Use this guide to help turn that big pile of receipts into spreadsheets quickly

If you own a small business or simply want to make life a little easier come tax time, it’s important to keep track of your receipts. Depending on your company’s policy, tax purposes, or personal preference, you may need or want to hang onto your receipts for a long time. A filing system will keep them orderly but can’t do much to preserve them over time; receipts do you no good if you can’t read them.

Business receipts are typically printed on thermal paper, which can fade over time. High temperatures can cause the chemicals in the ink and paper to react and break down, resulting in illegible receipts. Even the oils in your hands and humidity can cause fading — which is why they usually deteriorate quickly when you fold them up and put them in your wallet.

By scanning your receipts, you’ll have a clear, digitized copy that lasts for as long as you need. You can take that organization one step further by importing your transaction details directly from your receipt scanner to Excel. But you’ll need the right equipment to make it fast and easy.

This article will help you understand just how easy it is to scan receipts into Excel.

Need more help with tax prep? Check out our guide, How to Make the Most of a Tax Scanner.

How to scan receipts into Excel

The first step for transferring your data from small slips of paper to a tidy spreadsheet is getting the receipt image data onto your computer. If you’re in a hurry or only need to scan a handful of receipts, you can use your mobile phone. While that will do in a pinch, it’s not an effective long-term solution. If you’re going to be scanning receipts regularly, you’re going to want a scanner specifically suited to the purpose.

Tips for getting a clear scan

Whether you use a mobile device or a scanner, you’ll want to make sure the receipt is as flat as possible before you try to capture its image. Gently smooth out any wrinkles and remove staples or paper clips. If there’s a tear, repair the receipt with clear tape.

If you’re using a flatbed scanner, arrange as many receipts as will fit in the scanning space facedown onto the glass. Be careful not to let them overlap. Make sure they’re oriented in the same direction so that it’s easier for either you or the scanner’s optical character recognition (OCR) software to read them.

If you’re using a scanner with a receipt guide, refer to the device manual for specifications on how many receipts can be fed at a time and whether there are any size limitations. Depending on the scanner model, you may need to tape receipts to a larger sheet of paper to scan several at a time.

Scan the receipts

Once you have the receipts in good shape, it’s time to scan them. You’ll need to use scanning software to turn the images into data that can be imported into a spreadsheet. There are many different receipt scanning apps available, both for mobile devices and computers. If you have a scanner, it may have its own specialized receipt scanning software.

Name the files

You’re creating the scan images to get their information into Excel, but you may want to refer to them again for other reasons. Name each image file in a way that will help you quickly identify what receipts it includes. The naming system is up to you; just be consistent. You could organize receipts by date, type of purchase, vendor, or money spent. Keep file names short and avoid using special characters or spaces.

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Import the data into your Excel spreadsheet

Now it’s time to take those scans from the receipt scanner to Excel.

1. Open your scanning software of choice.
2. Export the receipt data from your scanning software as a .csv file, a file type commonly used to store lists of data.
3. Open Microsoft Excel.
4. If you wish to create a new Excel spreadsheet, click File > Open then navigate to and select the .csv file.
5. If you wish to import the data into an existing spreadsheet, click the cell where you would like the data to go, then click Data > Get & Data Group and click the From Text/CSV option.

If Excel is confused about any of the data it imported from the scan, it will highlight the tables in question in red. This allows you to review any potential mistakes. Even if the scan doesn’t produce any questionable boxes, it is worth reviewing the information in this window to save the hassle of correcting it later.

Once you have confirmed the data is correct, click on the “insert data” button, and the spreadsheet will populate. Repeat the process as many times as necessary.

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Our recommendation: RICOH ScanSnap iX1600 Receipt Edition

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We recommend the RICOH ScanSnap iX1600 Receipt Edition. This purpose-built addition to the ScanSnap family is speedy and adaptable, helping you get the most of your day and spend time doing what matters most. With fast, double-sided scans up to 40 pages per minute, a 50-page automatic document feeder (ADF), pre-installed receipt guide accessory, and long receipt scanning function, you’ll get your receipts scanned in no time at all. Click here to learn more and shop the full line of ScanSnap scanners.

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