Neat is an all-in-one cloud-based receipt scanner, file storage, and file management app. With it, you can easily import, file, and organize business documents. It can even generate detailed and comprehensive reports according to the needs of management.
You can try the platform for free for 14 days and then pay $200 per year. Our Neat app review discusses Neat’s pricing, features, and use cases to provide you with the information you need to know before making a purchase.
The Fit Small Business editorial policy is driven by our mission to provide you with the best answers to your small business questions, allowing you to choose the right receipt scanner for your business. For our roundup of the best receipt scanner apps, we created a rubric that evaluates the features of several platforms. This allows us to give you our unbiased opinion about a tool’s capabilities and fitness in your organization.
We don’t just scratch the surface—we immerse ourselves in every software we review by exploring the features down to the finest nuances. Our meticulous evaluation process makes us a trustworthy source for insights and tips in selecting the best platform for your needs.
Pros
- Has a clean interface
- Organizes files into folders, categories, and tags
- Provides multi-user account access
- Offers a simple pricing model
Cons
- Is not a complete bookkeeping system
- Lacks appropriate migration options from legacy desktop software to cloud-based system
- Has no assisted receipt scanning
Supported Business Types | Businesses looking for a file storage and management app |
Pricing | $200 per year |
Free Trial | 14 days |
Accounting Software Integration | QuickBooks |
Standout Features |
|
Customer support | Call back from Neat, email, help center, live chat, paid support |
- Companies looking for an invoicing and file storage system: Neat comes with the features of NeatInvoices, so it’s optimal if you’re looking for storage software with invoicing features. It saves you money because you need not get another invoicing app.
- QuickBooks users: Neat can easily export data into QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. Also, Neat is a great complement to QuickBooks Desktop because you can store your receipts or documents in the cloud and then attach them to your QuickBooks Desktop entries.
- Organizations storing large volumes of documents: Neat offers unlimited monthly storage for its single plan. Moreover, it uses bank-level encryption, protecting your files from hackers and cybercriminals.
Neat Alternatives
Neat App Reviews from Users
Users Like | Users Dislike |
---|---|
Excellent customer support | Problems with receipt scanning hardware |
Receipt scanner and tracker | Pricing model |
Those who left a positive Neat app review mentioned that the customer support team is helpful. Some users got the answers they were looking for, while others were assisted by multiple support staff.
On the flip side, there are comments about problems with receipt scanning hardware and an expensive pricing model. However, most comments about Neat are already a year old, so we highly recommend taking the reviews with a grain of salt.
Here are Neat’s scores in user review sites:
- Trustpilot[1]: 4.8 out of 5 from around 2,300 reviews
- G2[2]: 4.4 out of 5 stars from about 10 reviews
Neat Pricing
Neat costs $200 per year for unlimited users. There’s a 14-day free trial to test out the following key features:
- Unlimited storage per month
- Bank-level security encryption
- Access files anytime, anywhere
- Best-in-class data capture and human verification
- Expense tracking
- File organization and categorization
Paid Options
- VIP Service: Additional $50 per year; includes 1-on-1 training with Neat experts, dedicated support, and exclusive offers
- Automated Insights: Additional $150 per year; includes automated bank imports, automatic accounting reports, and custom invoices
Neat Basic Features
In our Neat file manager review, the platform aced our evaluation of this criterion because it has all the basic features we look for in a receipt scanner. For instance, it can upload receipts via mobile app or manual upload and auto-forward receipts from email. It also has optical character recognition (OCR).
Upon logging in to Neat, you’ll see the dashboard. It’ll give you updates about Neat and your account:
On the dashboard, you can use Quick Links to access frequently used items quickly. If you wish to add a new item, you can send items to Neat in four ways: by direct email, mobile app, direct import, or desktop scan utility.
Every Neat account has a NeatCloud Email. You can use this email to send files and upload them directly to your Neat account. By default, Neat will auto-detect the file type in any of the following: receipt, bill, contact, document, invoice, statement, or check.
Alternatively, you can set a specific type instead of “Auto-detect” for ease of use. All files sent via NeatCloud Email will be marked as “Unfiled,” so you’ll need to file them in their corresponding folders once you get back to your account.
Neat Email for Sending Files (Source: Neat Support)
You can use the mobile app to scan and upload items to your Neat account directly.
Uploading Files via Mobile App
(Source: Neat Support)
After taking a snapshot of the document or receipt, you can crop it by moving the blue borders. Once everything is good to go, select the item type and destination folder. By default, it will go to the “Unfiled” folder. However, you can also choose a specific folder.
