Adding your expenses doesn't always happen the same day you make a purchase! We all have the receipts folder where we add our crumpled documents that we shoved in our pockets from our purchases. You swear you're going to get to them, and then it's tax time before you know it! If you want to save some time with those receipts, you might use Farmbrite's receipt scanning feature to take a picture of the receipt and have Farmbrite automatically fill in the data for you.
Quick Summary
- You can upload receipt photos (or take a picture with your phone's camera in the app) on any accounting transaction.
- The receipt can then be scanned to determine the vendor, amount, date, and line items and preload those fields in the transaction record.
- You can optionally split the line items into separate transactions, letting you assign them to unique categories and records.
Note: Farmbrite will do our best to recognize the data on the receipt, but it may not be 100% accurate. We encourage you to review the data that is scanned and prepopulated for accuracy before saving.
Scanning Your Receipt
To get started with this, you'll first need to create a new transaction. You might do this from the main accounting dashboard, a specific record, or from the quick add menu. You won't need to complete any of the fields to get started, you'll let the system read the receipt. Just choose if this is an income or expense transaction, and then use the Add Attachment button to upload your receipt. This can be a previously scanned image, or if you are using the Farmbrite mobile app you can use your phone's camera to take a picture of it on the fly. Either way, upload the receipt then click "Scan Receipt to Prepopulate Transaction".
Farmbrite will take a few seconds to scan and read the text on the receipt. It will prepopulate all of the fields it can, and then give you a confidence percentage on the data. Be aware that some handwritten or complicated receipts may not translate as you expect. You'll want to review the names, dates, and amounts for accuracy and update any information that needs attention. If you are not getting the results you expect and want to take a new picture, you can cancel the scanning and try again with a new photo.
If the entire receipt should be associated with a single financial category, you can then select that category and save the transaction. This could be useful for something like a receipt for equipment work or animal feed that is entirely allocated to a single category.
Splitting A Receipt Into Multiple Transaction Categories
If the items on the receipt are for multiple purposes and need to be allocated to different categories, you can use the option to Categorize Receipt as Line Items. This is presented when you scan the receipt. Each line item on the receipt will become its own transaction, and they will be linked together under the main transaction for the receipt overall. You can learn more about split transactions here.
- After clicking Categorize Receipt as Line Items, you'll see the page expand with a row for each item. You can assign the values as either an amount or percentage value; that selection is made in the menu at the top of that column.
- The main purpose for splitting the receipt like this is to assign the individual items to specific categories and optionally specific records like animals, equipment, plantings, etc. You'll select a category for each line item to assign the expense to it, which flows to your Profit and Loss Statement.
- You'll see a running total at the bottom. You'll want to use this to match the amount/percentage with the total, helping you ensure you account for each aspect of the receipt.
- You can also optionally split the transaction without categorizing the line items individually. Just click the Split Transaction button to add a row to the transaction and categorize it. You don't necessarily need to do this for each item individually. You can add any number of rows you want and assign percentages/amounts, as long as they total to the full receipt amount. This could help save time if you have a long list of items where most of them get categorized the same way.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you run into problems with the data not being read and added correctly, you might try some of the following:
- Take a different picture with a blank/solid color background.
- Zoom closer to the important parts of the receipt when taking your picture. The address, terms and conditions, and customer messages, etc are not as important as the date, name, items, and prices.
- Ensure the picture is saved at high enough quality. If your camera/scanner has options, increase the resolution or dpi to take a sharper more detailed image.
- Try a .PNG file, which is stored at a higher resolution/clarity than a .jpeg or .gif.
- If the receipt is folded or creased, try to flatten it so it can be better read.