How Mighty reads your receipts and finds the matching payment
When a receipt arrives in your Post Box, Mighty reads it for you. What it reads decides two things: which images are kept out of your list, and how Mighty searches your bank when you match the receipt to a payment. This guide explains both, so you know what to do when a receipt is missing or a payment can't be found.
What the scan reads
Mighty uses an AI scan to read the text in your photo or PDF. This is sometimes called OCR, which means turning a picture of words into words a computer can use. From each receipt it picks out 3 things:
- The supplier, which is who you paid.
- The date printed on the receipt or invoice.
- The amount, which is the total you paid.
The scan runs in the background about every 15 minutes. Until it has run, the receipt shows Scanning in your list, and Scan pending when you open it. If the scan ran but couldn't find a detail, you'll see Not extracted instead.
You never have to wait. Re-scan receipt reads a receipt again straight away, and so does Look up on the Match to bank screen.
Logos and email signatures
When you forward an email, your email program sends every attachment. That includes things you don't think of as attachments: the company logo in someone's signature, social media icons, a banner under their name. Mighty receives all of them, and each would be a row in your Post Box.
So the same scan that reads your receipts also checks what each file is. If it's a logo, a signature image, or a document that has nothing to do with money, Mighty hides it. Your list stays limited to real paperwork, and you don't have to delete 4 logos every time you forward an email.
Hidden files are not deleted. To see them, choose Hidden by Mighty in the Status filter. When anything has been hidden, your Post Box also shows a short note with a Review them link.
If the scan hides something it shouldn't, such as a very small or unusual receipt, select Restore. The file goes back into your list as a normal receipt, and Mighty won't hide it again.
This is different from Mark as not an expense, which is a label you add yourself. A receipt you've marked stays in your list with a Not an expense badge. Only the automatic scan hides things. Re-scan receipt and Look up never hide anything.
How the scan feeds the bank search
When you select Match to bank, you don't start with an empty search. Mighty takes what it read and fills in the search for you.
| What Mighty read | Where it goes | How it's used |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier | Search | Looked for in the name and description of each bank payment. |
| Amount | Amount | Compared with the payment amount. Mighty ignores the minus sign, so £48.60 on a receipt matches -£48.60 leaving your bank. |
| Date | Date | Only payments on that day are shown. |
| No date could be read | Date range turns on | Mighty searches the last 12 months instead. |
The first search is exact
To begin with, Mighty is strict. A payment is only shown if all 3 things are true:
- it was made on the exact date on the receipt,
- the supplier's full name, as read from the receipt, appears in the payment, and
- the amount is the same.
When this works, it usually shows you one payment, and that is the right one. But it often finds nothing, for two ordinary reasons:
- The dates are different. A card payment usually reaches your bank 1 to 3 days after you paid. A receipt dated Monday can be a bank payment dated Wednesday.
- The names are different. Your receipt says "The Copper Kettle". Your bank says "SUMUP *CPR KETTL BRISTOL", because banks shorten names and often show the card machine company in front of the shop.
What fuzzy match changes
Turn on the Fuzzy match switch, or select Try fuzzy match when the list is empty. "Fuzzy" means close enough, not exact. Mighty relaxes all 3 rules:
| Exact search | Fuzzy match | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | The same day as the receipt | From 3 days before to 3 days after |
| Name | The whole supplier name must appear | Any one word of the name is enough, as long as the word has 3 letters or more |
| Amount | Must fit as well as the name | Is enough on its own. A payment is shown if a word fits or the amount fits |
Short words such as "of" and "&" are ignored, so they don't match everything. If a supplier's name is only short words, like "BP", Mighty uses them anyway.
Two examples
Found by a word. A receipt from Northgate Stationery is dated the 8th. The card payment reached the bank on the 10th as "NORTHGATE STATIONERY LTD BRISTOL". The exact search finds nothing, because nothing was paid on the 8th. Fuzzy match looks from the 5th to the 11th, sees the word "northgate", and shows the payment.
Found by the amount. A receipt from The Copper Kettle is for £23.40. The bank shows "SUMUP *CPR KETTL BRISTOL", which doesn't contain "copper" or "kettle". No word fits. But the amount is £23.40 and the date is one day later, so fuzzy match still shows it.
The trade-off
A wider search shows more payments, and some will be wrong. The word "northgate" also finds "NORTHGATE ARCADE PARKING". An amount of £48.60 also finds a payment of £148.60, because Mighty looks for those digits anywhere in the amount. Ordinary words count too, so "the" in "The Copper Kettle" finds any payment with "the" in its name. So with fuzzy match on, check the date, the name and the amount of a payment before you select Match.
What Look up does
Look up is above the receipt on the Match to bank screen. It reads the receipt again, refills Search, Date and Amount, and searches with fuzzy match already on. Use it when the boxes are empty because the receipt hadn't been scanned yet, or when what's in them looks wrong.
Getting a better scan
- Lay the receipt flat and take the photo in good light, with the whole receipt in the picture.
- Send one receipt per photo.
- Send the original PDF when you have one. It reads better than a photo of a screen.
- Take the photo soon. Till receipts fade, and a faded receipt is the most common reason a scan fails.
Common questions
Does Mighty ever match a receipt by itself?
No. The scan only reads details and hides images that are not receipts. Matching a payment and creating an expense always wait for you.
Why did it read the wrong amount or supplier?
Receipts with several totals, such as a subtotal, a tip and a total, can confuse the scan. So can card slips, where the biggest name is the card company. Change the boxes on the Match to bank screen to search for what you want. If you create an expense, correct the details there before you save.
My receipt is in another currency and nothing is found
The amount on the receipt is in dollars or euros, and the amount in your bank is in pounds, so they will never be the same. Clear the Amount box and search by the supplier's name.
A real receipt is missing from my Post Box
Choose Hidden by Mighty in the Status filter. If it's there, select Restore. If it isn't, it may not have arrived. Sending receipts to your Post Box lists what to check.
