No expense spared: Tide launches receipt management for SMEs

In its crusade to eradicate the pain points of managing your own business, SME banking service Tide this morning took aim at expense management.

The upcoming launch bundles Optical Character Recognition technology into Tide’s mobile app, quickly turning piles of physical receipts into digital receipts with only a photo.

Going further than what startups like Receipt Bank already offer, Tide then matches digital receipts against transactions in your Tide current account.

Clearly the company believes what it has built is superior to other offerings, flatly claiming “this is more advanced than products offered by any other fintechs.”

Tide’s own research found 28% of small business owners spend between one and four hours a week managing expenses, with 54% handing boxes of physical receipts to their accountants every month.

“Tide is all about creating smart, integrated tools to help people run their businesses more smoothly. The developments announced today represent an evolution in our connected platform, allowing members to integrate their payments, expenses and accountancy software,” said Tide CEO Oliver Prill.

The startup also today launched the ability to store notes alongside expenses, and to upload receipts directly to accountancy packages.

In the coming weeks these features will be joined by bulk receipt uploading, to help small business owners deal with those shoeboxes of receipts.

“This connectivity helps members to keep on top of their admin without having to think about it, and without having to dedicate time that could be better spent building their businesses,” said Prill.