A receipt scanner that you check before it saves.

Why scanning helps

Receipts are the paper trail behind your spending, and they fade, get lost or end up crumpled at the bottom of a bag. The few that matter, for returns, warranties or records, matter a lot. Photographing a receipt on the spot turns a fragile bit of paper into a record that stays.

The second reason is entry speed. Typing in merchant, items and total takes a minute. A photo takes a few seconds, and you only fix what the reader got wrong.

How scanning works in Vaulta

On Pro and Premium, point your camera at a receipt. Vaulta reads the merchant, the line items and the total, and builds a transaction. Nothing is saved until you have reviewed it. That review step is deliberate: a reader can misread a smudged total or a faded date, and the person who knows is you.

Product photos work too. If you want to record something you bought without a receipt, a photo of the product can be read in the same way. Pro includes 50 receipt reads and 50 product reads a month. Premium includes 150 of each. Limits reset monthly.

What happens to the photo

When you scan, the photo is sent to Google Gemini to be read. This happens only at the moment you scan; Vaulta does not upload your camera roll or scan in the background. The details are in the privacy policy. If you would rather not send photos, you can enter transactions by hand on any plan with no limit, and nothing else in the app depends on scanning.

A good receipt habit

You do not need to scan everything. A small rule works better than a perfect archive:

• Scan anything over an amount you choose, for example 50.
• Scan anything with a warranty: electronics, appliances, tools.
• Scan work-related purchases, so they are easy to find later.
• Bin the rest, or keep them until the return window closes.

The Journal piece on receipts, warranties and records explains how long to keep different kinds of paper, and the tax-season folder habit shows a calm way to sort them. Neither is tax or legal advice; rules differ by country.

Business expenses

Premium adds business expense tagging. If you buy supplies or software for work on a personal card, tag the transaction when you review the scan. Later you can see what you spent on work. Vaulta does not file anything or decide what is deductible.

What to expect

Printed, flat, well-lit receipts read best. Thermal paper that has faded, crumpled slips and handwritten bills are harder, and some will need manual fixes. This is why the review step is a feature rather than an inconvenience.

Getting a clean read

Lay the receipt flat on a dark table in good light. Fill the frame with the receipt and keep your hand steady for a second. If it is long, fold it so the total is visible, or scan it in two parts. Faded thermal paper often reads better outdoors in daylight than under a warm lamp. If the total is wrong after scanning, fixing one number takes a few seconds, and that review is the reason nothing is saved until you say so.