Digital Receipts

Digital Receipts – All You Need to Know and How to Start Using Them

by Envoice
8 min read
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Businesses are constantly seeking innovative strategies to save expenses, free up time, and increase productivity. Utilizing the latest digital receipt technology is a great way to do this.

With the increased use of smartphones, E-commerce, and cloud storage—digital receipts are becoming the latest trend.

We’ve put together this quick guide to tell you all you need to know, including how to start using them yourself!

What Are Digital Receipts?

Digital receipts, or e receipts, are just like paper receipts—except they’re digital!

Since Apple stores began offering electronic receipts in 2005, more and more businesses are adopting the practice of sending customers their purchases electronically. (1)

The main aim of digital receipts is to replace paper receipts with secure, trackable, and reliable electronic copies that provide consumers with detailed information about their transaction history.

They have all the information contained on a paper receipt—product name, price, date, location—but with more flexibility.

Let’s look at how digital receipts work and why they’re beneficial for both individuals and business owners alike!

How do digital receipts work?

It’s simple—the retailer or merchant will send the receipt to the customer via email or text message.

When you buy something from a store or online, you’ll get an email with a link to view your receipt.

The email will include all the details about the purchase—who, what, and how much. You can also access it later by logging into your account or by going directly to the company’s website.

Most businesses use an online payment processor to send electronic receipts automatically after each transaction.

Now, let’s take a look at how these electronic receipts are beneficial for businesses!

Benefits of digital receipts

1. More organized and easier to track your spending

The benefits go beyond convenience: digital receipts are easier to organize than paper receipts because they don’t get lost or misplaced as easily.

It’s much quicker to scan through a digital receipt than it is to go through all your paper receipts looking for the right one.

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Tracking paper receipts can be tedious and error-prone.

But with e-receipts, all your purchases will automatically be synced with your account so that all you need is access to your phone or laptop.  (And the ability to remember your password-which we hope is easy!).

2. Operational Efficiency

Digital receipts improve operational efficiency by reducing the time required to process and manage paper receipts.

Employees no longer have to manually input data from each receipt into the company’s accounting system. This allows them to focus on other tasks that require their attention.

And since e-receipts can be stored indefinitely, there’s no need for storage space for a physical copy (which can sometimes be expensive). And no more sorting through stacks of papers looking for the right receipt during tax season!

3. Eliminate manual data entry errors

Aside from being time-consuming, another problem with manual data entry is always the risk of human error.

With digital receipts, you can get rid of both of these issues at once.

Instead of having a team of people spending hours manually entering and checking your data, Envoice can do it for you. For the least amount of effort on your part and at minimum cost, you get a tool that extracts 99.9% accurate data.

Digital receipts enable retailers to identify transactional data from sales, build customer loyalty programs, and create customized marketing emails. This allows the customers to continue shopping with your brand and encourages them to make future purchases.

In addition, unlike paper receipts, e receipts offer greater security protection against fraud.

By storing the records in a digital format, fraudulent returns can be more easily tracked due to digital evidence. (2)

The benefits of digital receipts are clear. But before you start using them, it’s important to understand the drawbacks as well.

Drawbacks to digital receipts

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1. Security concerns

While the technology is getting better, there are always going to be privacy concerns and security risks associated with sending sensitive information over the internet.

If your information gets into the wrong hands, it could cause damage to your reputation and finances.

It’s essential to ensure that any third-party apps you use are encrypted and secure so you can keep all of your sensitive information private while still enjoying the convenience of a digital receipt system.

2. Technical knowledge to get started

If you’re not tech-savvy, this might be a deal breaker. However, don’t let it be!

All it takes is some basic computer skills and the ability to follow simple instructions (something we all have).

The good news is that several companies are now offering digital receipt solutions that require very little technical knowledge from the user.

These solutions can be integrated directly into your website or accounting software with minimal effort.

3. Storage issues

You can’t just store digital receipts in your inbox or recycle bin because they will start cluttering up your system very quickly.

As such, there might come a time when you need to delete some of the outdated or unwanted receipts from your device to make room for new ones.

But this won’t be an issue if you take advantage of cloud computing services. All your data will be stored in the cloud where it will be accessible from anywhere on any device.

How to start using digital receipts

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So how do you get started?

Well, first things first: start looking for an app that works for your business model.

Then make sure all employees know about this new system and are on board.

Digital receipts have been around for quite some time. But today, new companies are getting into the space and reinventing the formula with some exciting products.

Here are some of the easiest ways to start using digital receipts to streamline your accounting:

  • E-mail integration

You can start by implementing an email integration that makes it easy for merchants to send you digital receipts.

This allows you to keep track of your accounts payable process and is a great way to transition from paper invoices—eliminating the need to scan and upload them into your system. (3)

It will be easier for you to review and manage all incoming invoices and pay them out electronically using online payment methods such as PayPal or Stripe.

  • Capture detailed information about your proof of payment

To simplify this task, you will need a tool that can add as much information as possible. (how it was paid, what kind of item was purchased, etc.).

If you want to automate your accounting processes even further, you can use the Envoice mobile app to capture your receipts.

It will automatically extract the data accurately and save them for later review by uploading them directly into your accounting software.

  • Filling out forms and reporting expenses

If you’re a small business owner, you know that reports and forms are a necessary part of running a successful company.

But they don’t need to be a chore—digital receipts can help you fill out your forms quickly and easily!

With the expense reporting tool from Envoice, you can manage your digitized receipts and create a summary of your expenses that you can submit for reimbursement.

This can be particularly useful if you’re an international business owner, as it allows you to add all your trip-related expenses even while you’re still on the trip.

  • Automate the approval process

Using digital receipts is a great way to automate your approval process.

You can ensure that everyone is notified when something needs to be signed off.

You can simply use Envoice to send your expense report to the approval workflow and an automatic e-mail notification will be sent to the individual.

The best part is that it provides transparency, and all parties can easily track the status and approvals. This means you’ll never have to worry about whether or not the expense claim was approved on time.

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Digital Receipts are the New Normal

While Digital receipts are nice-to-have now, soon they will be a MUST-HAVE for every business owner and customer.

The world is going digital, and it’s time for you to adapt.

Here’s the thing: so many accounting tools and apps can help you make the transition, and once you’ve got everything set up, it’s just a matter of going through the motions.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of starting digital receipts, don’t be! You don’t have to go all in at once, but it’s important to start somewhere.

You’ll be glad you did.

 

Article Sources:

1 – https://appleinsider.com

2 – https://www.forbes.com

3 – https://quickbooks.intuit.com

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