What about big gear purchases — a new body or lens?

Scan the receipt like any other expense so the purchase is on record with date, merchant, and amount. Whether it's expensed or depreciated is a call for your tax professional — Receni keeps the proof.

Does Receni track mileage to shoots?

No — Receni is for receipts and expenses. Fuel and parking receipts scan like any expense; if you deduct per-mile, keep your mileage log alongside.

I pay second shooters and assistants — can I record that?

Yes — add cash or transfer payments as manual entries, or scan their invoices. The cost lands in the right shoot's workspace; 1099 paperwork for your crew stays with your tax pro.

What happens at tax time?

Export a CSV of categorized expenses per workspace or for the year. Your preparer gets clean itemized data for your Schedule C instead of a camera bag full of receipts.

Receni for photographers

Shoot the moment,keep the record

Gear rentals, props, parking at the venue, a new card the morning of the wedding — every shoot spends money before it earns any. Scan each receipt and know what every job really cost.

Download Receni Explore features

Lensworks Rental House

Gear — Nguyen wedding

70–200mm f/2.8, weekend$85.00

Lighting kit & stands$60.00

Total$145.00

Captured with AI scan

Gear & rentalsTravel to shootsSoftware & editing

Sound familiar?

The business behind the lens

Every shoot spends before it earns

Rentals, props, an assistant's lunch, venue parking — costs land days before the invoice goes out. Untracked, you never learn which kinds of jobs are actually profitable.

Gear costs, scattered everywhere

A card here, a filter there, a repair when a lens hits the floor — small gear spending is constant, and it hides across personal cards and marketplace apps.

Creative work, 1099 obligations

Second-shooter gigs, weddings, mini-sessions — most photography income arrives without withholding. The deductions that soften April only count if you kept the receipts.

How Receni helps

Built-in answers for photographers

Scan before you pack up

Snap the rental receipt while the gear goes back in the bag. Receni's AI reads merchant, date, total, and category in seconds.

A workspace per shoot

The Nguyen wedding's rentals stay with the Nguyen wedding. See each job's true cost — and keep personal spending out of the business entirely.

Know your cost per job type

Dashboards show gear, travel, and software spend by month. Compare what weddings cost you against portraits — and price accordingly.

Budgets for gear season

Set a monthly limit for equipment and rentals. Wishlist purchases wait their turn instead of ambushing your margins.

Schedule-C ready

Export the year's categorized expenses as a clean CSV for your tax preparer — every rental, card, and subscription itemized.

Cash costs in the frame

Cash for a permit, parking, or a location fee — add it manually in seconds so the shoot's record stays complete.

How it works

From pocketful of paper to organized records

Snap the receipt

Point your camera at any receipt — paper, email screenshot, or invoice. Receni's AI reads the merchant, date, total, and category in seconds.

Review and save

Check what the AI extracted before anything is stored. Adjust the category or amounts, pick the right workspace, and save with one tap.

Export when it matters

At tax time or month end, export clean CSV files your accountant can open directly — no shoebox, no retyping.

Free AI scans a month — enough to trial a full wedding season week

Per shoot

Workspaces show what each job cost to deliver

1 tap

CSV export at tax time

Example scenario

I knew my day rate but not my real margin. A workspace per shoot showed me weddings were carrying the portrait work — I repriced both, and tax season went from a weekend of panic to one export.

Sofia — Wedding & portrait photographerAn illustrative example — not a customer review.

FAQ

Photographers questions, answered

Yes — create a workspace per shoot (or per client for ongoing work) and scan rentals, props, travel, and assistant costs straight into it. Each job's full cost history is one export away.

More industries