Skip the receipt scanning and hours of manual data entry with the Magic Envelope
- Outsource receipt scanning to an award-winning service
- Get AI-extracted and human-verified receipt data
- Use postage pre-paid* envelopes for sending in receipts
- Enjoy automatic sorting of receipts into 15 tax categories
- Add your accountant or bookkeeper to your account for free
- *Note: Postage is only pre-paid within the US at this time
The only receipt management tool that doesn’t require any scanning
How does Shoeboxed’s Magic Envelope service work?
Why choose Shoeboxed's Magic Envelope to scan receipts and manage business expenses?
How Shoeboxed’s receipt scanning service systematically scans and organizes your receipts
Users can send in physical receipts with the Magic Envelope service, upload them digitally to their Shoeboxed account, or import them with the Gmail plugin. Our AI tech will extract the data from these receipts, and a team of data entry professionals will inspect and verify the extracted information.
The Shoeboxed team will process and verify your data and assign it one of fifteen common tax categories. This process simplifies and alleviates receipt organization and makes it easy for you to create expense reports and tally totals for tax time.
Small businesses, teams, bookkeepers, accountants, and anyone handling project-specific expenses can customize their own categories based on the type of expenses they want to track.
Customer Success Story
Celebrated illusionist vanishes uncertainty & wasted time with a Magic Envelope
“We now pile all receipts and documents we need scanned and sorted into the magic blue envelopes. We never ever have to see them or think of them again—until we need to, and then it is scanned clearly, sorted, organized, categorized, precisely! It’s impossible to quantify the value, but being that we don’t have to sort, scan, and spend hours searching, Shoeboxed is invaluable!”... Read more
Rob Lake is a celebrated illusionist who has entertained millions on network TV (America’s Got Talent, Good Morning America, etc.), the Vegas strip, Atlantic City, Atlantis Bahamas, and performed before sold-out audiences in casinos, arenas, and theaters worldwide. Additionally, Rob creates special effects and illusions for Broadway shows, theme parks, super-star concerts, international events, and TV and film productions.
We asked Rob how he was previously managing receipts and what’s changed since using Shoeboxed’s Magic Envelope. He delightfully obliged us with some rapid-fire answers to our questions.
How were you managing your receipts before Shoeboxed?
Rob Lake: It’s actually embarrassing. I had piles of crumpled receipts that I would “eventually” get to. The piles grew into several boxes, quite often shoeboxes. Then, when needed, it was chaos [trying] to find specific receipts and organize them into organized boxes. Let’s not talk about that.
What were the challenges you had with that setup?
Rob: It was unsightly, it was embarrassing, it was absurd. We kinda knew where something might have been, but until you went through TONS of slips and crumples of paper, it was never certain.
Specifically, what impact were those challenges having on you and your team?
Rob: Time. Ultimately, time. We wasted so much time. When we threw it away into a “storage,” we had to spend absurd [amounts of] time hunting it down.
Did you have any special requirements around expensing that you needed to consider as you chose a solution?
Rob: We needed an affordable option to digitize all these receipts and documents, organize them, label them, and fast.
Where and how did you find us? And what clinched your decision to use Shoeboxed?
Rob: I think an accountant or finance advisor suggested Shoeboxed. It has been so many years I forget. Once we saw Shoeboxed’s website—we knew exactly what we needed immediately!
What results are you getting? Any favorite features?
Rob: Anytime we need something… We search, and just like MAGIC! Bam! There it is, scanned, sorted, categorized, and all we need!
How long did integration take, and were there any road bumps as you began using Shoeboxed?
Rob: It worked from the start! No problems, no issues—just solutions to our messy ways!
What are the most notable impacts you’ve experienced since switching to Shoeboxed? What has been the value add for you?
Rob: We now pile all receipts and documents we need scanned and sorted into the magic blue envelopes. We never ever have to see them or think of them again—until we need to, and then it is scanned clearly, sorted, organized, categorized, precisely! We can download specific receipts and all other relevant organized categories.
“It’s impossible to quantify the value, but being that we don’t have to sort, scan, and spend hours searching, Shoeboxed is invaluable!”
Frequently asked questions
Magic Envelopes are the perfect way to get your receipts, business cards, invoices, work orders and other important business documents organized. If you send it, we’ll scan it.
Our Magic Envelopes are large 9″x 12″ Tyvek envelopes. Tyvek is a very sturdy and reliable material, so our Magic Envelopes can usually hold hundreds of receipts depending on the receipt size. However, if you find that your receipts do not fit we can send you more envelopes at no charge!
For the most part, documents do not need to be organized in any way before you send them to Shoeboxed. Please make sure that documents are not attached to larger pieces of paper, as we are not able to process this kind of document.
Each receipt should be loose in the envelope. Each individual document should also not be stapled or otherwise attached to other pages, unless the document is part of a multi-page document.
