One of my biggest pet peeves as a bookkeeper is watching another business owner refuse a receipt. Especially if it is at a restaurant, coffee shop or gas station. Why, you may ask? Because I know that if that person ever gets audited they may find a large chunk of their deductions being disallowed. The IRS requires higher detailed record keeping for auto, cell phone, travel and meals & entertainment expenses. You need to have records showing the date, payee, amount, business purpose, any additional people and sufficient evidence to support your own statement. Generally, you must have documentary evidence such as receipts, cancelled checks, or bills to support the items you have recorded in your books.
"But, I don't have the patience or space or whatever to keep all those little receipts", you might say. Well there are a couple of both high tech and low tech way to wrangle those receipts, and in the case of the high tech way, streamline your data entry. A number of business owners I know prefer the low tech method of using envelopes, either your standard letter sized or for those with a larger number of receipts the small catalog envelopes, labeled with the month and year. They just empty their wallets or purses whenever they get back to their desks, placing the receipts in the envelopes.
If you prefer a higher tech way to go there are a number of options available to you. There are scanners now on the market that will integrate with QuickBooks and download the receipts into your company file while keeping a copy of the actual receipt, there are also a number of online options like Shoeboxed.com, where you can either scan, take a picture or even mail in the hard receipt; and it will download into QuickBooks and keep a copy of the actual receipt.
One last note, however you decide to keep your receipts, you need to mark them with the additional information of business purpose and if there were any other people with you (in regards to meals, travel & entertainment) prior to filing or scanning.