Cali is an all-in-one business finance app for the self-employed. It lets you scan receipts with AI, track mileage at approved rates, create and send invoices, manage multiple businesses, and export clean reports — all without needing an accountant.

Does Cali work outside the UK?

Yes. Cali works in 60+ countries with the correct tax labels, mileage rates, and currency formatting for each. Freelancers in Australia, Canada, the US, UAE, South Africa, and many more countries can use Cali with the right local settings automatically applied.

Does Cali connect to my bank?

No. Cali is a record-keeping tool, not a bank connection. You add receipts, mileage, and mark invoices as paid yourself. This keeps your data private and the app simple — you are always in control of what goes in.

Can I use Cali for multiple businesses?

Yes. Cali supports multiple workspaces under one account. Each workspace has its own receipts, mileage, invoices, categories, and reports — so your different businesses, side projects, or rental properties never mix.

How does Cali compare to Dext or Expensify?

Dext and Expensify are receipt-only or expense-only tools. Cali combines receipt scanning, mileage tracking, invoicing, and team expense management in a single app — at a fraction of the cost — with no bookkeeping knowledge required.

Simple, honest pricing

Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. Card required — cancel before day 7 and you pay nothing.

All prices include VAT. No hidden fees. Dext starts at £29+/mo before VAT — Cali is cheaper, all-in.

Trial: 30 scans · Full dashboard · Full export access · Cancel before day 7 to pay nothing

Multi-currency receipts on all plans — 150+ currencies auto-detected

MTD ITSA Ready · Apr 2026 (£50k+) · Apr 2027 (£30k+)Self-Updating Tax RatesGDPR CompliantStripe Secured

MonthlyAnnualSave up to £100/yr

Business plan: flexible seat pricing

3 seats included in the base price. Need more? Add extra seats at £20/seat/month — as many as you need, cancel any time. Each seat is a standalone login; employees own their personal data.

“Saved me 2 hours a month. My accountant loves the export.”

— Freelance designer, London

“Finally cancelled my Dext subscription. Cali does more for less.”

— Sole trader, Manchester

“The invoice aging report alone is worth the Pro price.”

— Consultant, Edinburgh

Solo

£14.99/month

Freelancers & sole traders

Cheaper than Coconut. More features than Dext. All-in price, no VAT surprise.

150 receipts per month
Never miss a deduction — snap a receipt and Cali captures merchant, date, amount, tax & category automatically
Know your tax bill before HMRC does — live income tax estimate updated every time you add a receipt
Claim back every penny of VAT — reclaimable input tax calculated per receipt, ready for your return
Hand your accountant a clean file — tax-year sorted Excel & CSV export in one click
Log mileage at HMRC-approved rates — car, electric vehicle, motorcycle & bicycle covered
Works wherever you are — 150+ currencies auto-detected, 60+ country tax compliance built in
Find any receipt in seconds — search by merchant, amount or date instantly
Bulk scan — photograph up to 20 receipts in one session
Shareable receipt links — send any receipt to a client or accountant
Receipt photo thumbnails — see the original image on every record
7-day free trial

Multi-currency & multi-country support

Cali works wherever your receipts come from — 60+ countries, 150+ currencies.

150+ currencies auto-detected

Cali reads the currency symbol from your receipt image and records it alongside the amount. GBP, EUR, USD, AED, AUD, CAD — all captured accurately.

Foreign currency receipts

Travelling for work? Photograph your hotel bill, taxi receipt, or restaurant receipt abroad. The original currency and amount are preserved in your records.

Country-specific tax compliance

Whether you're on UK HMRC, US IRS, Australian ATO, Canadian CRA, or another regime — Cali applies the correct rates, labels, and export columns for your country.

Invoices in any currency

Create invoices and quotes in any currency from the Pro plan. Set a default currency per business workspace, or override per invoice.

What's included in the 7-day trial

20 receipt scans

Enough to see exactly how Cali captures merchant, amount, tax, and category from your real receipts.

Full dashboard access

Browse receipts, search, filter by category, see monthly spend charts — everything except downloading.

Full export access included

Download your receipts as Excel or CSV during the trial so you can see exactly what your accountant receives before you commit.

Security & privacy

Data encrypted at rest and in transit

All receipt images and financial data are encrypted with AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.3 in transit. Nobody can intercept or read your data.

Your data is yours

We never sell or share your data with third parties. Your receipts are used only to provide the service to you. You can export and delete everything at any time.

Payments via Stripe

We never see or store your card number. All payments are processed by Stripe, who are PCI DSS Level 1 certified — the highest level of payment security.

GDPR & global privacy compliant

Data is stored in EU data centres. We comply with UK GDPR, EU GDPR, and applicable privacy laws in the countries we operate in.

Strict data isolation

Every query is scoped to your user ID at the database level. It is architecturally impossible for one user to access another user's receipts.

Your data stays yours

Your receipt images are processed for extraction only. They are not stored by the processing provider, not used for training, and not retained after processing.

