Typing receipts is the reason most people give up on tracking their spending. A coffee is easy. A supermarket shop with forty lines is not, and by the third one you stop.
Expense Diary takes a photo instead. This is what happens after you press the shutter, and how to get the best out of it.
What the scan reads
Tap Scan receipt on a new entry, or long-press the app icon and choose it from there. Take the photo, or pick one from your library, and within a second the entry is filled in:
- The shop. Read from the top of the receipt. Big chains are recognised even when their logo confuses the reader, and the shop’s own web address is used as a fallback, so a Tesco receipt says Tesco even when the logo came out as three random letters.
- The date. In any of the ways receipts print it: 17/09/2026, 17 Sep 2026, 2026-09-17. A zero read as the letter O is corrected, which happens more than you would think on faded paper.
- The total. The figure next to “Total”, “Amount due” or “To pay”. Subtotals, change, cash tendered and VAT lines are ignored, so the app doesn’t pick the wrong number on a receipt with five of them.
- The category. Suggested from the shop. If you filed Tesco under Groceries last time, it is Groceries this time.
- The other figures. Every price on the receipt is offered as a chip under the total, so if the reader picked the wrong one you tap the right one instead of typing.
The photo itself is attached to the entry, so the receipt is there if you need it for a return or a claim.
It never leaves your phone
The reading is done by the phone’s own text recognition, Apple’s on iPhone and Google’s on Android. The photo is not uploaded anywhere. There is no account and no server, which is also why the scan works in a shop basement with no signal.
When the reader gets it wrong
It will, sometimes. Thermal receipts fade, get folded, and print in fonts designed for cash registers rather than cameras. A few habits help:
- Flat and lit. Lay the receipt on a table under a light rather than holding it up. Shadows across the total are the most common cause of a missed figure.
- Include the top and the bottom. The shop is at the top and the date is usually at the bottom. A photo of just the middle gets the items and nothing else.
- Check the sheet before you save. The app shows what it read, with the shop, date and total each in their own box. Anything wrong is a tap away from being fixed, and the wrong total is usually one of the chips underneath.
- Long receipts in two parts. For a till roll that will not fit in one frame, tap Add another part of the receipt and photograph the rest. The app merges the two.
Splitting one receipt across categories
A supermarket receipt is rarely one thing. Open the entry and choose Split into several categories: the wine to Eating out, the washing-up liquid to Household, the rest to Groceries, with the parts adding up to the total on the receipt. One photo, three entries, correct reports.
Receipts versus bank statements
A receipt is one purchase. If you want to catch up on a whole month, photograph the bank or card statement instead: every row is read into a list, you tick the ones you want, and they are added together. That is a separate feature, covered in its own post.
See it in three minutes
Try it
Expense Diary is free on Google Play, and coming to the App Store. Scanning receipts is part of the free version, with no limit on how many.
More about the app on its page.