Dext

Dext (formerly Receipt Bank) is a data capture tool that pulls information from receipts, invoices and bank statements and pushes it into your ledger. It is not a full accounting system, it sits on top of one.

What it does well: capture is its strength. You can snap, email or upload documents and Dext extracts the data with high accuracy, often coding around 80 percent of documents automatically after a couple of weeks of learning your patterns. It integrates cleanly with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and FreeAgent, and most accountants report real time saved on data entry and VAT prep. Reviewers on G2 and Capterra rate it highly for ease of use.

Where it falls short: the OCR is not flawless. Low quality photos and unusual invoice layouts still need manual correction, so it reduces data entry rather than removing it. It is an add-on, not a ledger, so you pay for it on top of your accounting software, and a few users found early support slow and the interface busy at first.

Best for: practices and bookkeepers on Xero or QuickBooks who process a steady volume of receipts and invoices and want to cut manual entry.

Verdict: the default choice in this category for a reason. Treat it as a capture layer that makes your existing ledger faster, not as a standalone system, and it earns its keep.