Through the drag-and-drop method, you can upload files from your desktop to Neat easily. Alternatively, you can choose files manually. It’s nice that you can immediately file items before uploading, saving you time from sorting unfiled things later on.
Importing Files to Neat (Source: Neat Support)
This is a free utility that works with your scanner. You can use it to edit scanned items, crop and adjust the skewness of images, tweak document colors, and upload them to Neat.
Neat offers reporting features that can help in accounting and decision-making. Here are the reports you can generate:
- Expense Report: Shows column information from your grid and scanned images for your items.
- Tax Category: Shows items in groups based on their tax category and percentage.
- Sales Tax: Shows the sales tax reported for transactions, including the date, subtotal, and total tax for each group.
- Spending Detail: Shows items in groups, including a vertical analysis of subtotals expressed in percentages.
- Spending Summary: Shows a summarized report of your aggregate spending, including a vertical analysis of subtotals expressed in percentages.
Neat Advanced Features
Neat took a hit in our evaluation of its advanced features because it lacks assisted receipt scanning and line item extractions. While these two features aren’t a major miss, they would be a great addition to the platform.
With a Neat subscription, you can enjoy NeatInvoices features. You will be able to generate professional invoices that contain your logo, address, and other business information and set invoice reminders to remind customers about their obligations automatically.
Setting Invoice Reminders On, Before, and After the Due Date
(Source: Neat Support)
Managing items is easy with item filters. You can set filters on all items based on type or other filter categories.
Filter Items Based on Item Type (Source: Neat Support)
Account owners can invite unlimited users to access the Neat account. Moreover, if you have multiple Neat accounts, you can invite other users to access these accounts.
For an additional $150 per year, you can get additional features that’ll help you streamline file management needed for accounting. With Automated Insights, you can do the following:
- Connect bank accounts and import transactions
- Match receipts with expenses
- Access real-time insights
- Send customized invoices
Neat Customer Service
We gave Neat high marks for customer service because users have different ways to contact technical support. On top of that, support is available 24/7, which is a major criterion in our evaluation of customer service. We docked points here only because it lacks a dedicated phone hotline. You can ask Neat to call you to accommodate your concern, but there’s no way for you to call the provider directly.
Neat Ease of Use
Neat received a high score in ease of use based on our experience with the software. It has a built-in expense tracker, which is a good supplement to document management. In our subjective evaluation, Neat took a hit because it doesn’t have assisted receipt scanning. But overall, it remains a good pick for receipt scanning and document management for most businesses.
How We Evaluated Receipt Scanner Apps
We created a rubric that highlights seven main areas to evaluate the best receipt scanner apps, including Neat.
10% of Overall Score
The cost of the receipt scanner app matters greatly for small businesses on a budget. In our pricing evaluation, we considered different pricing levels that vary with the number of users. We also gave points to providers that give free trials, monthly plan options, and annual billing discounts.
35% of Overall Score
Basic receipt scanning features are must-have features. The provider must at least have the majority of these features to be usable as a receipt scanner. In this criterion, we gave more weight to OCR and methods of receipt scanning. The provider that can give multiple receipt scanning methods received more points.
15% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
We check user review websites to gauge actual user feedback and incorporate these ratings in our evaluation.
10% of Overall Score
10% of Overall Score
In this criteria, we want providers to have many support channels available for users just in case they need assistance. Support channels like phone, email, and chat are the primary channels we’d like to see. Alternatively, we also considered the knowledge base as a source of self-help information.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Neat is a document management and cloud storage system with receipt and document scanning features. It offers users receipt scanning capabilities and a place to store documents and receipts. It also lets users organize documents into folders and tags.
Neat can integrate with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, Google Contacts, Mailchimp, and Microsoft Outlook.
Yes, and Wave is our best free receipt scanner, as its receipt scanning capabilities are built within its accounting software environment. However, Neat offers a 14-day free trial for you to try all of its features. If you’re unhappy, you can cancel before the trial ends.
Bottom Line
Being one of our best receipt scanner apps, Neat offers features that are vital to every business. Its file storage service works best with its invoicing features through NeatInvoices, as generating invoices and then storing them in your cloud storage will be easier and more comfortable than using two separate software. Therefore, we highly recommend Neat if you’re looking for a receipt scanner and invoice software.
[1]Trustpilot
[2]G2