A receipt app does one job: turn the paper or email receipt into a record attached to the right transaction, while you still have it. The IRS applies the same requirements to electronic records as to paper ones, so a legible image kept in a reliable system can stand in for the original.
Before paying for a separate app, check what your accounting software already includes. For many small businesses the built-in capture is enough; the standalone apps earn their price with volume, multiple people spending, or bills and statements as well as receipts.
What we compared
- How receipts get in. Phone photo, email forwarding, upload, or mail-in.
- Where they go. Which accounting software the vendor says it connects to.
- Price. As listed by the vendor. We did not include corporate-card platforms, whose receipt matching only covers their own card spending.
The seven options
1.QuickBooks Online receipt capture
Best for: Businesses already on QuickBooks Online
Snap a receipt in the QuickBooks mobile app, email it to your company's receipt address, or upload it in the Receipts tab. It lands beside your bank transactions to match.
- Included with paid QuickBooks Online plans; no separate price.
2.Xero Smart Document Capture
Best for: Businesses already on Xero
Photograph a receipt in the Xero app or forward it to your Xero email address. Xero describes it as free on every small-business plan, and it now recommends it over Hubdoc for new users.
- Included with every Xero plan.
3.Dext
Best for: Higher volumes, and firms handling many clients
Formerly Receipt Bank. Captures receipts, bills and supplier statements by app, email or bulk upload, extracts the data and publishes it to your accounting software. Dext lists integrations with more than 36 platforms, including QuickBooks and Xero.
- Business plan listed at $302.50 billed annually (5 users, 250 documents a month); price scales with users and documents.
4.Hubdoc
Best for: Pulling bills and statements automatically, not just receipts
Owned by Xero. Takes photos, emails, scans and uploads, and connects to Xero and QuickBooks Online. Still sold on its own, though Xero users now get its built-in capture instead.
- $12 per month after a 30-day free trial.
5.Expensify
Best for: Teams where several people spend and need reimbursing
Built for expense reports: snap, forward or text a receipt, and it becomes a reimbursable or card expense for approval. Connects to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero and larger systems.
- Collect plan: $5 per member per month for workspaces created on or after April 1, 2025.
6.Zoho Expense
Best for: Small teams on a budget
Receipt autoscan, email forwarding and upload, with expense reports and approvals on the paid plans.
- Free for up to 3 users.
- Standard $4 per user per month billed monthly ($3 billed annually).
7.Shoeboxed
Best for: Owners with a shoebox of paper receipts to mail in
Scans receipts from the app or email, and also processes paper you mail in using its prepaid envelope. Accounting integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero start on the Pro plan.
- Starter $9/mo (no accounting integration). Pro $29/mo, with integrations and 3 users.
Habits that matter more than the app
- Capture at the point of purchase. A receipt photographed at the counter is a record; one found in a coat pocket in April is a guess.
- Note what the expense was for on anything not obvious — client meals and travel especially.
- Match receipts to transactions as part of the monthly close, not at year end.
- Keep records for as long as the return they support can be examined.
General information, not advice for your specific situation. Tax rules, prices and product features change, and firms change what they offer — check with the provider before relying on anything here, and talk to us or another qualified professional before acting on it.
