Receipts

The camera uses Apple's document scanner. It finds the edges of the receipt, crops out the background and straightens the angle, so you don't need to line it up perfectly. It also reads photos taken sideways.

• Flatten it first. Uncrumple the receipt and lay it on a flat surface. Never use heat or water to flatten it, because most receipts are printed on heat-sensitive paper and will go blank.
• Use a plain, dark background. A dark table helps the scanner find the edges of a white receipt.
• Get even light. Daylight or a bright room is best. Keep your shadow off the receipt, and tilt the phone slightly if the paper shines.
• Include the top and the bottom. Cuppi looks for the shop name and date near the top and the prices and total near the bottom. If either end is cut off, the photo may not be recognised as a receipt.
• Fill the frame. Receipt text is tiny, so hold the phone close enough that the receipt takes up most of the picture.
• Hold still. Let the scanner focus and capture before you move. A blurry photo is the most common reason a scan reads badly.

Scan receipt is for when you want the whole receipt kept. You take a photo or upload a file, Cuppi reads the shop, date, total and items for you, and you check them before saving.

Quick save is for small purchases like a coffee. You answer a few short questions (shop, branch, date, total and an optional barcode) and no photo is needed.

If you capture more pages than your plan allows on one receipt, only the first ones are kept (1 on Free, 2 on Pro).

On Pro you can attach 2 photos to a receipt, so you can capture it in two parts. Put the top of the receipt (the shop name, date and first items) in the first photo. Only the first photo is read automatically.

Any other photos are saved with the receipt for your records, and you can add missing items yourself on the Review page.

Yes. If Cuppi can see it's a receipt but the print is too faint to read the items, it still saves the photo and asks you to add the items yourself.

Faded receipts are often the ones most worth keeping a copy of, so it's a good idea to photograph important receipts soon after you buy something.

"This does not look like a receipt. We could not find any prices or a total."

Cuppi checks every photo before it's saved. This message means it couldn't find enough prices or a word like Total, VAT, Cash or Card. It usually happens when the bottom of the receipt is cut off, the photo is blurry, or the picture isn't a receipt. Retake it with the whole receipt in view.

"We could not find a shop name or a date."
The prices were found, but not the shop name at the top or a date anywhere. Make sure the top of the receipt is in the photo and isn't folded over.

"We could not read anything on this image."
No text could be read at all. This is usually because the photo is very dark, very blurry or taken from too far away.

Why does Cuppi check my photos at all?
So receipt storage only holds receipts. The check runs on your phone before anything is uploaded.

Yes. Tap Add media and choose Upload images.

The same tips apply: flat, well lit and with the whole receipt in the picture.

Not at the moment.

Photos and PDFs are added while you scan. From Edit you can view or remove attachments, but not add new ones.

If you Quick saved something and want a photo on it, the easiest option is to add it again with Scan receipt and delete the original.

Yes. Set the date on the receipt and Cuppi files it under the right budget period.

Note that it counts towards the receipt limit for the month it's dated, not the month you added it.

Yes. To save receipts, attach photos or use enhanced receipt processing, you need to have joined or created a home.

Receipt reading is designed for UK receipts in pounds with day/month dates. Receipts in other currencies or date formats can still be saved, but the details may not be read correctly, so check them before saving.

PDF invoices are a Pro feature. You can attach 1 PDF per receipt, up to 2MB. Tap Add media, then Upload files.

Online order confirmations and emailed receipts saved as a PDF. Supermarket delivery orders work especially well.

The most common reasons:

• It's a scan, not a real document. The PDF needs text you can select. If it's only a picture of a page, you'll see "This PDF has no readable text". Attach a photo instead, or ask the shop for a digital invoice.
• It's over 2MB.
• It isn't a receipt. PDFs go through the same check as photos, so bank statements and other documents are turned away.
• The receipt already has a photo. A receipt can have photos or a PDF, but not both.

No. A receipt can have photos or a PDF, not both.

Your phone reads every receipt itself first

When it can't read a receipt well, Cuppi can send the recognised text to our EU servers, where it's processed privately and read properly. The photo itself is never sent.

When does it happen?

Only when all of these are true:

1. Your phone's reading looked unreliable, for example the items didn't add up to the total.
2. You've allowed enhanced processing.
3. Your home has enhancements left this month.

Receipts that read cleanly on your phone never use it. It runs when you tap Next after adding your photos. You can also tap Enhance receipt on the Review page yourself.

• Locked: your home has used all its enhancements this month.
• Showing "Enhanced receipt": this receipt has already been enhanced.
• Missing: the receipt has no photo or PDF (Quick save receipts don't), you're not in a home, or the service is temporarily unavailable.

Nothing leaves your phone, and you keep your phone's own reading.

You can switch it on any time in Receipts Settings under Enhanced receipt processing. The choice is saved per device, so each person in your home decides for themselves.

Enhancement is very good but not perfect, so always check the total and items before saving. You can edit any field, item, quantity or discount yourself.

If it says "We could not read any more than we already had", the text on the receipt was too limited to improve.

Yes. Open the receipt, tap Edit and use Enhance receipt data.

Each receipt can be enhanced once. It reads the receipt's first photo, or its PDF, and replaces the shop, date, total and items with the new reading. It uses one of your home's enhancements for the month.

That receipt's details came from enhanced processing rather than your phone alone.

You can see how much your home has used this month in Settings > Subscription, Your Plan section.

10 a month on Free and 50 a month on Pro.

The allowance is shared by everyone in your home and resets at the start of each calendar month.

Yes. On the Review page, or later from Edit, tap any item to change its name, price, quantity, category or discount. Items can be deleted from the item editor.

On Quick save, turn on Detailed receipt to list items instead of entering only a total.

It's removed for everyone in your home, and any photos or PDFs attached to it are permanently deleted from our servers. This can't be undone. Removing a single photo in Edit also deletes that photo permanently.

Categories group your spending on the receipt breakdown, so you can see where the money went. If you're not sure, leave an item as Uncategorised.

If a receipt has a barcode (often used for returns), you can scan it or type it in, and Cuppi keeps a scannable copy on the receipt to show at the till.

Mark an item as having a guarantee and choose 1, 2 or 3 years, or a custom length. You can always change the expiry date. Receipts with an item under guarantee show a badge that turns to "expiring soon" in the last 14 days and "expired" afterwards.

New price, Percentage, Buy X get Y free, Buy X for a % discount, and Deduction (an amount off the whole line). Your savings are shown under the total.

A single receipt can't total more than £1,000,000. If you see this message, a price or quantity has almost always been misread, so check the items.

Tap the magnifying glass on the Receipts home screen. You can search by shop, date, amount or something you bought, across all months.

Search looks through your home's most recent 200 receipts. Older receipts are still saved, and you can find them by browsing to their month on the home screen.

All adults in your home can see, add and edit receipts, and they're shared with the whole household.

Children don't have access to the Receipts app.

When you save a receipt, you choose whether it comes out of your Shopping budget. Choose "Not from budget" for things like gifts or work expenses you want recorded without them counting against your budget.

You can type an amount in Receipts Settings, or turn on Link Budget to use the Food & Household amount from the Budgets app. Linking needs a budget set up in the Budgets app first.

Yes. In Receipts Settings, set Budget Start Day to match your payday, or turn on Sync with Budgets app to follow the start day you use there. It applies to everyone in your home.

If you pick a day some months don't have, such as the 31st, the period ends on the last day of that month.