Use-case guide
Smart Receipts for Personal, Employee and Freelancer Use
Smart Receipts is one app, but it is optimised for three very different jobs: tracking personal spending, filing employee expense claims, and keeping freelancer tax records. When you first open the app you choose a profile, and the app switches on the modules that fit: warranty tracking for personal use, employee details for reimbursement claims, or business details with customer and project tracking for freelancers. This guide explains what each profile turns on and how to set up categories, tags, payment modes, exports, and backup to get the most out of it.
Choose your profile in the app
During onboarding Smart Receipts asks whether you track receipts for personal use, as an employee, or as a freelancer. The choice sets sensible defaults and turns on the modules each group needs. You can change the profile and every module later under Settings, then Account Setup.
Personal
Groceries, warranties, and home costs. Turns on warranty tracking so any receipt can carry an item name and warranty expiry date.
Employee
Travel, meals, and team lunches kept for reimbursement. Stores your employee details: name, employee ID, and company email.
Freelance
Client work, mileage, home office, and invoices. Stores your business details with logo and enables the Customer and Project modules.
The Customer and Project modules are available to every profile. Switch them on in Account Setup and a Customers list and a Projects list appear in Settings, where you keep reusable customer and project records in one place. Profile details, module settings, customers, and projects are all included in cloud backup. The Account Setup screen also holds the base currency, decimal places, date format, and the warranty and tax tracking toggles.
Quick comparison
The app is the same download for everyone. What changes is how you use categories, tags, payment modes, exports, and backup.
| Personal | Employee | Freelancer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main goal | Know where money goes | Get reimbursed quickly | Keep tax records |
| Profile turns on | Warranty tracking | Employee details | Business details, Customer and Project modules |
| Tags | Optional | One per trip or claim | "Tax deductible", plus per-client tags alongside customer records |
| Payment modes | Per card or wallet | Personal vs corporate card | Business vs personal card |
| Export | Rarely, PDF summary | PDF with images per claim | CSV per quarter, PDF as audit record |
| Backup | Dropbox or OneDrive | OneDrive with work Microsoft account | Dropbox or OneDrive, kept for retention period |
| Automation | Siri "check spending" | Monthly report emailed before the claim deadline | Weekly report emailed every Friday |
Personal use
Personal spending and household budgets
For personal use, Smart Receipts is optimised for speed and zero admin. Snap a receipt at the checkout, let AI fill in the merchant, date, and total, and forget about it. Reports show where the money goes each month without spreadsheets, and everything stays on your iPhone unless you choose to back it up.
What to set up
- Keep the default categories such as Groceries, Dining, Transport, and Shopping, and add a few of your own for recurring household costs.
- Add payment modes for each card or wallet you use so you can see spending per account.
- Use the Reports tab to review the monthly spend trend and the category breakdown.
- Choose the Personal profile so warranty tracking is on. For appliances and electronics, add the item name and warranty expiry date to the receipt.
- Turn on Face ID lock in Settings if other people use your phone.
- Enable Dropbox or OneDrive backup so receipt history survives a lost or replaced iPhone.
Features that matter most
One-tap capture
Camera, photo library, file import, or the Share Extension from Mail and WhatsApp. Multi-page capture saves a long receipt as one PDF.
Spend reports
Monthly trend chart plus category and tag breakdowns to spot where budgets slip.
Warranty tracking
Record the item and warranty expiry on the receipt, then search by merchant or amount when you need it for a return or claim.
Private by default
Local-first storage with optional Face ID lock. No account is required to start.
Tip: Ask Siri to "check spending in Smart Receipts" for a quick read on the current month without opening the app.
Employees
Employee expense claims and reimbursement
For employees, Smart Receipts is optimised for producing a clean claim at the end of a trip or month. Tag every work receipt as you go, then export one PDF that includes the receipt images and a CSV that finance can import. Backup to the OneDrive account your company already uses keeps proof of purchase safe until the claim is paid.
What to set up
- Choose the Employee profile and fill in your name, employee ID, and company email so your claim details are stored with your receipts.
- Create tags for each trip or claim period, for example "Berlin trip" or "March claim", and tag work receipts as you scan them.
- Add a payment mode called "Personal card" or "Corporate card" so you can separate what needs reimbursing from what the company already paid.
- Set up categories that match your expense policy, such as Travel, Meals, Accommodation, and Client entertainment.
- If you work across several internal projects or cost centres, switch on the Project module in Account Setup and keep them as a reusable list.
- At claim time, open Export, choose the claim date range, filter by the trip tag, and include receipt images in the PDF.
- Share the PDF and CSV straight from the app by email, AirDrop, or Messages.
Features that matter most
Filtered exports
Filter by tag, category, or payment mode and pick any date range, so one export equals one claim.
Receipt images in the PDF
Finance gets the proof of purchase attached to every line, which cuts back-and-forth.
Multi-currency
Receipts from international travel are captured in the local currency and converted to your base currency with the rate you enter.
OneDrive backup
Keep work receipts alongside your other Microsoft files. Restore them on a new phone with the same account.
Tip: Use an iOS Shortcuts automation to generate the monthly report on the last day of each month and email it to yourself, so the claim is ready before the deadline.
Freelancers and self-employed
Freelancer bookkeeping and tax records
For freelancers and the self-employed, Smart Receipts is optimised for client work and year-round tax records. Every deductible receipt is captured, categorised, and backed up the moment you get it, so tax season becomes an export instead of a shoebox. The Customer and Project modules keep client and engagement records in one place, and CSV exports drop straight into your accounting software or your accountant's inbox.
What to set up
- Choose the Freelance profile and add your business name, email, website, and logo. This also switches on the Customer and Project modules.
- Open Settings, then Customers, and add each client. Open Projects and add the engagements you bill for, so names stay consistent across every receipt and report.
- Create categories that mirror your tax return, for example Software, Equipment, Home office, Travel, and Professional services.
- Add a "Tax deductible" tag for anything you will claim, and set up your tax rates under Settings so VAT or sales tax is calculated per expense.
- Track business and personal cards as separate payment modes so mixed spending stays easy to split.
- Import invoices and PDF receipts from email using the Share Extension so digital receipts are stored with the paper ones.
- Each quarter, export a CSV filtered by "Tax deductible" for your accountant, and keep the PDF with receipt images as your audit record.
Features that matter most
Tax extraction and tax rates
Merchant, date, total, and tax are read from the receipt, and you can define your own tax rates to apply to any expense.
CSV for accounting
Export a CSV by date range and tag to import into your bookkeeping tool or send to an accountant.
Customer and project tracking
Keep reusable customer and project records so client work is organised consistently and expenses can be billed back or reviewed per engagement.
Automatic backup
Receipt images and expense data are backed up to your own Dropbox or OneDrive, so records survive device changes for the years tax authorities require.
Tip: Set a weekly report automation so a summary of the week's expenses lands in your inbox every Friday. Nothing gets forgotten before it is categorised.
Ready to set it up?
Smart Receipts is on the App Store. Start with the setup steps above, then read the backup guide so your receipts are protected from day one.