Scan receipts into transactions, without uploading them
Drop in a photo or PDF of a receipt. Covely reads the merchant, date, total and tax using the text recognition built into your computer, fills in the transaction and keeps the receipt with it.
Most receipt-scanning apps send your receipt to a cloud server to be read. A receipt can show where you shop, what you buy, your card's last digits and sometimes your name. Covely doesn't upload it. The text is read by the OCR engine that already ships with your operating system.
How it works
- Open the scanner. On the Transactions page, choose Scan Receipt, or press the command palette shortcut and type “receipt”.
- Drop in the receipt. Drag in a JPG, PNG, HEIC or PDF, or click to browse. A photo from your phone is fine.
- Check what was found. Covely shows the merchant, date, total, subtotal, tax (GST, VAT or sales tax) and line items next to the image. Fields it's unsure about are flagged so you know what to check.
- Create the transaction. Choose the account and category, then create a single transaction, or a split transaction from the line items. The receipt image is saved as an attachment unless you turn that off.
It learns from what you already have
- Merchant matching. “WOOLWORTHS 1234 SYDNEY” is matched to the Woolworths payee you already use, so your reports don't fill up with near-duplicate names.
- Your automation rules. The same rules that categorise your bank imports also run on scanned receipts, and Covely shows you which rule picked the category.
- Several languages and currencies. Covely recognises totals and tax lines on receipts in English, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. It picks up currency symbols and codes such as $, A$, NZ$, €, £ and ¥.
What stays private
| Typical cloud receipt app | Covely | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the receipt is read | On the provider's servers | On your computer |
| Where the image is stored | In the provider's cloud | Attached to the transaction in your local database |
| Account needed | Usually | No |
| Works offline | No | Yes |
Supported systems
On a Mac, Covely uses Apple's Vision text recognition. On Windows 10 and 11, it uses Windows' built-in OCR engine. Receipt scanning isn't available on Linux yet. You can still attach receipt images to transactions there, and on-device OCR for Linux is planned.
Why bother scanning receipts?
Your bank feed shows that you spent $187 at a hardware store, not what you bought. Attaching the receipt, and splitting it when one shop covers several categories, makes your budgets more accurate. It also gives you the evidence you need for work-related deductions, warranty claims and returns. Covely's Tax Summary & Deductions report shows which deductible expenses have a receipt attached.
Related reading: how to manage recurring bills and pending charges locally.
Frequently asked questions
Does Covely upload my receipts to scan them?
No. Covely reads receipts with the OCR engine built into macOS or Windows, on your own computer. The image is stored as an attachment in your local database.
What file types can I scan?
JPG, PNG, HEIC and PDF.
Can Covely split a receipt into several categories?
Yes. After scanning you can create a split transaction from the receipt's line items and give each part its own category.
Does receipt scanning work on Linux?
Not yet. On Linux you can attach receipt images to transactions, and on-device OCR support is planned.
Does it read GST?
Yes. Covely looks for GST, VAT and sales tax lines, as well as the subtotal and total.
Try it on your own numbers
Covely is free to download for Mac, Windows and Linux. Your data stays on your computer.
Get Covely Free