Neat’s new mobile app makes going paperless easier than ever

BY Mike Vardy

Published 18 Jun 2013

iPH - Neat

I’ve been using the Neat app on iOS for some time, and I’ve found that I generally use it more often than my NeatDesk scanner. The ability to scan my receipts and business cards while at events is far more efficient than holding on to them all in a semi-organized fashion until I get home. The original Neat mobile app, coupled with Neat’s NeatCloud service, has really helped me adopt a paperless lifestyle far better than any other suite of apps.

Today The Neat Company released its new Neat mobile app and it takes the organization aspect of the app to a whole new  — and more productive — level.

The enhanced version of Neat’s mobile app for both iOS and Android mobile devices includes many powerful capabilities such as:

  • Capture: “Scan” receipts, business cards and documents using the camera on your mobile device. This was present in the previous version of the app, but now you can immediately file them in the appropriate Neat folder rather than leting them languish in the inbox until you were able to get to a computer to move them.
  • Sync: Synchronize information captured with your mobile device automatically across your Neat desktop and cloud-based Digital Filing System.
  • Edit: In the new version of the Neat mobile app, you can revise data fields and add notes to receipts, business cards and documents right on your mobile device.
  • Search: Sort, filter and find the items and folders in your Digital Filing System based on date, keyword or item type. This is huge for when you need to isolate receipts from a trip that you want to add to your expense reports or trying to remember the name of that person you met from a company’s name that you do remember.
  • Organize: Another new feature allows you to add, edit and move folders within your Digital Filing System remotely making it simple to quickly locate and access your information.
  • Share and Collaborate: This is a big one, especially if you want to get things to your bookkeeper or file expense reports more efficiently. Now Neat’s app allows you to share any document or folder with anyone and comment back and forth on items for easy collaboration.
  • Report: Capture receipts, create and submit expense reports – right from your mobile device.

I’ve been putting this new app through the paces during my recent travels, and if you were hesitating on going paperless because there wasn’t a system that was both simple and omnipresent for you to use then Neat has you covered. The mobile app’s OCR capabilities – coupled with Neat’s own verification service called NeatVerify® – are incredibly accurate, and I was able to create a folder for my trip and file things in that folder quickly and easily. Being able to take care of these things during travel downtime (in the hotel room, while in transit) means I can focus on what I’m meant to do at the event rather than worry about if I’ve got all of the paper I’ve acquired dealt with accordingly.

As for how I use Neat’s new mobile app, I make sure receipts are scanned as soon as a convenient time has been determined on my end. For example, restaurant receipts are scanned at the table after payment and transportation receipts are scanned as soon as I return to the hotel room that evening. I don’t want to rush doing the scanning, but I want to make sure it’s all been done before I return home. Even when on a plane, I’ll scan errant paper – mainly business cards – because when my device reconnects with the Internet then the scanned paperwork is synced to the NeatCloud (which, in turn, syncs up with my computer at home). I’ve tried to be as routine about this as possible – something that helps make the paperless lifestyle easier to adopt and maintain – and the Neat suite of paperless apps and products allows me to do this as seamlessly and as friction-free as possible.

Neat has really upped the ante with this new version of its comprehensive mobile app. When you use it alongside NeatCloud, you’ve assembled one of hte finest paperless systems on the market today. And less paper in your way means more time in your day.

For a complimentary 30 day free trial of Neat’s new mobile app and access to NeatCloud, visit www.neat.com/products/neatcloud. The mobile app can then be downloaded by searching for “Neat” within the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.