NeatDesk

High-Speed, duplex desktop scanner and digital filing system

by
Beata Mandell - April 2011

My favorite organizing tool this year has to be NeatDesk by the creators of NeatWorks. NeatDesk is one of the best home office products I have used in a long time. If you ever had piles of receipts, stacks of papers, business cards you know you needed to organize and didn't’t have an idea of where to start this product will be perfect for you. Once you digitize all this paperwork, you will have an amazing digital filing system and be able to extract key data from your documents as well as create simple and fully searchable PDF files (which you can later print/store) etc.

What’s in the Box:

• NeatDesk Scanner
• NeatWorks software CD (check to make sure it’s a cd and not a dvd)
• USB Cable
• Quick Instruction Guide
• (link to video on the website) on set up.

HOW IT WORKS: SCAN IN, GET BACK WHAT YOU SCANNED AS A PDF DOCUMENT, SEND INTO PROGRAMS LIKE: Excel, Quicken, TurboTax and many other programs.

Right out of the box NeatDesk was easy to assemble, simple to install, is speedy, and it has a sleek, uncluttered design.

The physical set up of the Neatdesk hardware is simple and easy so anyone can hook it up to a Tablet PC, notebook / laptop or desktop computer with a USB cable and install the software is a snap whether for PC or Mac.  

I am device, techie, gadget kinda gal and I am usually, disappointed by most products out there. However, this is worth its weight in gold. Over the past 10 years, I have spent thousands of hours searching for paperwork and receipts and equally as many hours trying to be organized with file after file. This machine allows me to scan, store, back-up, and retrieve EVERYTHING, easily. It also scans and stores business cards and syncs with your contacts/address book, which is a nice secondary back-up. I have not run into a single software or firmware issue. Nothing is perfect, but this comes very close.

The Neatworks Software Quick Scan Center & a Scanned in Document

I own a Real Estate Company, highrises.com/la and I need to scan a lot of documents. This scanner is working perfectly for me and is reducing my costs for paper usage for printing, copying and faxing. Reducing the use of pre-printed forms and reducing the use of filing supplies – manila folders, flex folders, file cabinets, record storage boxes. Every time I send an email with a document attached, I save the cost of printing and mailing the document. If I can send reports, invoices, statements electronically via email how much Fed ex, UPS and US postal costs can I save? Consensus is you would save a lot of money over the course of year.

I am very impressed with this unit and its software performance, so will leave a very high marks ranking. This is my first organizing system I’ve put to test so I am excited to de clutter my desk and my life.

Key Features: ( from Neatworks)

Scan in receipts to:
• Save digital copies of receipts and records of vendors, dates, and totals
• Create expense reports and manage business and personal expenses
• Keep track of expenses for tax time (records accepted by the IRS)
• Export data to Excel®, Quicken®, QuickBooks®, TurboTax®

Scan in business cards to:
• Keep digital images of cards and contact information
• Capture name, address company, title, etc.
• Create your own searchable contact database
• Export data to Outlook and more

Scan in documents to:
• Create searchable PDF files
• Edit text using copy/paste
• Organize and store in your digital filing cabinet    

Some of the ways the product can currently help you get organized:

How can Neat help you?

1. Manage and track expenses for Flexible Spending Accounts.

2. Run monthly reports to track spending by category and see where your money is going.

3. Maintain records of purchases for insurance purposes (in case of burglary, fire, etc.)

4. Organize business estimates, work orders, invoices and contracts.

5. Keep digital copies of your most important paper documents - birth and marriage certificates, wills, deeds, etc.

6. Organize warranties and manuals for appliances, electronics, and other equipment.

7. Save newspaper and magazine articles and share them via email.

8. Scan your recipes, then use a keyword search to find those with the ingredients you have on hand.

9. Scan prescriptions to keep track of refills and possible drug interactions.

10. Preserve children's report cards, homework and artwork.