How to Maintain Digital Receipts for Business Expenses

Issuing and storing paper receipts has traditionally been one of the more difficult aspects of running a business. Paper receipts are as time-consuming and inconvenient as telegraphs and fax machines: clunky relics of a bygone era.

Paper receipts, thankfully, are becoming obsolete. In a number of European Union countries, digital capture and storage of invoices and receipts is now sufficient to meet legal and tax requirements. This, crucially, now includes the United Kingdom.

Traditionally, businesses were required by law to collect and store physical paper copies of customer receipts, as well as receipts for employee expenses. This used to be an important part of company record-keeping, especially for meeting tax requirements and planning for potential audits.

Digital receipts: the new standard

Traditionally, Business were required by law to collect and store physical paper copies of customer receipts, as well as receipts for employee expenses. This used to be an important part of company record-keeping, especially for meeting tax requirements and planning for potential audits.

We’re pleased to report that this is changing. Though there are still differences between countries, the general trend is away from paper and toward digital receipt capture and storage. So you can put those teetering stacks of paper away.

HMRC digital receipts in the United Kingdom

As of April 17, 2018, HMRC confirmed that electronic receipt capture and storage meets legal and taxation requirements for businesses based in the United Kingdom, provided information is stored securely and in a way that preserves the integrity of original data.

If your company is considering switching to digital receipts and getting rid of those stacks and stacks of paper receipts, you can do so with confidence. Good times!

e-Receipts and LPF in France

The LPF (Livre des Procedures Fiscales) no longer requires French Business to keep a physical copy of their receipts if they have a legally certified digital copy, as of March 2017.

According to Article A 102 B-2 of the Book of Tax Procedures, a digital receipt is sufficient to ensure legal compliance if it:

• The original cannot be changed.
• Is a PDF file saved?
• A legal stamp is included to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the product.
• is stored for at least six years

Spendesk meets all of these requirements by automatically storing receipts for a period of ten years. But more on that later.

Elsewhere

Outside of France and the United Kingdom, the rest of the world is a mixed bag when it comes to digital receipt capture and storage:

Digital receipts are legally recognised in the following states:

• Australia
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Luxembourg
• The United Kingdom
• Spain
• The United States of America

Subject to additional requirements, the following countries recognise digital receipts:

• Austria
• Finland
• Germany
• Italy
• Norway
• Portugal
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Some of these extra requirements could be, but aren’t limited to:

• Storage of digital files in two locations
• File storage in locations other than servers or hard drives
• The transition to digital files occurs only three years after the receipt issue.
• An internal person in charge of e-archiving must approve a receipt.

What are your electronic receipt options?

For starters, you could stick with your current filing system. Copying and storing hard copy receipts for every business expense may not be such a chore.

But it is also completely unnecessary! With so many countries now allowing the use of digital receipts and invoices, you’ll undoubtedly want to benefit from the convenience and efficiency of paperless receipt management.

Because smartphones are so widely used, it is now easier than ever to capture high-quality images of physical receipts and convert them to secure PDFs. If you prefer to go it alone, you can easily build your own manual system for storing digital receipts, complete with filters for clients, time periods, and invoice status.

One significant disadvantage of this do-it-yourself approach is that your electronic receipts may not meet legal requirements. Your files must be stamped with date and origin information. And failing to meet these integrity requirements could lead to major problems for you later on.

Furthermore, the do-it-yourself approach may limit the ability to retrieve and categorise receipts. You will have hundreds (if not thousands) of receipts depending on the size and nature of your business.

You need a way to find these quickly and accurately, while also ensuring that no receipts fall through the cracks.

Consider the software tools available for the secure and convenient capture and management of digital receipts for peace of mind.

Spendesk – for quick and easy electronic receipts

Spendesk’s automated and streamlined digitization feature drags paper receipts kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. Spendesk’s electronic capture and storage features save you time and reduce stress while ensuring legal compliance.

How does it function?

Spendesk’s Certified eReceipts allow you to securely and conveniently digitise and archive your receipts in three steps

1. Upload a photo of your paper receipt.
2. Spendesk will automatically date and legally seal your receipt, then convert it to a secure PDF for safekeeping.
3. You can then retrieve your digital receipts quickly and easily from Spendesk’s encrypted vault. Spendesk works with Universign and Amazon Glacier Vaults to ensure legal compliance. Universign verifies the authenticity of your receipts, and Amazon uses an encrypted archiving system to securely store your electronic documents.

This ensures an organized record of all payments, as well as quick and easy access to original receipt documentation for auditing and bookkeeping purposes.

The Advantages of Spendesk eReceipts

Aside from mitigating the very real risk of paper avalanches, Spendesk’s automatic receipt digitization feature ensures tax compliance and future-proofs your business in the event of a future audit.

Receipts are dematerialized to a PDF with Spendesk, resulting in less clutter in your workplace and lower storage costs. Furthermore, receipts are electronically dated, signed, and sealed, assisting you in ensuring a clear, accurate, and thorough audit trail.

Spendesk keeps your receipts for ten years, far exceeding the legal requirements.

Paperless receipts are required by modern businesses

We recommend that you move with the times now that an increasing number of countries have paved the way for the transition from paper receipts to digital records. Switch to a paperless system to avoid the hassle of managing paper receipts.

Receipts are one less thing to worry about with Spendesk. You can relax knowing that your receipts are automatically dated, signed, and sealed, that they are stored in a manner that ensures the integrity and security of information, and that they are quickly and easily retrievable.

Spendesk is a painless and paperless option.

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