Shoebox sort

How to sort receipts by month

The shoebox isn’t the problem. Sorting everything at once in April is.

Sorting by month turns one awful afternoon into twelve easy ones. It matches how your bank and card statements are laid out, so checking a month takes minutes, and at year end your records are already in order.

A simple monthly system

1. Make twelve folders or envelopes, one per month, labeled with the year.
2. File by the purchase date, not the day you found the receipt in your jacket. Watch out for “return by” dates printed lower on the receipt. They aren’t the purchase date.
3. Capture it the same day. Most receipts are thermal paper and fade. A photo taken at the register is the copy that lasts. Here’s why receipts fade.
4. Write what it was for if the receipt doesn’t make it obvious. “Client lunch, Ortega project” beats a bare total six months later.
5. Spend ten minutes at month end. Match your card statement against the folder and find what’s missing while you still remember it.
6. Total the month. Twelve monthly totals are much easier to hand over than one shoebox.

This is general record-keeping advice, not tax advice. Your tax professional can tell you what your situation needs.

What should a receipt show?

The IRS lists sales slips, paid bills, invoices and receipts among the supporting documents a business should keep. A useful receipt answers four questions: who you paid, how much, when, and what for. The first three are printed on it. The last one is up to you, which is why step 4 above matters.

A bank statement shows that you paid, but not what you bought. We dug into that in Can bank statements replace receipts for taxes?

Paper folders or digital?

Both work if you keep them up. The IRS says the requirements for paper records also apply to electronic storage systems, with details in Revenue Procedure 97-22. Digital has two advantages: a photo doesn’t fade, and it can’t fall out of the folder. For the full version of this system, read how to organize receipts for taxes.

How to play Shoebox Sort

• Receipts fall from the top. Tap the folder for the month printed on the lowest receipt. It glows.
• Every correct file builds your streak. Each 5 in a row raises your multiplier, up to ×5.
• Correct files charge the camera. When it glows, hit SNAP and every falling receipt files itself.
• A wrong folder or a missed receipt goes in the shoebox. Five in the shoebox and it’s over.
• It never ends. Each level is faster, with new months, shuffled folders, crumpled and faded receipts, golden “big expense” receipts, and “return by” dates that aren’t the purchase date.
• On a keyboard, use keys 1 to 4 for the folders and the space bar to snap.

Every store, date and amount in the game is invented.

Questions

Is today’s run the same for everyone?

Yes. The receipts and folders come from today’s date, so everyone who plays today’s run gets the same sequence. Practice runs are random.

Why does it ignore the “return by” date?

Because you file a receipt by when you bought something. Return-by dates are printed on many store receipts and are easy to grab by mistake, so the game uses them as a trap.

Does ReceiptNest sort receipts by month for me?

Yes. Snap a photo or forward an email receipt, and ReceiptNest organizes it by month with monthly totals. When you need it, export a PDF or CSV. See how the receipt organizer works.

Are there other games?

Yes. Try Before It Fades: read the total on a fading receipt before it disappears.

Sources

• IRS, Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records (supporting documents and electronic records)
• IRS, How long should I keep records?
• More games: all ReceiptNest games