Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My only concern is that the included scanner could be quicker. Other than that, the product is quite good. I don't particularly care for its contact management features, but others might.
A little bit of background about me: I am a software developer for contact management add-ons for Outlook. As Neatreceipts uses MSDE for its backend database, I can actually tap into that database directly and integrate it better with my application.
I primarily use it to scan business cards. I get a lot of business cards and it is critical to get them into my Outlook as quickly as possible. Neatreceipts actually is remarkably accurate at recognizing the text on most business cards.
Neatreceipts also has features to automatically recognize text on colored background and how to combat the very light ink syndrome. In short, the fancier the card, the more painful it is to scan in. :-)
Prior to choosing this product, I considered other products as well. I wanted a portable scanner that could also scan in documents in addition to cards. This scanner does the job superbly. Additionally, Neatreceipts software will work with your other scanners, which is handy if you already have a high speed scanner.
I very strongly recommend this product to those who are tired of manually entering business cards.
I promised some tips.
Tip #1
It may be tempting to use the "Meeting Point" field to actually record that place of meeting. If you are like me and want that information to transfer to Outlook as a category, you'll be surprised that the field that is actually mapped to Outlook Categories is "Contact Type" and not "Meeting Point". In other words, record your place of meeting as a category choice in the "Contact Type" field to automatically export that record with a specific category.
I find that to be far more useful.
Tip #2
If you are scanning in documents that are not receipts, simply turn off the Scanalizing feature. This should significantly speed up the process. To do that, go to Tools -> Personalize, and then click on Rules. Then turn off the "Neatscan" checkbox.
Tip #3
While scanning business cards, just hit the scan button for the next card. As long as you are not looking at the "back" side of the card, the product will automatically assume that you are scanning in a new card.
Tip #4
Scanning business cards is faster if you feed them length-wise. The software will automatically rotate the image regardless of how you originally feed the cards. That means you don't have to spend time aligning the cards.
Tip #5
Every time you hit that "Scan" button on the scanner, the software will create a new record. You'll want to go through the records and delete duplicate records. You will do that by right-clicking on the right-most portion of the record's row and choosing Delete.
Tip #6
Be sure to backup the database frequently. Your records are automatically stored in a standard SQL database, so it is critical that this database is backed up.
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NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional 2.5 Mobile Scanner and SoftwarePlease note: A 3.0 software upgrade for the NeatReceipts Scanalizer will be released on October 15, 2007. You may purchase the software upgrade at the NeatReceipts website: Neatreceipts.com/Upgrade
NeatReceipts Version 2.5 Professional is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage expenses, prepare for taxes, create expense reports, and scan business cards. But it not all just for business--you can also use Neat Receipts for scrapbooking, archiving family recipes, and other family activities. NeatReceipts Version 2.5 Professional edition also includes a new Document Organizer feature in addition to Receipts, Business Card, and Tax Organizers features.
How NeatRecipts can Make Your Life Easier
Make permanent digital copies of all your financial papers NeatReceipts 2.5 comes with a high resolution portable scanner. All you have to do is scan your receipts, invoices, and other financial documents through this scanner, and our software will save permanent copies that you can depend on for years to come.
Eliminate financial data entry, simplifies expense tracking Using patent-pending NeatScan technology, NeatReceipts 2.5 extracts all important information from each receipt including date, amount, vendor and payment type. It then organizes all this expense information into a searchable expense database.
Speed up tax preparation NeatReceipts allows you to leave digital comments on receipts and mark them for tax purposes. During tax season, retrieve all the marked receipts with ease and review those comments for easy preparation. NeatReceipts stores each receipt in a secure digital format that is accepted by the IRS.
Integrate with QuickBooks, Quicken, Money, Act!, Peachtree Export to QuickBooks, MS Money, Quicken and most other financial software. By automating data entry and making it easy to export to other software, NeatReceipts makes sure you never have to type information into your financial software again!
Scan business cards NeatReceipts captures key contact information from business cards and syncs with your Outlook address book. You can also create V-cards to upload to your PDA.
Automatically create expense reports Automatically creates expense reports from scanned receipts and attaches images of the original receipts for simple verification. Users can email these reports from within the software or export them into PDF, DOC, XLS or HTML formats. If you are looking for expense reporting software with in-built approval, analysis and administration capabilities, please consider NeatReceipts Enterprise.
How NeatReciepts Works
NeatScan Technology Using advanced Optical Character Recognition, NeatScan technology (patent pending) extracts key information from your receipts, such as date, amount, payment method, expense category and vendor. If you scan in business cards, NeatScan automatically pulls out information like name, company, address, phone numbers, email address etc.
NeatScan actually learns to associate an expense category (such as meals or lodging) to a particular vendor (brands such as Starbucks or Hilton) so you don't have to type in the information each time. This ensures that your financial records are filed consistently and with minimal effort.
Each user of NeatReceipts Professional 2.5 receives the NeatReceipts scanner--a lightweight, portable, durable color scanner. Our software was designed with this scanner in mind and offers the following unmatched functionality:
Auto-sizes any scanned receipt or document.
Auto-crops and auto-rotates any scanned receipt or document.
Scan widthwise or lengthwise -- the image will appear upright in image viewer.
Powered by USB port, so no plug needed (it's truly portable!).
Scans quickly and easily without opening and closing scanner lid (flatbed).
Small, portable and lightweight. Perfect for the office, the home and the road!
What New with NeatRecipts 2.5
NeatReceipts Professional 2.5 offer many new features like recognition of credit cards by last 4 digits, simplified and enhanced Advanced Fast Find for your folder and receipts, and added printing options that let you print one to four images per page and choice of paper size.
Just like its previous version, NeatReceipts Professional 2.5 includes a business card reader at no additional charge. Simply scan your business cards and sync your contact information automatically with your Outlook address book, or create a V-Card for your palm pilot. Version 2.5 has the added convenience of Plaxo integration, so you can just go online, click "sync with Plaxo" and have your contact information updated.
New in business card features in version 2.5 include an improved interface and parsing, both black & white and color scanning, one-click e-mail to and browse-to options, and completed action item check box column.
Also, for the first time, NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional Version 2.5 also includes a document organizer so you can keep track of all types of documents and access them up as needed. Document Organizer features include:
Black & White and Color Scanning
Document copier
Copy Document command
Ability to combine documents together
Ability to separate multi-page documents
What's in the Box Scanner, carrying case, stand
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