The Neat Company

ONE STAR TOO MANY - DO NOT TRUST THEM! I got a NeatReceipts scanner years ago so i could get my tax information together, as well as some documents for safe keeping. Well, since i am not a 'subscriber', i cannot get any help. I upgraded to Windows 11 and thought that their system would upgrade along with it. Boy! Was i wrong! Not only did it not move over with the upgrade, it lost everything i had saved for the years i've had this. They no longer support the scanner since they are all digital now. Good for them - everything is being held for ransom in their cloud. If you don't keep up with the subscription, you can't get your info back. Talk about ransomware! At any rate, i have tried to see if there is some way of getting the original software to see if i can get my files back (previous years i have because i downloaded to attach with my tax filing records). I cannot get the info from 2021 and i do not have the receipts any longer since i scanned everything in and kept my records there.
These people do not care. I have contacted them but have not gotten a reply because i do not have a subscription.

I have been a Neat user for over 10 years (don't ask me why I like to be frustrated and angry - I just hate to give up). During that period of time Neat had 2 major changes in their software. I can't exactly recall when the first major change started but it was around the time they introduced the Cloud Service and "Sync". The sync was a disaster. The problem was that if your kept some of your old files in the computer as back up, Sync would find them and they would sync the old files and destroy your new ones. That's when I stopped using their cloud service.
The second major change was when they got rid of their strange, cryptic, and confusing file extensions such as. Nbak,. Nwdb,. Nwcab,. Nrx, etc. and started using PDF. That's when they dumped their old system into a "Legacy" program (they should have called it "prehistoric trash") and went into the new system that has NO RELATIONSHIP whatsoever to their old system. I've sent dozens of e-mails, tech-support messages, and even signed up (and paid for) their special "Neat Care" that was supposed to provide one with fast responses (acually, after one month, I never received even one response from this "Neat Care" department.).
Don't ever sign up for this "Neat Care" it's just money down the drain.
Anyway, no one at Neat was ever able to tell me if I could somehow combine my old files and the new PDF files into one comprehensive and complete record that I could use in case of any future IRS audits.
I just can't get that out of them no matter how many ways I ask.
I therefore assume that this cannot be done and you will have to keep 2 sets of files. One for Neat (old) and one for Neat (new).
Heaven forbid if they should ever change to another iteration of their system.
As for the program itself, it's the only one that does offer relatively "fair" sales receipts recognition which no other company has. This is why I use it.
However the recognition software is far, far from even a "good" category. It still requires hand corrections on almost every receipt. Also it does NOT remember mistakes. I have one vendor (local store) from which we have some 200 receipts yearly. No matter how many times we've corrected the store name, Neat just keeps using "avenue" as the store name. The strange part is that it does so with even famous world-wide stores.
It also does not recognize tax categories for particular vendors no matter how many time you change them.
When I received my new scanner and downloaded the new version of NEAT with the PDF extensions, I somehow received a Canadian Version of the program. This is strange since nothing in my orders ever mentioned Canada nor were there any Canadian addresses, or even transactions. So all the Tax Categories are now based on a Canadian tax system. How will that help me?
There are many more such issues but these can be relatively easily be corrected albeit with a lot of TIME and PATIENCE.
Last but not least I can't understand why Neat eliminated the "combine" feature that enabled the user to combine a couple of receipts (as you get in restaurants) into one entry. Or even combine a two page receipt into one. Why this change?

I have seen the informercials for neat scanners and they seem like a rip off compared to the cheaper scanners by hp or other companies. Then I saw a friend use his neat scanner and it was so much easier to use. I think it is the software that sets this scanner apart from the rest and the cloud storage of all of your documents. The only drawback seems to be that neat scanners do not have a direct link to dropbox and they make you use their own cloud storage.

I really enjoy using the neat scanner and the interface is very easy to use. The grids for business cards, receipts and documents is much easier to use than your typical HP or Dell scanner. The only complaint I have is that they make you use their own cloud services. I would give this a 5 star if they would use dropbox or box.com instead of cloud services at neat.com.