Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about using SpendScan
Getting Started
What is SpendScan?
SpendScan is a smart receipt analysis tool that helps you track and understand your grocery spending and environmental impact. By uploading photos of your supermarket receipts, you can get detailed insights into your spending patterns, carbon foodprint, and make better financial and environmental decisions.
Do I need to create an account?
While you can try the receipt analysis feature without an account, you'll need to create one to save your receipts and access features like spending trends, environmental insights, reports, and personalised recommendations.
Can I use SpendScan on my phone?
Yes! SpendScan is fully responsive and works great on mobile browsers. You can even save it to your home screen as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for quick access.
Environmental Features
What is a Carbon Foodprint?
Your Carbon Foodprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions produced by your food purchases. We calculate this based on your actual grocery receipts, taking into account factors like food type, seasonality, and transportation distance.
How accurate are the environmental impact calculations?
Our calculations use standardised emissions data from reputable sources like Our World in Data. We consider factors such as food type, seasonality, transportation, and your location to provide accurate estimates for all users.
What are Seasonal and Local Scores?
The Seasonal Score shows how well you're buying produce in its natural growing season. The Local Score indicates what percentage of your groceries are sourced locally vs imported. Both scores help you make more environmentally conscious choices and often lead to fresher, tastier produce.
How can I improve my environmental impact?
SpendScan provides personalised recommendations based on your shopping habits. This includes suggestions for seasonal alternatives, local produce options, and lower-impact food choices to help you make more sustainable decisions.
Receipt Scanning & Analysis
How do I upload a receipt?
You can either take a photo directly through the app or upload an existing image of your receipt. The tool works best with clear, well-lit photos where all text is visible.
What happens after I upload a receipt?
Our AI analyses the receipt, identifying items, prices, and automatically categorizing them. We also calculate the environmental impact of your purchases, including carbon footprint and seasonal/local scores. You'll see a confidence score for each item and can review and edit details if needed.
How does the smart item recognition work?
The AI converts complex or abbreviated terms into simple, standardized names. For example, "Jim's Tasty Jumbo Cheesy Slices" would be simplified to "Cheese Slices", making it easier to track similar items across different stores and calculate their environmental impact.
Do I need to verify every item?
While you can verify each item for 100% accuracy, it's not required. You can choose to review only items with lower confidence scores or save the receipt as is if you're satisfied with the analysis.
Features & Functionality
What kind of insights can I get from SpendScan?
SpendScan provides various insights including monthly spend, environmental impact metrics, top spending categories, weekly spending breakdowns, and item-specific tracking. You can view trends over time for both financial and environmental metrics, and filter data to focus on specific categories or items.
Can I customize my environmental settings?
Yes, you can set your household size and location in Settings to get more accurate environmental impact calculations and personalise your impact dashboard.
Can I customize categories?
Yes, you can edit and customize categories in the Settings page to better match your needs. These changes will apply to both current and future receipt analyses.
What languages are supported?
SpendScan can process receipts in multiple languages and can display simplified item names in your preferred language, regardless of the original receipt language.
Data & Privacy
Is my receipt data secure?
Yes, we take security seriously. Your receipt data and environmental metrics are encrypted and stored securely. Only you (and any collaborators you explicitly add) can access your information.
Can I delete my receipt data?
Yes, you have full control over your data. You can delete individual items, receipts, or your entire account at any time.
How long is my data kept?
We retain your data as long as you maintain an active account. You can delete your data at any time through the settings page.
Still have questions?
Can't find the answer you're looking for? Feel free to submit a feature request.