The original is the legal record.
The ATO accepts an electronic copy only where it is a true and clear reproduction of the original. So the photo is kept exactly as taken for the full record-keeping period, and the app only ever works on a copy.
From shutter to record in about the time it takes to pocket the docket.
Take one photo. The app keeps it as taken, reads every line, checks the tax invoice rules and files the result. Here is each step, and what it will not do.
A paper docket from Hume Hwy Roadhouse on the left and, on the right, the same docket read in the app:6 lines, GST-free $16.80, taxable $15.40, GST $1.40, total $32.20. A scan line runs between them.
Original keptExactly as taken, never edited
6 lines readGST $1.40 of $32.20
Screens show the demo workspace. Every figure is illustrative and adds up.
Five stops between the shutter and the record.
Scroll down the line. Each stop is a thing the app does, in the order it does it, with the part it will not skip.
- Capturethe shutter
One photo, kept exactly as taken.
Point and the app takes the picture. That file is stored byte for byte as it left the camera and is never edited again. Everything the app does afterwards works on a separate working copy, so the original stays a true copy of the docket in your hand.
Original never changesAuto-capture - Uploadeven with no signal
Queued on the phone, sent when you are back in range.
No signal at the truck stop is fine. The photo waits in a queue on your phone and goes up when the connection returns. Every send carries a one-off key, so a retry, a double tap or a dropped connection never counts the same docket twice.
Works offlineOne key per send - Readline by line
Every line read, and a version number on the reading.
Each line gets its item, its price and whether it carries GST. The reading is saved as a numbered version of that photo. When a figure is too smudged to trust, the app leaves it blank and flags it for you to fill in. It does not make up a number.
Item, price, GSTSays when unsure - Checkthe tax invoice rules
Is it a valid tax invoice? The rules decide, not a hunch.
Four rules run on every docket: it is marked as a tax invoice, the seller’s ABN passes the ATO checksum, the GST is exactly one eleventh of the taxable lines, and the lines add up to the total. At $1,000 or more the buyer’s identity has to be on it too. If a rule fails you get the reason and a suggested fix.
ABN checksumFix suggested - Recordfiled and balanced
Filed under the right category, and the books still balance.
The docket lands in your spending under its category. Money is kept as exact decimals, never rounded through floating point, and every entry is paired so the books add up to zero.
Exact decimalsBalanced entries
Four rules the whole product is built on.
They are why the answer on screen can be trusted tomorrow, and next year. Nothing on this page works without them.
Reading is a replayable function of the photo.
Each reading is a numbered version of the same image. When the reader improves, your history can be read again and the old versions stay, so an improvement shows up as a change you can inspect, never a silent correction.
The books balance, provably.
Every entry is double-entry: the parts add up to zero or the entry is refused. The database itself turns away one that does not balance, so it never rests on good intentions.
Money is a decimal string, end to end.
A figure like the one below stays text from the camera to your screen and is never rounded through a floating-point number. A cent out is a wrong answer, so it is never allowed to creep in.
What you see when it is not sure.
A confident wrong number is worse than a blank one. So when the app is not sure, it stops and asks.
It leaves a blank rather than guess.
A figure it is not confident about is left empty and flagged for you to fill in, instead of a plausible number. A wrong figure is worse than a missing one.
It tells you what is wrong, and why.
A missing ABN, an ABN that fails its checksum, no GST breakdown. Each finding names the rule it broke and what that costs you.
It puts the fix on the same screen.
Add the ABN, retake the photo, or ask the supplier for a proper tax invoice. A human decides. The app does not fill the gap for you.
The next docket is the test.
Photograph one and watch the same five stops happen to it: kept as taken, read line by line, checked, filed.
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Thank you. Keep your dockets.