The problem
Consultants who work on client sites run up train fares, hotels and mileage that the client has agreed to pay, but receipts end up in coat pockets. If 40 receipts a month take 3 minutes each to type up and match, that's 2 hours, and 3 lost receipts a month at $33£25€30A$48C$47 each is $100£75€89A$144C$141 never recharged.
What the AI does
Dext is bookkeeping software that captures receipts and supplier invoices from a phone, email or WhatsApp, reads the details and sends them to accounting software such as Xero for you to approve. You photograph each receipt on the train or at checkout, add the client's name in the description, and approve them into Xero weekly. At month end you add each client's expenses to their next invoice from the list.
A worked example
An independent IT strategy consultant in Newcastle spends 2 or 3 days a week at client sites and runs up about 40 rechargeable receipts a month. They use Dext with their existing Xero account.
Before
40 receipts a month typed up at 3 minutes each (2 hours) and about 3 lost ($100£75€89A$144C$141 not recharged)
After
Receipts photographed on the spot and checked at about 1 minute each (40 minutes), none lost
What it's worth
About $189£142€169A$273C$267 a month: $100£75€89A$144C$141 of expenses now recharged, plus 80 minutes a month saved, worth about $89£67€80A$129C$126 at an assumed $67£50€60A$96C$94 an hour. Dext's default plan is $32.15£24.17€28.76A$46.41C$45.44 a month billed annually ($386£290€345A$557C$545 a year) excluding VAT, and monthly billing is estimated at about $40£30€36A$58C$56. Xero is assumed to be in place already.
How to set it up
- Check your client contracts for what expenses are rechargeable and what proof they want.
- Sign up for Dext, connect it to Xero and install the phone app.
- Photograph every receipt as you get it and put the client's name in the description.
- Approve receipts into Xero weekly and check what Dext read.
- At month end, add each client's expenses to their invoice with copies of the receipts if they ask.
What goes wrong
- Dext reads receipts, it doesn't know which client they belong to. If you skip the client name, the recharge is lost anyway.
- Some clients cap hotel or rail costs. Check the policy before you book, not when you invoice.
- Dext needs accounting software, priced separately; the cost here assumes you already use Xero.
- The plan includes a document allowance. Count your monthly receipts and invoices before choosing.