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Case study · Fintech

Snap the receipt, and the expense is done

Employees keep receipts in wallets and fill in expense spreadsheets at month-end. This is how we built a mobile expense app where a photo of a receipt becomes a categorised expense, matched to the card transaction and ready for approval and export.

Project overview

A consumer-grade expense app for businesses.

Industry
Fintech
Client
Confidential
Solution
Expense management app
Platforms
iOS + Android
Timeline
14–20 weeks
Team
6 people
AI
Receipt data extraction
Integrations
Card feeds, accounting software
Security
Bank-grade encryption

Expected business outcomes

What the client set out to achieve

Measured on submission time and extraction accuracy.

  • Seconds To submit an expense

    Photo, automatic fields, confirm.

    For clear receipts

  • 90%+ Receipt fields read correctly

    Merchant, date, amount and tax extracted.

    Target on a test set of real receipts

  • Automatic Card transaction matching

    Receipts matched to card lines.

    Where card feeds are connected

Business challenges

Where the client started

Expenses are paperwork nobody enjoys.

Receipts

Paper receipts lost or faded.

Claims

Spreadsheets filled in at month-end.

Approval

Managers approve by email.

Accounting

Finance retypes claims into the accounts.

Compliance

Missing receipts for tax purposes.

Proposed solution

What the app covers

Capture, extraction, approval and export in one flow.

  • Receipt capture

    Camera capture with edge detection and quality checks.

  • Data extraction

    Merchant, date, amounts and tax read automatically.

  • Card matching

    Receipts matched to card transactions.

  • Approvals

    Policy checks and manager approvals in the app.

  • Accounting export

    Approved expenses exported to accounting software.

  • Security

    Encryption, secure sign-in and audit trail.

Project requirements

What the client asked us for

The request was effortless expenses. The experience depends on extraction quality, so we test on thousands of real receipts before launch.

Policy checks run as the expense is created, so problems are fixed by the employee, not finance.

What the project had to deliver

  • 01Seconds to submit
  • 02Automatic data extraction
  • 03Card matching
  • 04Approvals and export

Key challenges & considerations

What made it harder, and what we did

  1. Crumpled or faded receipts

    What we did

    Poor images were detected at capture, and the user was asked to retake them.

  2. Multi-currency expenses

    What we did

    The currency was read from the receipt and converted at the day's rate.

  3. Different accounting systems

    What we did

    Connectors were built for each accounting system in scope.

  4. Financial data regulations

    What we did

    Financial data was encrypted, with access controls reviewed against the regulations.

What we watched for

  • Test on real receipts
  • Check policies at capture
  • Handle poor images gracefully
  • Keep the flow to three taps

Development process

Capture quality first

The receipt experience is perfected before anything else.

  1. Stage 1

    Receipt set

    Real receipts collected for testing.

  2. Stage 2

    Capture and extraction

    Camera flow and extraction built and measured.

  3. Stage 3

    Matching and approvals

    Card feeds and approval flows added.

  4. Stage 4

    Integrations

    Accounting exports built.

  5. Stage 5

    Launch

    Beta with pilot businesses, then public release.

Technology stack

Mobile with on-device and cloud AI

Fast capture on the phone, extraction in the cloud.

Mobile

  • React Native or Flutter
  • Native modules where needed
  • Offline storage

Backend

  • Node.js or .NET API
  • Azure or AWS
  • Push notifications

Quality

  • Automated UI tests
  • Crash reporting
  • Staged releases

Delivery

  • CI/CD to App Store and Google Play
  • Feature flags

Quality assurance & deployment

Tested on real devices, in real conditions

Mobile apps fail in the hands of users, not on a developer's desk. Testing covered real devices, poor networks and interrupted sessions before anything went to the stores.

  • Automated tests for the app logic and the API
  • Testing on real iOS and Android devices across the agreed versions
  • Offline, poor-network and interrupted-session scenarios
  • Code review on every change
  • Store guideline checks during the build, not before submission

Deployment

  • 01IntegrationsAccounting exports built.
  • 02LaunchBeta with pilot businesses, then public release.
  • 03Beta and store releaseA beta group used the app first; store submission followed, with a phased release.
  • 04Monitoring and warrantyCrash and performance monitoring from launch, and six months of free bug fixing.

Final deliverables

Expenses that take seconds

Employees submit expenses as they happen, receipts are read automatically and approved expenses flow into the accounts.

Finance stops chasing receipts at month-end.

  • Instant capture
  • Automatic extraction
  • Card matching
  • Accounting integration

Handed over to the client

  • 01iOS and Android appsPublished in the client's store accounts
  • 02Source codeIn a repository the client can access
  • 03Backend and adminDeployed and documented
  • 04Release processBuild, signing and store submission
  • 05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery

Success metrics

How success is measured

MeasureOutcomeHow it is measured
To submit an expense Seconds For clear receipts
Receipt fields read correctly 90%+ Target on a test set of real receipts
Card transaction matching Automatic Where card feeds are connected

Verified reviews

What clients say about our mobile app work

Verified reviews from our clients on the same kind of work, published on Clutch.

5.0 27 verified reviews

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