If you are thinking that you might want to buy NeatDesk Scanners for your business or home office then make sure you read my independent and unbiased NeatDesk Scanner review below (scroll underneath the images). I have thoroughly tested this desktop receipt scanner and digital filing system for the last three months and can now share my experiences of this latest offering from the Neat Company. I have also included NeatDesk best price deals at the end of my desktop Neat scanner review so make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom.
NeatDesk Review – Functionality and Features Overview
Before I delve into my complete Neat Desk review I wanted to set give a very short overview on what this digital filing system and receipts scanner promises to deliver – I can then address each point throughout the review. The Neat Company who design this high-speed desktop scanner and digital filing system promise that it will quickly and easily convert all the paper on your desk into organized and digital files – so it should be perfect for people who run a home office, work at home, are freelancers, or for employees in small to medium sized businesses.
The clever stuff is where the NeatDesk scanner will use the NeatWorks software to automatically identify and extract the essential information from the paper files, ledgers, receipts, and documents – and then almost by magic organize it into a an easy to use and intuitive database. The core functionality of the NeatDesk desktop scanner and digital file management system is as follows in my own words so please scroll down – then after that you can my NeatDesk receipts scanner and expenses system review in full.
Receipt Scanning with the NeatDesk Receipt Scanner
- You can save digital copies and files of receipts which include who the vendors was plus any dates and amount totals – and then keep track of business expenses with ease
- Then you can create expense reports plus manage any business and personal expenses for yourself or any employees you might have
- Save all scanned receipts and track expenses for tax time and purposes – NeatDesk records are accepted by the IRS for tax return forms
- Once finished you can export all scanned data or database record to Microsoft Excel – or Quicken, QuickBooks, and TurboTax
Scanning Business Cards with the NeatDesk Scanner
- Meet a business contact? Then you can scan a digital images their business cards plus all their contact information
- NeatDesk will capture and scan their name, address company, title – in fact all the details from the business card
- As a result you can then create and manage your very own business contacts database – all of which is searchable via the NeatWorks software
- Additionally you can then export all your business contact data to Microsoft Outlook or any other CRM software
Document Scanning with the NeatDesk Scanner
- Scan and then create an editable PDF file straight into the NeatDesk hardware into the NeatWorks software
- All this information and more can be organized and stored in your NeatWorks digital filing system
Design of the Neat Desk Scanner and Digital Filing System
So first things first, when I took the NeatDesk desktop scanner out of the box the initial thing that struck me was the cool design. It could have been designed by Apple and is white and black with beautiful curved corners – I guess this is what people call an ergonomic design. As you can see from the photo below, the Neat Scanner looks neat and tidy when set on a desktop and takes up minimal space in a home office or business environment – it’s actually smaller than an averaged sized laptop computer and PC. The exact dimensions are 13 by 9 inches and it only weighs just less than 8 pounds.
The NeatDesk scanner has a paper guide which opens to let you place letter-sized paper and documents into the input tray. There’s also an output paper tray at the front. You can either leave this open or not use it at all. I prefer to keep my output closed, but what this does mean is that all your papers will then come straight out of the NeatDesk document scanner straight onto your desk or table.
If you are planning on scanning a lot of documents in one go or in a queue then you would probably have the output tray open, but for me I use my NeatDesk daily and so for me I am typically just pushing one document through at a time rather than doing any batch jobs so am happy for the paper to come straight out onto my desk – and I have a similar set-up as seen in the photograph above.
Setting Up the NeatDesk Scanner on Windows PC
If you’ve ever set-up a printer then you should have no issues with the Neat NeatDesk Scanner. It’s a pretty standard software installation requiring you to install the pre-packaged software off a CD-ROM disk, then plug-in the NeatDesk hardware, and connect via the supplied USB cable both your PC and new scanner device. The only problems I had here was finding a free plug under my busy desk – but then that’s another problem I need to resolve for myself in the future!
I run a Windows laptop using Windows 7 Professional and the installation took five minutes. The Neat Company website states that NeatDesk comes with drivers for all versions of Windows including Vista, Windows XP, and all versions of Windows 7.
What About NeatDesk for Mac?
If you are a Mac user then make sure you purchase the correct version of NeatDesk. There are two products available for both Windows PCs and Mac – so Mac users should look for the product specifically designed for Macintosh – both versions do cost the same price though and Amazon are the cheapest online retailer I have found so far for the Mac version – click here to see their latest NeatDesk best prices for Mac. I’ve put all the best prices for NeatDesk on PC at the bottom of this review so scroll down to see the latest deals.
Scanning Documents with the NeatDesk Scanner
NeatDesk is clever, because it can scan from a document and then transfer those words into a searchable PDF document – essential tasks for any desktop scanner nowadays I suppose, but it still never fails to impress me. I tested the document scanner out with some business contracts I had recently received and here’s how I got on with my test run.