How we compare

Cali vs Dext and Expensify — two of the most popular expense tools

Feature	CaliGlobal	Dext	Expensify
Starting price (all-in, incl. VAT)	From £14.99/mo	£29+/mo incl. VAT	$5+/mo (USD)
Free trial	7 days (card req.)	14 days	Free tier (limited)
Receipt limit (entry plan)	150/mo	Unlimited	Unlimited (free tier)
Smart receipt scanning	✓ All plans	✓ Included	✓ Included
Bulk scan (multiple receipts at once)	✓ Up to 20 at once	✓ Included	✓ Included
Receipt photo thumbnails in records	✓ All plans	✓ Included	✓ Included
Receipt search (merchant/amount/date)	✓ All plans	✓ Included	✓ Included
Shareable receipt links	✓ All plans	✗ Not available	✗ Not available
Email receipt forwarding	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Duplicate receipt detection	✓ From Pro plan	✓ Included	✓ Included
Multi-currency receipts (150+)	✓ All plans	✓ Included	✓ Included
43 expense categories (global)	✓ 43 categories	Limited	Limited
60+ country tax compliance	✓ All plans	✓ Multi-country	✓ Multi-country
UK HMRC / MTD compliance	✓ Built-in	✓ UK support	✗ US-first
VAT/GST/Sales Tax export	✓ All plans	✓ Included	✗ Not included
Tax estimate dashboard	✓ All plans	✗ Not available	✗ Not available
Electric vehicle mileage rate	✓ All plans	✗ Not available	✗ Not available
Mileage tracking	✓ All plans	Add-on	✓ Included
Invoice & quote creation	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Branded PDF invoices	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Send invoices direct to clients	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Customisable follow-up emails	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Duplicate invoice / quote	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Invoice aging report	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Bulk mark invoices as paid	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not included	✗ Not included
Multi-business workspaces	✓ From Pro plan	✗ Not available	✗ Not available
Excel & CSV export	✓ All plans	✓ Included	✓ Included
Team seat model	✓ Flexible add-on	✓ Per-seat	✓ Per-seat
Manager approval workflow	✓ Business plan	✓ Included	✓ Included
Employee data privacy	✓ Submit-only	✗ Admin sees all	✗ Admin sees all

Competitor pricing and features based on publicly available information as of early 2026. Subject to change.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a card for the free trial?

Yes — a card is required to start the trial. This prevents abuse and means your receipts carry straight over to your paid plan on day 8. Cancel any time before day 7 ends and you won't be charged.

I have 6 months of receipts to catch up on — will I hit a limit?

Not once you're subscribed. Paid plans have no hourly or daily scan limits. You can scan your entire backlog in one session. The 20-scan cap only applies during the 7-day trial.

What currency will I be charged in?

Prices are set in GBP. If you're outside the UK, Stripe will show you the equivalent in your local currency at checkout (USD, AUD, EUR, CAD, etc.) using live exchange rates — and charge your card in your local currency. The prices shown on this page are approximate conversions so you can see what to expect before you reach checkout.

Is this compliant with my country's tax authority?

Yes. Cali supports 60+ country tax regimes including UK HMRC / MTD, US IRS (Schedule C), Australian ATO (BAS), Canadian CRA, Irish Revenue, New Zealand IRD, South African SARS, and more. The correct rates, labels, and export columns are applied automatically based on your country setting.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Cancel from Settings at any time. You keep full access until the end of your billing period — no sudden lockout, no data deletion.

What image formats are supported?

JPEG, PNG, WebP, and HEIC (iPhone). Images up to 10 MB. Cali works best with clear, well-lit photos — avoid blurry or folded receipts.

I run multiple businesses — can I keep them separate?

Yes. Pro gives you multiple separate business workspaces (e.g. "Jones Consulting Ltd", "Airbnb Property"). Each has its own receipts, invoices & reports. One login, completely separate accounts.

How does team billing work?

The Business plan includes 3 seats (admin + 2 team members) in the base price. You can add extra seats at £20/seat/month — as many as you need. Seats are slots: if a team member leaves, you reassign the seat to someone new without changing your subscription.

Do you support foreign currency receipts?

Yes. Cali detects the currency from the receipt image automatically. You can capture receipts in any of 150+ currencies. Your home country's tax is tracked separately and only relevant transactions appear in your tax export.

Is Cali HMRC-approved or recognised?

Cali is built to HMRC's digital record-keeping standards and is MTD ITSA ready for the April 2026 mandate (income over £50k) and April 2027 (income over £30k). Your export files are formatted to the exact column structure accountants and HMRC-compatible software expect. We are not a government-approved product (no expense tool is), but your records kept in Cali fully satisfy HMRC's digital record requirements.

Why is Cali cheaper than Dext if it does more?

Dext's listed price of £24.17/mo is before VAT — you actually pay around £29/mo all-in. Cali's £14.99 Solo plan is the full price, VAT included, no add-ons needed. We also include features Dext charges separately for (mileage, invoicing, multi-business workspaces) because we believe they should come as standard for self-employed people.

What happens to my data if I cancel?

Nothing is deleted immediately. You keep read-only access to your receipts and can export everything as Excel or CSV. After 90 days of inactivity on a cancelled account, data is scheduled for deletion — you'll receive an email warning 30 days before. You can reactivate at any time to stop the deletion clock.

Payments processed securely by Stripe.

Cali is a capture & organisation tool, not a tax adviser. All figures and estimates are indicative only. Always verify with a qualified accountant before submitting to any tax authority. Full disclaimer · © 2026 Southkey Holdings Limited.