple step that, down the road, makes a world of difference. In fact, when developing FileCenter Receipts, we spent a lot of time talking to customers, trying to understand not just their needs but the pain-points they were experiencing with other software.
Let’s look at a simple example. I’m on a business trip. Along the way, I take quick snapshots of my receipts with my phone. Simple pictures — nothing special. When I’m on the go, I don’t have time to pause and enter a bunch of details.
When I get a minute in my hotel room, I pull the pictures from my phone and bring them all into the FileCenter Receipts Inbox, where they’ll wait until I have a chance to enter them.
Entering a receipt is simple. I select it, then get a screen that automatically looks for the important details on my receipt: the date, the vendor, the amounts, the payment method, etc. If this is a vendor I’ve used in the past — like a rental car company — FileCenter Receipts may fill in the category automatically. If not, I can just pick it from the list.
I quickly look over the information to verify it, and I’m done. The whole process only took ten seconds and a couple of mouse clicks.
At the end of my trip, an expense report is already at my fingertips. It’s a simple solution that saves a world of time.
Let’s suppose that I have an accountant or I use accounting software, but I also like the idea of receipt tracking.
You’d be surprised how many of our users find themselves in this situation. In order to eliminate double entry, we have created integrations with some of the leading accounting software packages.
It works like this: capture and enter your receipts in FileCenter Receipts first. When you book the receipt, you also have the option of posting it to your accounting package (or your accountant’s system). The receipt gets entered there as well, automatically. Things like payees and expense categories are synchronized between the two platforms.
Is there a feature you’re especially proud of?
There is a feature that took us by surprise, meaning that we weren’t planning on it at all. But when a user contacted us with the suggestion, we knew it was a must-have: including receipt images with expense reports.
Every receipt you store in FileCenter DMS includes a digital copy of the original receipt, both for your reference and to satisfy document retention requirements, since a digital copy typically counts the same as an original.
Come time to submit an expense report, many employers require copies of the receipts in the report — something that has frustrated a million users and has probably led to countless expenses not getting reimbursed for lack of a receipt. FileCenter Receipts solves this problem automatically.
When you generate an expense report, you can have FileCenter Receipts attach PDF copies of every receipt in the report. A simple solution and huge time-saver.
How can I get started with FileCenter Receipts?
A fully-functional trial version is freely available on our website. And once you buy, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, which we honor fiercely.
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