I had a 15 sheet contract document on double-sided standard letter sized paper and set the NeatDesk up to scan in duplex mode (meaning it will scan both sides). My whole contract was sent through the NeatDesk document scanner in less than forty seconds which was when the clever stuff then happens. What NeatDesk does after the scanning is then start to recognize the text and subsequently converts your document into a PDF file which is fully searchable.
The processing of the document to advanced PDF creation was around two and half minutes which stacks up well against other scanners in a similar price range – for example the Fujitsu ScanSnap – and in the future I will be putting together some notes and more information on NeatDesk vs ScanSnap if you want to compare the two so please bookmark the Technology Worlds’ Website.
Once the document has been scanned into NeatDesk you have an opportunity to review it in the NeatWorks software. All scanned documents go into something called the NeatWorks Inbox which is the reviewing area of the software. Here I was able to do a quick check through the contracts I scanned to see if the software had made any mistakes and correctly recognised all the printed text and translated it into the digital format correctly.
How Good is NeatDesk at Scanning Business Cards?
The answer to that question is “dead easy”. In the first two weeks of owning NeatDesk I managed to convert all my old business cards contacts into a digital filing database using the NeatWorks software. Yes it did take me a little bit of time, but now I have all my contacts, addresses, emails, and telephone numbers in one easy to use system at the touch of a couple of keystrokes. It’s a great piece of business card filing software.
I’ve used a number of business card scanning software packages when employed in big corporate companies, and in my view NeatDesk is the best business card scanner package I have ever used. I used to have trouble scanning business cards that had become damaged and illegible in my wallet. You know what it’s like when you’re on a business trip and someone hands you their card – especially at the end of day – well they can sometimes become a little bit faded out over time or your receipts can even become damp if you are in the conference bar (as I was on some occasions!).
The great thing about the NeatDesk business card scanning aspect is that it can still read that information off nine times out of ten – and the same goes for reading receipts for expense purposes which are sometimes the worst offenders when it comes to illegibility. On the odd occasion NeatDesk couldn’t quite read the card details off correctly then I was able to do a manual correction in the NeatWorks software in a couple of seconds – which is a small price to pay given the overall accuracy for 90% to 95% of the time.
NeatDesk Product Tour – Official Video
Scanning Receipts into NeatDesk – Easy with Very Occasional Jam
Next task was to scan my expenses and receipts into NeatDesk. As I mentioned, receipts can be a pain in the butt as they do tend to become crumpled and faded if kept in a wallet. The process for getting receipts for expense reporting into the NeatWorks software is very easy though. You simply line them all up onto the input tray and let them automatically feed through.
I am quite impatient by nature though, and found that if I was trying to scan more than four of five receipts in at a time then I did occasionally experience a paper-jam. This is probably to be expected though, and I reduced that risk by flattening my receipts out first before placing them into NeatDesk and made sure that there were no folds in the corners before attempting a scan job.
Expense Reporting with NeatDesk and the NeatWorks Software
One the most important aspects to the NeatDesk desktop scanner is the ability to create expense reports. Whether you are a freelance worker, someone who runs their own business, or working in a small to medium sized company, then you will have a legal requirement to keep proper expenses for tax purposes and the IRS.
I run my own business and am able to create expense reports from the receipts that I scan into NeatDesk and even add a tax category from a drop-down list, check it as a reimbursable expense, and then add more information to it before filing it into the digital filing management system software.
Once all my receipt information has been scanned and filed into NeatWorks I can print off reports for tax purposes including detailed lists plus all different line items that I am required to report on for a 1040 tax form report. If you use TurboTax (which I don’t incidentally) then it’s possible to export all the data to this program or Quicken, QuickBooks, MS Money, or just a plain old traditional Excel spreadsheet. I was exporting my reports to CSV files and they call came out very well formatted.
My Personal Conclusion on My NeatDesk Scanner Review
The bottom line is that NeatDesk does a superb job with receipts and business cards, plus offers great expense reporting using the NeatWorks software. It will help you to manage company and staff expenses, or work on a smaller scale if you are running a home office. It looks good, works well, and the only negative aspects I have experienced are the odd paper jam (but then show me a printer or scanner that doesn’t sometimes do that), and the rare occasion when I might need to correct the data read from a business card.
I personally bought the NeatDesk receipts scanner because I run a home business and have the desk from hell – my organization skills have never been the best and so being able to keep track of all my paperwork and file it efficiently is now vastly improved.
NeatDesk Best Price and Online Deals
If you want to buy a cheap NeatDesk destop scanner and high speed document scanner then I would currently recommend the Amazon website. You can pick one up for under four hundred US dollars which I believe to be a great price to pay for a business card scanner, expense reporting software, and digital file asset management system – which is everything that NeatDesk is – and in one great, stylish, and sleek package.
When compared to rival systems it does everything that they do, and a little bit more, with a minimum of fuss and mistakes. The current best Amazon deal can be seen on the right of this page.
ScanSnap Scanner Reviews
If you would like to know about rival desktop scanners that are on the market then please check out the two ScanSnap reviews linked to below. These reviews are very comprehensive and detailed and come highly recommended.
