💙 Free for everyone. The Smart Scanner is currently free to use, with no usage limit. Scan as many receipts as you like.
What is the Receipt Scanner?
The scanner reads a photo or PDF of a receipt and automatically fills in the expense details for you, so you don't have to type them out. It's available in the TurboTenant mobile app whenever you add a new expense to Accounting and non-accounting subscribers without a usage limit.
How to use it
In the mobile app, tap Transactions
Tap Expense.
Tap Add Expense.
Tap Scan Receipt.
Take a photo of the receipt, or upload one from your phone.
Review the details the scanner has filled in for you, edit anything that doesn't look right, and tap save.
What file types can I upload?
File type | Notes |
JPG / JPEG | Standard photo from your camera roll. Recommended. |
PNG | Screenshots and exports from email or banking apps work well. |
HEIC / HEIF | The default iPhone photo format — no need to convert it first. |
Single-page or multi-page. Common for emailed invoices, utility bills, and Home Depot e-receipts. |
Tips for the Best Results
One receipt = one expense
Upload a single receipt at a time. If you combine multiple receipts in one upload, the scanner will pick one of them and you may not get the totals you expected. Log each receipt as its own expense.
Don't mix quotes and receipts. If you have both a quote and the final paid receipt, only upload the paid one — otherwise the scanner may extract the quoted amount instead.
Don't upload "paid in full" invoices that show a $0 balance. Those zero out the balance, so the scanner reads $0. Use the original receipt or invoice that shows the amount paid.
Multi-month bills: if a utility statement covers Jan + Feb + Mar, log each month as a separate expense rather than lumping them together.
Photo quality
Good lighting. Avoid shadows, glare, and dim rooms. Daylight or a bright indoor light works best.
Solid, contrasting background. A dark countertop for a white receipt, or vice versa. Avoid busy patterns or other paperwork in frame.
Whole receipt in frame. Make sure the date, merchant, and total are all visible. Don't cut off the bottom of the receipt.
Flat, not folded or crumpled (if possible). Smooth out wrinkles before snapping.
Hold steady. Blurry photos cause the scanner to confuse digits (an 8 can read as a 6, a 3 as a 5, etc.).
Things the scanner finds harder
Faded thermal receipts — the kind that fade after a few months in a glove box. If you can barely read it, the scanner probably can't either.
Handwritten amounts, dates, or tips. The scanner reads printed text best. If a tip is handwritten, double-check the total it pulls.
Coloured carbon-copy receipts (e.g. bright pink). Low contrast = misreads. High contrast receipts work best, so light paper with dark ink is ideal.
Screenshots of receipts on a phone screen. These usually work — just make sure you capture the full receipt, not only the top half.
ℹ️ Always review before saving. The scanner is highly accurate on clean receipts, but glance at the amount and date before tapping save.
What gets filled in for you
On a clean receipt, the Smart Scanner auto-fills:
Amount
Date
Vendor / payee (e.g. "Home Depot", "Comcast")
Memo / notes — including handwritten notes, Zelle/Venmo memos, and check memo lines
Line items — itemized breakdown where supported
The scanner will also try to match:
Property — when the receipt shows a service address that matches one of your properties (most common on utility bills)
Expense category — based on what the line items look like (Utilities, Supplies, Repairs, etc.)
Payment account — when the last 4 digits of the card on the receipt match one of your accounts on file
If the scanner can't find a confident match for one of these fields, it will be left blank, and you can fill it in manually.
What if the scanner can't find something?
Some receipts genuinely don't contain everything we look for, and that's OK:
No date on the receipt — common on some utility payment confirmations and insurance documents. The scanner will leave the date blank rather than guess. Fill it in manually.
No clear total — rare, but happens with handwritten invoices. Fill it in manually.
"Try again" error — usually a network blip. Retry once. If it fails again, snap a fresh photo or fall back to manual entry.
Privacy
Receipts are processed securely and used only to populate your expense — they are not shared with third parties for marketing.