Premium
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iOS, Android, web
AI Receipt and Document Reading turns a receipt photo or a PDF attached to a REPSLog entry into a short written note: the vendor, the total, the date and what was bought, or what a photo of the work shows. It is for real estate investors logging REPS or STR loophole hours who want an audit export that names each file in plain language instead of a1b2c3d4.jpeg. It is a Premium feature on iPhone, Android and the web app.
What it does
Every attachment on an entry has a note icon on its tile. Tap it and a note sheet opens where you can type up to 1,000 characters yourself; that part is on every plan. On Premium, for photos and PDFs, the same sheet has a Generate AI description button. Tap it, the button reads “Analyzing your attachment…” for a moment, and the note box fills in.
What it writes depends on what it sees. For a document with text (a receipt, invoice, estimate, lease, permit, inspection report, warranty), it names the kind of document, the vendor, the total and currency, the date, and the notable items, but only when they are legible. For a photograph of a scene (work in progress, a finished repair, damage, a room, materials), it describes what is visible. If nothing legible is in the file, it says so. It is instructed never to guess a value it cannot read, to label dates as what they are (an expiry date is not an issue date), to summarize rather than transcribe, and never to copy card digits, approval codes or barcodes.
The result is an ordinary note. Edit it, then tap Save. If the file already has a note, REPSLog asks “Would you like to replace your current note?” before overwriting it. If the same file has been described before (the same receipt on a second entry, or a file your search index already described), the text is reused instantly and does not count against your daily allowance.
PDFs are read in full, up to 50 pages, so a total on the last page is still picked up. Password-protected PDFs are refused with “This PDF is password-protected, so it cannot be read.” Word and Excel files do not get the button; write those notes by hand. A file too large to describe before the entry is saved prompts you to save first.
The note is included in your export: the CSV pairs each file name with its note, and the PDF report’s Files cell shows each file name followed by its note. There is a daily allowance of 60 AI descriptions per account. Notes you type yourself are never capped.
This is not receipt scanning. Receipts are one kind of document REPSLog reads; leases, permits, inspection reports, estimates, warranties and photographs of the work itself get the same treatment, and every description feeds Smart Search, so an invoice you attached in March is findable in April by typing “plumber”. Reading a receipt into a note and searching inside it are two halves of the same feature.
The entry itself comes from you, not from the receipt. Type one sentence or say it aloud and AI Entry Autofill fills in the date, duration, category and property; then attach the receipt and let it be described. A receipt records a purchase, not the hours you spent, so REPSLog never turns a photo into an entry on its own: the time, the property and who did the work are yours to state, and the receipt is the evidence attached to them.
How it works
Open an entry and attach a receipt photo or PDF, or open one you attached earlier.
Tap the note icon on the attachment tile.
The first time, REPSLog asks permission to read your files with a prompt titled “Search inside your files”. Tap Enable. The same permission powers Smart Search Attachments and can be turned off any time in Settings, AI and Privacy.
Tap Generate AI description and wait while it analyzes the file.
Read the note and edit anything you want to change.
Tap Save on the note sheet, then save the entry. The note icon on the tile shows as filled.
Run an export later and the note appears next to the file name in the CSV and the PDF report.
On Free and Starter, the button opens the upgrade screen instead. Hand-written notes work on every plan.
Why it matters for your hours
A receipt proves a purchase happened; a note proves you know what it was for. When your CPA or an examiner opens the export a year from now, “Home Depot receipt, $396.14, vanity and faucet, paid by debit” tells them what the entry’s four hours were about without opening a single file. Across a hundred receipts in a year of REPS work, that is the difference between an audit file that reads itself and one that needs you in the room to explain it.
The description is a summary, not a legal determination. Whether a purchase is a repair or an improvement, and how the hours around it count toward the 750-hour test or material participation, is a question for your CPA. Review every note before you rely on it; a dark or blurry photo gives a weaker result.
For an Airbnb or Vrbo host using the STR loophole, the 100-hour test is per property, and the export should explain each property’s hours on its own. A cleaner’s invoice described as “cleaning invoice, $180, dated March 14” sits on the entry where Cleaner is the participant, so the hours you are compared against carry their own proof. The receipt for linens and supplies on your restocking entry, or the payout statement saved as PDF on the month’s admin entry, gets the same treatment. Your CPA reads that property’s entries and notes, not a folder of unnamed files, when checking that no one else did more than you.
Good to know
Premium only. On Free and Starter the button opens the upgrade screen; hand-typed notes are on every plan.
Photos (JPEG, PNG, GIF, HEIC) and PDFs only. Word and Excel files get hand-typed notes. A short-term rental host’s cleaner invoices, supply receipts and payout statements saved as PDF are read the same way as any other document.
PDFs are read up to 50 pages. Password-protected PDFs are refused.
60 AI descriptions per account per day. Reused descriptions do not count.
The note is capped at 1,000 characters and fully editable.
Privacy: the file is sent to an AI provider only when you tap Generate AI description, and only after you have allowed your files to be read. Turn off Smart Search Attachments in Settings, AI and Privacy to withdraw that permission; the button disappears and the sheet becomes a plain note editor. Descriptions stop being used straight away and are deleted within 31 days, as described in the Privacy Policy.
Read-only team members can read notes but cannot generate or edit them. Needs an internet connection.
Frequently asked questions
Can REPSLog read a receipt and tell me what it says?
Yes, on Premium. Tap the note icon on a receipt photo or PDF and choose Generate AI description. The note names the vendor, total, date and items it can read.
Does the AI description replace my own note?
Only if you confirm. REPSLog asks “Would you like to replace your current note?” before overwriting an existing note, and you can edit the result afterwards.
Can the AI describe a photo that is not a receipt?
Yes. A photo of a repair, damage or work in progress is described by what is visible in it and treated as evidence in its own right.
Does REPSLog send my receipts to an AI without asking?
No. A file is sent only when you tap Generate AI description, and only after you have allowed your files to be read. You can withdraw that permission in Settings, AI and Privacy.
How many receipts can I describe per day?
60 per account per day. An already-described file is reused instantly and does not count. Notes you type yourself are unlimited.
Do AI descriptions show up in my CPA export?
Yes. Each file name in the export is paired with its note, whether the AI wrote it or you did.
Can the AI read a receipt for my Airbnb’s linens and supplies?
Yes, on Premium. Attach the receipt photo or PDF to the restocking entry for that short-term rental, tap the note icon and choose Generate AI description. The note names the vendor, total and date it can read and is exported with the entry.
Does REPSLog create an entry from a receipt photo?
No, and on purpose. A receipt shows what you bought, not how long the work took or who did it, so the entry is created by you, in one typed or spoken sentence with AI Entry Autofill, and the receipt is attached to it and described. Nothing is logged that you did not state yourself.
Is this a good alternative to a receipt-scanning app?
It covers more. A receipt scanner reads receipts. REPSLog reads receipts, invoices, leases, permits, inspection reports and photos of the work, writes a note on each, and makes all of it searchable from the entry log.
Related features
Learn more
Every step is in the Help Center article How to Add Notes and AI Descriptions to Your Attachments.
From the blog: What evidence does the IRS want for REPS hours?.
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