Double-sided documents that contain printed information on both sides will be automatically processed as a single document entry in your account.
All you have to do is put a paper clip on receipts or documents that have multiple pages, and we will scan them as one document with multiple pages. Multi-page documents only count once toward your monthly limit—not once for every page.
Each Magic Envelope has a unique envelope code. Before a Magic Envelope is sent to you, we associate its envelope code with your account, and then we wait for that envelope to come back. When we receive it, we will send you an email letting you know that it is going through processing.
You can also use the envelope code to track at which point in the processing cycle your envelope is in. Simply log in to your account and click on “My Envelopes” on the overview page. From there you will be able to see when your envelope was received, when it has been processed and when we sent new envelopes out to you.
You have two options: (1) Have them shredded at our facility or (2) have them returned to you after we scan them.
Go to “Account info,” under “My mail-in settings,” check the box “Shred and recycle my documents (do not return)” if you want us to shred your documents.
Leave the box unchecked if you would like us to return your documents. All new plans will default to include document return.
If you’re looking to streamline your receipt organization for tax season by digitizing your receipts, you may be wondering—will the IRS accept your receipt scans? Can receipt scans legally support your tax write-offs when filing taxes?
The quick answer: Receipt scans are 100% legitimate and approved by the IRS. In fact, the IRS has accepted scanned and digitized receipts as valid tax records for tax deductible purposes since 1997.
However, receipt scans must meet specific requirements to be eligible.
According to the IRS, digital or scanned receipts must meet the following requirements:
- Digital versions of receipt scans are completely identical to their original versions.
- Each receipt scan must exhibit a high degree of legibility and readability.
- You must be able to produce hard copies (print-outs) of the scanned receipts in the event of an IRS audit.
- Scanned documents must be stored in a secure place.
If you can ensure your scanned receipts are properly stored and backed up as digital files in a filing system that allows for easy retrieval, and you can reproduce hard copies from the digital versions in a legible, readable format, you may dispose of the original receipts.
See “Rev. Proc. 97-22 (Recordkeeping – Electronic Storage System),” IRS.gov
Every account comes with an unlimited number of users. If you would like, we can also make sub-accounts for any members of your staff to keep their receipts separate from your main account.
There are multiple ways for users to scan receipts into their Shoeboxed account.
- Mail your receipts to our processing facility for free with a pre-paid* envelope from us, then we’ll scan them into your Shoeboxed account.
- Download our receipt scanner app from the Apple store or Google Play for quick uploads on the go.
- Forward emails to the designated Shoeboxed address and any receipts sent will appear in your Shoeboxed account.
- Install our custom Gmail plugin to auto-import digital receipts to the Shoeboxed dashboard.
- Upload receipts to your Shoeboxed account from your laptop or desktop using the drag-and-drop method.
Shoeboxed takes both your physical documents and scanned documents into consideration when it comes to security. All incoming paperwork is kept safe in our facility in Durham, NC with 24/7 surveillance and entry control. Digital files and data are additionally protected by SSL encryption, which is the same utilized by banks to protect accounts. We suggest that users review the privacy policy and terms of service before using any receipt scanning software or receipt management tool.
You can try Shoeboxed without any charge for 30 days to test the service. If you then choose to cancel your subscription at any time during the month, you will not be billed. If you opt for an annual plan and decide to cancel within the first 30 days, you will be refunded fully.
Our price is comparable to other receipt scanning apps. Additionally, our Digital Only price starts at just 4.99 per month (price available in-App), making us less expensive than Expensify, Rydoo, Dext (Receipt Bank), and many other options in the same category.
The Startup plan is $29 per month and ideal for the independent contractor or a small business owner. You get 50 digital and 25 physical documents per month and unlimited users. All of our paid plans include unlimited storage, allowing you to use Shoeboxed as your dedicated document management system.
The Professional plan is ideal for professionals and small businesses who are looking for receipt management apps that handle both paper and digital. This plan includes 150 digital and 150 physical documents per month, unlimited prepaid Magic Envelopes, unlimited document returns, unlimited file storage, unlimited users, and Quickbooks Online integration.
The Business plan is great for businesses with a high volume of customers or purchases to manage. It includes 300 digital and 300 physical documents per month, unlimited prepaid magic envelopes, unlimited document returns, unlimited cloud storage, unlimited users, and Quickbooks Online integration.
A 20% discount is available when you sign up for an annual plan, providing great value for those searching for the best receipt scanner. Annual plans include annual document counts, best utilized for bulk upload or businesses that experience seasonal changes in receipt volume throughout the year.
Note: Postage is only pre-paid within the US at this time.
Software that can read text that has been captured in an image is referred to as Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This enables us to take the line items from an image and convert them into text. This information can then be used to fill in fields in accounting software or digital filing systems. Before settling on a receipt scanner, make sure it has the OCR feature.
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Turn business receipts into data & deductibles
