Receipts hold an important place in the written history of the human race. If you thought the written word was for prose and poetry, you might be surprised. According to Dr. Irving Finkel, who studies the origins of language, the world’s oldest piece of writing is a clay receipt for clothing shipped by boat. So much for the language of love…
Humans no longer mold clay to document transactions. Even papyrus has been lost to the ages. Yet, most companies continue to extract data from paper receipts by hand. Receipt data extraction is a tedious and error-prone process. Error rates can be as high as 27%.
If your company processes thousands of expense receipts each month, labor costs for manual data extraction are significant, especially with the additional cost of correcting the inevitable errors that are part of the manual extraction process. Mistakes can be as simple as a typo in a product description, but sometimes the data in the receipt-data property is malformed or missing. Such inaccuracies lead to calculation errors that require hours of investigation to correct. By the time the receipt data has accurately been extracted, it is often too late to act on the insights derived from that data.
That’s where Veryfi comes in—eliminating the human component of receipt data extraction, as well as the costly mistakes. Veryfi’s AI-driven technology provides 97% accuracy compared to manual receipt processing. In fact, one customer has reported a data extraction accuracy rate of 9,999 receipts out of each 10,000.
What Is a Receipt?
A receipt is a document that proves you have received money or paid for goods or services. Essentially, the receipt is a proof of payment, whether in part or in full. Receipt data, aka expense receipt data, includes an invoice number and a receipt number. It also shows the transaction time, date, and method of payment. This data is unique to each receipt.
Receipts often provide a detailed description or summary of the transaction, including the goods or services purchased, quantities, price per unit, and any taxes paid. This is in addition to the parties’ information and a tax identifier.
Receipts can be as simple as a note confirming the amount paid or a few lightly printed digits from a register, all the way to a Form 1099-MISC to demonstrate proof of payment throughout the calendar year.
The significance of receipts varies depending on the industry. For example, a restaurant will immediately print a receipt to show that customers have paid for their food. A store might need a receipt for an exchange, a return, or proof of warranty. In construction, receipts for the purchase of raw materials could signal the beginning of a new stage in the building process. Payment from the buyers may indicate completion of a stage or milestone in the building process.
Receipts help the buyer track expenses and validate tax reports. They can also contain data that can be used to build a picture of spending and purchasing patterns.
Receipt Data Fields
Each company has unique receipt data set needs. Veryfi’s AI-driven, receipt-level data capture populates the common fields as noted below.
| Level 1 Data | Level 2 Data | Level 3 Data |
| · Merchant name · Purchase amount · Invoice date · Billing zip code | Everything in Level 1, plus: · Sales tax amount · Tax indicator · Customer code · Merchant postal code · Merchant tax ID · Invoice number · Order number | Everything in Levels 1 and 2, plus: · Item commodity code · Product/SKU description · Product code · Unit price · Quantity · Unit of measure (each) · Extended price · Line items total · Debit/credit indicator · Discount amount · Freight/shipping amount · Duty amount · … n+* |
Why Use Veryfi’s AI-Based Receipt Data Capture?
Veryfi extracts data from almost any document, printed or scanned, converting unstructured data (such as data from miscellaneous receipts printed for humans) into structured data (such as database fields for computers), quickly and accurately capturing the data you need. Regardless of a receipt’s shape or size (Edison email receipt data, Apple in-app purchases, etc.), Veryfi recognizes and captures receipt data within printed documents, PDFs, images, accounting software, and more. Furthermore, Veryfi’s exclusive long receipt capture feature automatically stitches together multiple pictures of a receipt in real time.
Veryfi enables organizations to quickly and accurately capture receipt data, eliminating the need for repetitive, manual work. Likewise, IT teams can quickly and easily add the Veryfi API to their internal or commercial expense management software.
Software companies use Veryfi’s “white-label” receipt data capture solution to enhance their own expense management applications. With Veryfi built-in, they deliver a better, more comprehensive customer experience.
Additionally, marketers and retailers use Veryfi’s receipt data capture for consumer packaged goods (CPG) or direct-to-consumer (DTC) loyalty campaigns, for categorizing expenses and for marketing analytics. By accurately capturing and adding SKU-level data, these companies discover new customer insights including patterns in purchasing behavior, brand affinities, and more. And with the addition of Veryfi’s OCR API and Lens SDK for mobile capture, their customers can take pictures of their receipts, capturing the entire receipt with one gliding motion instead of using clunky guides or multiple photos.
| ACCURATELY process receipts in seconds | Maintain high SECURITY and data privacy | Receive unparalleled quality and customer support |
| Veryfi processes receipts in as little as three seconds, with 97% accuracy—far surpassing anything humans do. Even more so, Veryfi’s AI-driven platform recognizes and populates more than 80 different fields, including those used for international taxes and currencies. | Veryfi is a 100% automated software solution, driven by artificial intelligence. No humans are in the loop at any point in the process, making Veryfi compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. Veryfi’s SOC2 Type 2 certification guarantees the highest level of security for your data. | Capterra, a Gartner company, selected Veryfi for its Best Expense Report Software Shortlist. Veryfi received the highest user review score (4.9/5) and the only perfect Ratings Score (50/50) of any product in the expense reporting category. In short, Veryfi is the best of the best. |
Sign up for a free trial of the Veryfi CPG Toolkit—and learn how your business can benefit from our AI-driven receipt data processing.
