Ranking updated
Receipt scanner apps: get rid of the shoebox before tax season
Receipts fade, get lost in coat pockets and only matter months later, when a client, a manager or a tax form asks for them. A receipt scanner catches them at the till. Smart Receipts turns photos into accountant-ready reports, Foreceipt works as a small bookkeeper for business and household receipts, and Expensify is built for getting reimbursed.
How we chose: established receipt scanning apps compared on what happens after the photo. Features from each App Store listing, read in October 2026. We leave out the accuracy and savings figures apps quote about themselves.
A new line-by-line receipt reader
A younger app from an independent developer in the Censuus catalogue.
TratyGoogle Playan Android app that reads every line of a receipt photo, the store, the date and each item with its quantity and price, and sorts items into categories so the month shows what the money went on, item by item.
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For freelancers who hand reports to an accountant
Smart Receipts reads receipts with OCR, accepts photos, imported images and PDF receipts, and organises everything into folders. The point is the output: PDF, CSV and ZIP reports you can send for tax filing, reimbursement or bookkeeping, plus a mileage tracker for business trips.
For mixed business and household spending
Foreceipt pulls receipts from three places, the camera, your email and a web portal, and can import bank transactions from CSV or PDF. You set your own categories, track taxes and income, and it handles any currency, which helps if you work across borders.
For getting paid back by an employer
Expensify covers the whole loop for the self-employed and for teams: scan, categorise, send a report, get reimbursed, with sync to QuickBooks Online, Xero and other accounting tools. For a single person tracking their own spending it is more than you need; for a team it saves the spreadsheet.
Which one to pick
Reports for an accountant and a mileage log: Smart Receipts. Receipts from email and the camera in one place: Foreceipt. Reimbursements and teams: Expensify. If you only want to know where your own money goes, an expense tracker may be enough; for paper documents beyond receipts, see document scanner apps.
| App | Capture | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Smart ReceiptsApp Store | camera, photo import, PDF receipts, CSV import | PDF, CSV and ZIP reports, mileage log |
| ForeceiptApp Store | camera, receipts from email, web portal, bank CSV or PDF | categories, tax tracking, income |
| ExpensifyApp Store | scan receipts, log distance, type an amount | reports, reimbursements, accounting sync |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best app to scan receipts for taxes?
Smart Receipts and Foreceipt are built around tax-time records: categories, tax tracking and exportable reports.
Can a receipt app read receipts from email?
Foreceipt adds digital receipts from email, and Smart Receipts processes PDF receipts.
Which receipt scanner breaks down each item?
Traty reads every line of a receipt, including each item, quantity and price.