Why I Started Expenstry: From Lost Receipts to a Better Solution

The frustration that started it all

If you've ever worked a job that involves travel, you know the drill. Receipts pile up in your wallet, your pockets, your car's glovebox. You tell yourself you'll sort them out later. And then later never quite comes the way you planned.

During my time in the construction industry, I travelled constantly. Petrol stations, restaurants, accommodation, every trip meant a handful of receipts that I'd need to claim back as subsistence and travel expenses. The idea was simple: keep the receipts, submit them when I got back to the office, get reimbursed.

The reality? Not so simple.

Losing money, one receipt at a time

Receipts got lost. They faded. They ended up in the washing machine. And every lost receipt meant money out of my own pocket, sometimes to the tune of thousands of rands. It wasn't just me either. Walk through any office and you'd see colleagues with heaps of receipts on their desks, all waiting to be processed "when there's time."

The admin involved in actually processing these claims was another headache entirely. Hours spent organising, calculating, and submitting paperwork, hours that could have been spent doing actual work.

Searching for a solution

I did what anyone would do: I searched for an app that could solve this problem. Something that would let me capture expenses on the go, without the hassle of keeping physical receipts or dealing with complicated spreadsheets.

What I found was either too expensive, too complex, or simply not designed with the South African market in mind. We have our own tax requirements, our own SARS rules, our own way of doing things. The solutions out there just didn't fit.

A December to remember

In December, I found myself in that wonderful state of being "fun-employed", I'd resigned from my previous role and was waiting for my next position to start. Instead of just relaxing, I decided to build the solution I'd been searching for.

Expenstry was born during that break.

Built for real people with real problems

My hope is simple: that the professionals who use Expenstry find it as useful and convenient as I wish I'd had it during my construction days. No more lost receipts. No more hours of admin. Just a straightforward way to capture your expenses on the go and keep everything organised for when tax season rolls around.

If you've ever lost a receipt and felt that sinking feeling, this app is for you. To see what it can track, take a look at what business expenses are tax deductible in South Africa, or browse the Expenstry plans.

Welcome to Expenstry.

Frequently asked questions

Who built Expenstry?

Expenstry was founded by Vumboni Manganyi, whose background is in programme and project leadership with a focus on investor-grade compliance and reporting, after years of losing travel and subsistence receipts in the construction industry.

Is Expenstry built for South African tax?

Yes. Expenstry is built around SARS rules: ZAR pricing, SARS-compliant travel logbooks, and reports that map to the ITR12. It is made for South African self-employed professionals and teams, not adapted from a foreign product.

What does Expenstry actually do?

It captures receipts and invoices with AI, logs business mileage as a SARS-compliant logbook, and exports a tidy Accountant Pack so you claim every rand you're owed at tax time.