Short answer: to scan receipts with your phone, lay the receipt flat in good light, photograph the whole slip including the total, let the app read the merchant, total and date, check those three fields against the paper, and save it to the right account and category. Scan the same day, because thermal paper fades.
Works in the phone browser. About the Finman receipt scanner
This guide is the practical workflow: how to take a photo that reads well, what to check, where the receipt should end up and how long to keep it. If you are still choosing an app, start with the best receipt scanner apps; if you want to know what happens inside the scanner, read how receipt scanning works.
Step 1: Take a photo that reads well
| Problem | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow of the phone | Digits under the shadow are misread | Light from a window or overhead, phone held off to the side of the light |
| Crumpled slip | Lines bend and totals shift | Smooth it on a table for a few seconds |
| Cropped edges | Store name or total cut off | Whole receipt in frame, a little table showing around it |
| Very long receipt | Text too small to read | Two photos, or fold so the store name and total are both visible |
| Faded thermal paper | Low contrast, missing digits | Scan the same day; check the total by hand |
Step 2: Let the app read it
A receipt app pulls the text off the image and picks out the fields that matter. In Finman you take the photo from the phone browser (or upload one on a computer). With the AI features on, an OpenAI GPT model reads the merchant, total, date and line items and suggests a category. With AI off, text recognition on Finman’s server reads the merchant, total and date. If the AI route fails, Finman falls back to the server text recognition.
Step 3: Check three fields
- Total. The number that matters most. Make sure the app took the total, and not the subtotal or the tax line.
- Date. Finman accepts a receipt date from the last two years up to tomorrow; any other date is left empty and the expense takes today’s date unless you change it.
- Merchant. It drives the category. A clean merchant name also makes the receipt findable later.
Ten seconds of checking here saves an hour at tax time, when a wrong total has to be traced back to paper you may no longer have.
Photo, check, save
Finman shows the merchant, total and date it read before anything is saved. Free during the open beta.
Try it with your next receiptStep 4: Save it where it will be used
A receipt is useful when it lands next to the rest of your spending. In Finman you choose the account and save; the receipt becomes an expense in that account, counts against the category budget, and one receipt can create only one transaction, so a double tap does not double the expense. The receipt must be saved into an account in its own currency; a USD receipt will not silently land in a CAD account.
Card purchases already appear on your statement. For those, a receipt photo is proof and detail, not a second expense: keep the photo, and record the spending once.
Step 5: Keep what the tax rules require
Retention rules depend on the country and your situation. Two official starting points:
- Canada: the CRA generally requires records and supporting documents to be kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to (CRA, keeping records).
- United States: the IRS generally suggests keeping records for three years, with longer periods in specific cases (IRS, how long should I keep records).
This is general information, not tax advice. Whether a phone photo can replace the paper original depends on the agency’s rules for electronic records and on your case; check with the agency or your accountant before you throw paper away.
For the year-round version of this habit, see how to organize expenses for taxes.
Which receipts are worth scanning
- Business and reimbursable expenses, including fuel for work trips (the fuel tracking guide shows the category setup).
- Medical and charitable receipts you may claim.
- Purchases with a warranty or return window.
- Cash spending you want inside your budget; it appears on no statement.
Everything else can usually go. If you freelance, the finance app for freelancers guide covers keeping business and personal spending apart.
Privacy: what happens to the photo
Receipts show where you shop and sometimes what you buy (a pharmacy receipt, for example). Before you pick an app, find out who reads the image. In Finman the photo goes to the OpenAI model only if you turned the AI features on; with AI off it is read on Finman’s own server. You can delete a receipt at any time. Details are in the privacy policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I scan receipts with my phone?
Lay the receipt flat in good light, photograph the whole slip including the store name and total, and let a receipt app read it. Check the merchant, total and date against the paper, then save it to the right account and category.
What is the best way to take a picture of a receipt?
Flat surface, even light from above or a window, no shadow from the phone, the whole receipt in frame and the camera parallel to the paper. Long receipts read better in two photos than in one tiny one.
How long should I keep receipts for taxes?
In Canada the CRA generally requires records and supporting documents to be kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. In the US the IRS generally suggests three years, longer in specific cases. Check the rules that apply to you and whether electronic copies are accepted for your case.
Should I scan receipts the same day?
Yes. Thermal paper receipts fade with heat and light, and a receipt scanned while the purchase is fresh is easier to check and categorise.
Can a receipt scanning app read receipts in other currencies?
Finman recognises currency symbols and codes on the receipt, and a bare dollar sign is read as CAD on app.finman.money. It saves the receipt only into an account in the same currency, so you choose that account or correct the currency.
Is it safe to scan receipts into an app?
Receipts show where you shop and sometimes what you buy. In Finman, a receipt photo goes to the OpenAI model only if you turned the AI features on; otherwise it is read by text recognition on Finman’s own server. You can delete a receipt at any time.
Which receipts are worth scanning?
The ones that change a number later: business and reimbursable expenses, medical and charitable receipts you may claim, purchases with a warranty, and cash spending you want in your budget. Card purchases already appear on your statement.
Scan today’s receipts before they fade
Photograph a receipt in Finman, check the fields, and it lands as an expense in the right category.
Start Scanning FreeRelated reading: Best Receipt Scanner Apps · How Receipt Scanning Works · How to Track Expenses