Receipt scanning: cost a whole receipt in one go

What does receipt scanning do?

When a client accepts your quote, Sammy keeps what the quote said the job would cost you as the job’s budget. Every receipt you add counts against it. One trip to the supplier usually covers several parts of the job, so one receipt as one lump doesn’t tell you much.

With By line, each item on the receipt becomes its own cost on its own line of your quote: the timber on the subframe, the screws on the decking, the bags of concrete on the footings. Every cost keeps the receipt attached. For a small docket you don’t need broken up, One cost still keeps the whole receipt together. See job costing for how the job’s budget works.

How it works

1. Open the job and go to Costs. Tap + Log costs, then Upload invoice or receipt.
2. Take a photo or pick the file. A photo (JPG or PNG) or a PDF, up to 20 MB.
3. Sammy reads it. In about ten seconds he shows Check the receipt: the supplier, the date, the total, the GST and the type of cost. Fix anything that’s wrong.
4. Choose By line or One cost. By line is where Sammy starts when the receipt has two or more items with a price and the job has a quote.
5. Check where each line goes. Every item is listed as it’s printed, with its amount and the line of your quote Sammy picked for it. Tap one to move it.
6. Save. The button counts the costs, like Save 6 costs. They land on their lines straight away, with Undo for a few seconds.

How Sammy matches each item to your quote

• By the words and the price. When an item’s price is within a cent of a line in your quote and they share a word or two, he puts it on that line even when the supplier words it differently, like “NVR 8CH” for “8-Channel Network Video Recorder”. You see Sammy’s match and how sure he is.
• The right kind of line first. A materials receipt goes on your materials lines. If your quote has none, he looks at all of them.
• Freight and delivery count too. They’re added as costs. Put them on a line or leave them in Unallocated, which still counts in the job’s total.
• Nothing goes missing. If the items come to less than the total, say a surcharge at the bottom, a Rest of the receipt row covers the difference. Items at $0, like a serial number, are left out.

If the items add up to more than the total, there’s usually a discount on the receipt. Sammy can’t share a discount out between the items, so that receipt stays as one cost. So does a receipt with more than 50 items.

Your supplier prices keep themselves up to date

When Sammy reads prices off a receipt, a tick box sits above the save button, like Save 6 prices to Harbour Trade Supplies in your suppliers. It’s ticked for you when you already have that supplier. If you don’t, tick Add Harbour Trade Supplies as a supplier and Sammy sets it up.

He saves what you paid for one of each item, without GST, updating the price if the item’s already there and adding it if it isn’t. Freight, delivery and discounts aren’t saved as prices. Your next quotes use your real prices, and you never typed in a price list. See supplier pricing.

Or just send the receipt to Sammy

From any page, tap the paperclip in Sammy’s chat and send up to five photos or PDFs. He works out which job each one is for and tells you how he knows, like the job number on the invoice or the delivery address on the receipt. Each one gets a Needs your OK card with what he read and the budget line it goes on, and nothing is saved until you tap Approve. See Sammy on every page. Your crew can send their dockets from the job card too.

Questions tradies ask

How does it handle GST?

Sammy copies the figures printed on the receipt. The total is set to inc GST when the receipt prints one with GST in it, ex GST when it only prints a total without, and GST-free when there’s no GST on it. If the GST is blank, he works it out as one eleventh of the total, or as 15% GST in New Zealand. Your job costs leave GST out, the same as the costs in your quote.

What if Sammy can’t read the receipt?

A blurry photo, say. The Add a cost form opens with the file attached, so you fill in the details yourself and save.

What if it’s the wrong job?

If the receipt mentions a different job number, Sammy warns you so you can check it’s for this job before you save.

Can I put a whole receipt on one line?

Yes. Choose One cost, or tap the line in the Costs table and upload the receipt from there. Sammy keeps the whole receipt on that line as one cost.

Can my client see my costs?

No. Costs stay in Sammy and are never shown to your client.

Can I find the receipt later?

Yes. Tap any cost and choose Open receipt. Costs from the same receipt all open the same file, and each one can be edited or removed on its own.

Step-by-step guides

• Tracking what a job actually costs
• Adding suppliers
• Asking Sammy anywhere in the app