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Capture, don't sort
Photograph it and move on. Sorting comes later, once.
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Section 01
Why receipts get ignored
×You are not disorganised. Your system is.
Good capture has to be:
✓Captured at the moment of purchase
✓Not sorted or filed at that moment
✓Built into the way you already work
✓One single inbox for everything
✓Reviewed once a week — seven minutes, no more
Anything that needs willpower every single day will fail. Build a system that needs none.
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Section 02
The 4 rules of receipt capture
02
One inbox, not five
Use one email address everything lands in. No more phone camera roll.
03
Automate what repeats
Fuel, software, subscriptions, mileage: set the rule once, it runs forever.
04
Seven minutes, once a week
Use the same slot every week, clear the inbox, done.
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Section 03
Your capture stack
Make the next receipt easy to capture wherever it appears: in your hand, in your inbox, on a bank statement or behind a supplier login.
Step 1 — Capture in three seconds
Phone camera straight into an app
- • Photograph the paper receipt as soon as you pay.
- • Let auto-edge detection crop and read it.
- • Put the paper in the bin once the image is safe.
Email forwarding address
- • Forward every digital receipt to one address.
- • Use rules to route receipts from repeat suppliers.
- • Stop leaving PDFs in your personal inbox.
Xero phone app and Hubdoc
- • Scan paper receipts.
- • Pull the image into bookkeeping.
- • Match it during bank reconciliation.
Bank feeds
- • Connect every business card and account.
- • Match card and transfer payments themselves.
- • Investigate only the exceptions.
Supplier portals and loyalty accounts
- • Train fuel cards, Screwfix and Amazon Business.
- • Add your phone supplier and utilities.
- • Check where each invoice is already stored.
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Section 04
The 'if you only do one thing' setup
Set these six basics once. After that, the weekly habit has somewhere reliable to go.
1One email address for every digital receipt
2One app for paper receipts
3Bank feed connected to your accounting software
4Every recurring supplier set to email you automatically
5A repeating 7-minute calendar slot each week
6Photographs deleted from the camera roll once they are in the system
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Section 05
Why this matters more than you think
The shoebox year
- ×Unclaimed expenses
- ×VAT you cannot reclaim
- ×Hours lost at the deadline
- ×An accountant guessing at your year
- ×Penalties and panic
The 7-minute year
- ✓Every purchase captured
- ✓Nothing unclaimed
- ✓VAT reclaimed on time
- ✓A live profit figure
- ✓Real advice instead of guesswork
The difference between the two columns is about seven minutes a week.
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Section 06
The 4 levels of receipt chaos
Find where you are right now.
LEVEL 0
Shoebox
Paper everywhere, nothing captured.
LEVEL 1
Camera roll
Photos on your phone that never go anywhere.
LEVEL 2
Scattered
A mix of apps, email and portals — some captured, some not.
LEVEL 3
Automated
Capture runs itself, mostly.
LEVEL 4
Sorted
Everything captured, reconciled and live in Xero.
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Section 07
The 7-minute weekly routine
Same slot, same steps, every week.
Clear the inbox
- • Open the app or email inbox and work down the list.
Snap the paper
- • Photograph anything physical still sitting on the desk.
Match and check
- • Let the bank feed reconcile. Investigate only what does not match.
File and forget
- • Archive the week, close the laptop, you are done.
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Section 08
Optional add-ons
BookkeepingVAT ReturnsXero setupReceipt capture setupPayrollSelf AssessmentManagement AccountsCorporation Tax planningCash flow forecastingBookkeeping catch-upGovernment Gateway managementTraining for your team
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Section 09
Final message
YOU DON'T NEED TO BE ORGANISED.
You just need a system that organises you.
Once capture happens automatically, you can spend seven minutes a week checking what is there instead of reconstructing a year from paper. The system does the remembering.
That's what we set up.
FREE CONSULTATION
HOW MUCH ARE UNCAPTURED RECEIPTS COSTING YOU?
Bring last year's receipts — or just your bank statements — to a free 30-minute call. We'll show you what is being missed and how we would automate your capture from day one, all on a fixed fee.
We can usually have you capturing cleanly within 48 hours.
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