One-tap receipt scanning from your iPhone camera roll or Mac Photos, via a free Apple Shortcut. No App Store download required — Shortcuts is built into iOS 14+ and macOS Monterey+.
🚀 Install in under 2 minutes:
- Download the Shortcut. On your iPhone or Mac, open Install "Scan Receipts" Shortcut → tap Add Shortcut.
- Run it once. In Photos, select receipt photos → Share → "Scan Receipts." The first time only, it asks for your personal upload URL — paste it from ExpenseBot → Settings → Integrations → iPhone Shortcut → "Show My Shortcut URL." It saves it automatically.
- Done forever. Every future scan goes straight through. Your URL is remembered even if you delete and reinstall the Shortcut or switch to a new phone.
📱 Q&A — Apple Shortcut Receipt Scanner
Q: How do I scan receipts from my iPhone into ExpenseBot? A: Download the free "Scan Receipts" Apple Shortcut, run it once and paste your personal upload URL when it asks (from Settings → Integrations → iPhone Shortcut), then scan via the Share Sheet anytime. You only enter the URL once.
Q: Is the ExpenseBot Apple Shortcut free? A: Yes, the Shortcut is free. You need an active ExpenseBot account (60-day free trial or paid) for the photos to be processed.
Q: Does it work on Mac too, or only iPhone? A: Works on both — any device running Shortcuts (iOS 14+, macOS Monterey+, iPadOS 14+). Download and install once, and it syncs across your Apple devices automatically via iCloud. The Mac has its own triggers, which are covered below.
💻 On a Mac — four ways to send a receipt, no phone involved
This is the fastest path when the receipt is already on your Mac: a PDF a supplier emailed you, a screenshot of a checkout page, or a photo that synced over from your iPhone.
1. Right-click any file in Finder. Select one or more receipt images → right-click → Quick Actions → Scan Receipts. Select several at once and they all upload in one go. If "Scan Receipts" isn't in the menu, open Shortcuts, select the Shortcut, and tick Use as Quick Action → Finder in the details sidebar.
2. Screenshot straight into your books. Press ⌘⇧4 and drag over an online receipt or order confirmation. The screenshot lands on your Desktop — right-click it → Quick Actions → Scan Receipts. This is the quickest way to capture a purchase you made in a browser, where there's no paper receipt to photograph at all.
3. The Shortcuts app (or drag and drop). Open Shortcuts and run Scan Receipts directly, picking files from anywhere — Desktop, Downloads, an external drive. You can also drag files onto the Shortcut in the Shortcuts app, or onto its icon if you've added it to your Dock.
4. Photos on Mac. Open Photos, select the receipt images → Share → Scan Receipts. Same Share Sheet flow as the iPhone.
You set the upload URL once, on whichever device you run it first — iCloud syncs both the Shortcut and the saved URL to your other Apple devices, so a Mac-first install works exactly the same way. There is no "set it up on the iPhone first" step.
Q: What's the best receipt scanner for Mac? A: You don't need a separate scanner app or a hardware scanner. Apple Shortcuts is built into macOS Monterey and later — install the free Scan Receipts Shortcut once and it appears in Finder's right-click Quick Actions menu, so any receipt image already on your Mac uploads in two clicks and lands as a row in your Google Sheet.
Q: The "Scan Receipts" option isn't showing in my Finder right-click menu. How do I turn it on? A: Open the Shortcuts app, select Scan Receipts, and tick Use as Quick Action → Finder in the details sidebar. It then appears under Quick Actions when you right-click a receipt file. This is the most common reason a Mac install looks broken.
Q: Is there an expense report template for Mac? A: There's no file to download and maintain. Scanned receipts land as rows in a Google Sheet in your own Drive, and the expense report is built from those rows — the sheet fills itself in as receipts arrive, and you open it on the Mac in any browser. If you'd rather type entries into a plain spreadsheet yourself, the expense tracker template is the manual version.
Q: I take screenshots of online receipts on my Mac — is that supported? A: Yes, and it's one of the best uses of the Shortcut. Screenshots are ordinary PNG files, so ⌘⇧4 to capture the order confirmation, then right-click → Quick Actions → Scan Receipts. ExpenseBot reads the merchant, date, total and tax the same way it reads a photographed paper receipt. Useful for purchases that never generate an email receipt.
Q: Can I send several Mac receipts at once? A: Yes. Select multiple files in Finder (or several photos in Photos), then run the Shortcut once — every selected image uploads in the same run. Images only, up to 15 MB each; for PDFs use the in-app upload button.
Q: Where does the Shortcut send my photos? A: Each user has a private upload URL tied only to their ExpenseBot account. The first time you run it, the Shortcut asks for that URL once and saves it — so photos only reach YOUR spreadsheet. The token in your URL is never shared.
Q: What if I lose or want to rotate my Shortcut URL? A: Regenerate URL in Settings. The old one stops immediately. To switch the Shortcut to the new URL: open the Reminders app, delete the reminder titled with your old expensebot.ai/api/shortcut URL, then run the Shortcut once — it'll ask for the URL again and save the new one.
Q: Do I have to re-enter my URL if I reinstall the Shortcut? A: No. Your URL is saved in your Reminders (not in the Shortcut itself), so it survives deleting/reinstalling the Shortcut and restoring to a new device. You enter it once, ever.
Q: What file types does the Shortcut accept? A: Photos and images only — JPEG, PNG, HEIC, and WebP, up to 15 MB each. If a photo was offloaded to iCloud by iOS (common when "Optimize Storage" is on, especially on iPad), the Shortcut downloads it automatically before uploading so nothing goes missing. For PDF receipts, use the in-app upload button instead — it's the simpler path for PDFs.
Q: Does it replace the Gmail scanner? A: No — it complements it. Gmail scanning catches email receipts automatically (Uber, Amazon, hotels, SaaS, etc.). The Shortcut covers paper receipts you photograph. Use both; the same Google Sheet captures everything with automatic dedup.
💡 Pro tip — Siri integration: After installing, say "Hey Siri, Scan Receipts" and the Shortcut runs from voice. Combined with "Add to Home Screen" and Share Sheet, that's four ways to trigger it.
🔗 Learn more: Apple Shortcuts Receipt Scanner · Shortcuts deep-dive guide · iPhone Receipt Scanner