Kempt
The short answer
Kempt is a Mac app that names and files documents from what they say, with Apple’s on-device model.For an accounting firm it does two jobs: it names and finds the documents that arrive on your Mac (“2026-09 Invoice Swisscom”, found again by typing “Swisscom invoice September”), and on a client’s Mac it prepares the month or the year: numbered copies, a merged PDF and a Summary.csv (date, issuer, type, total, currency, number), with anything uncertain marked ⚠. It is not bookkeeping software or a client portal: it has no separate client files, and it doesn’t read Swiss QR-bills or VAT amounts.
What Kempt does for an accounting firm
Every document named as it arrives
A PDF or photo that lands in Downloads is read and named from its content, date first: “2026-09 Invoice Swisscom”. Names are written in English. Anything Kempt isn’t sure about waits for you instead of being filed.
Found by what it says
Open Ask your files (⌃⌥Space) and type “Sunrise invoice March” or “UBS statement September”. Kempt searches the text of PDFs and scans, in English, French or Spanish, and shows the source page.
A month’s pack in one export
For a month, this year so far or last year: numbered copies named “01 date – issuer – type – total currency”, one PDF merged in date order, and a Summary.csv with a total per currency. CHF, EUR, USD and GBP are recognised.
What needs checking, marked
“Check the total”, “Possible duplicate”, “A quote or offer, not an expense”, “From a photo: confirm the total”: every doubt is marked ⚠, every line can be corrected, and refunds are never added to the total.
Debits with no document
Add a statement as CSV, OFX or PDF: Kempt shows how many debits have a document and lists the ones that don’t, largest first. The result is on screen; it isn’t in the export yet.
Nothing leaves the Mac
Reading, naming and search happen on the Mac, with no account and no usage analytics. Your clients’ documents go through no server.
An honest ledger
- ✓Names from the content, date first
- ✓Search inside PDFs, scans and photos
- ✓Month or year pack: copies, merged PDF, CSV
- ✓⚠ on every value it couldn’t confirm
- ✓Debits with no document (CSV, OFX, PDF)
- ✓On the Mac: no account, no analytics
- –Separate files per client
- –Swiss QR-bill
- –VAT amounts
- –camt.053 statements
- –Quarterly view
- –Interface in French or German
How a firm uses it
- 1
On your Mac
Let Kempt name what arrives in Downloads, or select files in Finder and choose Rename with Kempt. Every document becomes searchable by its content.
- 2
On your clients’ Macs
Recommend Kempt to clients who run their own Mac: at month end they export the pack and email it to you as a ZIP, instead of a shoebox of receipts.
- 3
You check, then you post
Summary.csv gives one line per document with what still needs checking. Bookkeeping stays in your accounting software.
$27 once, 14 days freeRuns on every Apple silicon MacA question? Ask a person
Proof, not promises
Historical results: measured on one Mac, the owner’s, with about 1,600 of the owner’s own documents, each on the build or date shown. One Mac’s results, not an independent benchmark. Numbers for the next build are published once verified.
- PrivacyWhere your documents are processed
- On your MacReading, naming, search, answers and voice use Apple’s on-device model. Sharing with an AI app is optional and needs your approval; what you approve reaches that app’s provider. One daily update check sends Kempt’s version number.
- SafetyEvery move logged
- UndoMoves are written to a journal before they happen and recovered at launch after a crash; cleanup uses the Trash.
- SpeedTo name a file
- 1.0–1.4 sWith Apple’s on-device model on the 25 newest downloads, owner’s Mac (macOS 26), 14 Oct 2026. Varies 2–3× when the Mac is busy.
- SpeedSearch time, warm
- ≈10 msMedian search over 1,575 indexed documents, release build, owner’s Mac, Oct 2026. Search only: not indexing, answers or request preparation.
How we compare: Kempt’s rows come from its own measured tests. Every other app’s row comes from that maker’s public pages on the date shown. When a page is silent or unclear, we say so instead of guessing.
Questions people ask
What is the best way to organize client documents on a Mac?
One folder per client, then per year and period, and every file named date first with the issuer and type (“2026-09 Invoice Swisscom”). Kempt writes those names from the content; you keep the client folders. Our guide shows a full naming convention.
Can Kempt keep several clients apart?
Not yet. Kempt is built around one person’s or one company’s papers per Mac: its monthly pack takes every financial document on the Mac for the period. Naming and search work for any document; separate client files aren’t built.
Does Kempt read the VAT and the Swiss QR-bill?
No. It reads the date, issuer, document type, total, currency and invoice number, and the data inside Factur-X and ZUGFeRD invoices. VAT amounts, QR-bills and camt.053 statements aren’t read.
Does Kempt replace Dext, bexio, Xero or QuickBooks?
No. Dext collects documents online for a practice and sends them to accounting software; bexio, Xero and QuickBooks keep the books. Kempt works on the files on a Mac, and its CSV is for checking, not a bookkeeping import.
How long must accounting records be kept?
In Switzerland, ten years (Code of Obligations, art. 958f). In France, ten years (Code de commerce, art. L123-22). In Spain, six years (Código de Comercio, art. 30). In the US, the IRS generally says three to seven years.
Do client documents leave the Mac?
No. Kempt reads, names and searches on the Mac with Apple’s on-device model. It has no account and no analytics, and it sends nothing by itself.
Guides
- How an accounting firm should name and file client documents (a convention that holds)One folder per client, year and period, every file named date first with issuer, type and amount: a naming convention for accounting firms and bookkeepers, with examples.
- Swiss tax return: the documents to gather (checklist for you or your fiduciary)Salary certificate, pillar 3a, bank statements at 31 December, health costs: the documents a Swiss tax return needs, who issues each one, and how to gather them on a Mac.
- How to send your accountant a clean monthly pack from a MacA simple monthly routine for receipts, invoices and statements, and how Kempt gathers the month’s papers into one pack (PDF + CSV) for you to review before sending.
- How to match receipts to a bank statement on a MacTick each debit against its receipt by hand with Numbers, or let Kempt read your statement (CSV, OFX or PDF) and list the debits that still have no document.
- How long to keep tax returns, bank statements and other papersThe IRS and HMRC rules for how long to keep tax records, what to keep forever, and what you can shred, with a tidy way to keep the rest findable on a Mac.
- How to rename PDFs and scans by their content on a MacTurn “scan_0042.pdf” into “2026-10 Electricity bill EDF.pdf”: Finder batch rename, Shortcuts, and Kempt’s on-device naming compared.
Other comparisons
- Kempt vs DextDext is an online service that collects receipts and invoices from a phone, email or WhatsApp, reads supplier, date, tax and total, and sends them to accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks, with practice plans that keep many clients apart. Kempt is a Mac app that names, finds and packs one person’s or one company’s documents on the Mac, with nothing sent to a server, and exports a CSV to check rather than posting to the books. A firm managing many clients’ bookkeeping should pick Dext; a fiduciaire, freelancer or small business that wants its own documents named and found on a Mac, privately, can use Kempt, or both.
- Kempt vs Paperless-ngxPaperless-ngx is a free document server with OCR, metadata matching, workflows and duplicate handling, which a household or office can share. Kempt is a native Mac app for one person’s papers, with no document server to run: it names and files on your Mac, answers with the source page and gathers requested papers for your review. Choose Paperless-ngx for a shared archive on a server you maintain; choose Kempt for your own Mac.
- Kempt vs DEVONthinkDEVONthink is a deep document database: smart rules, annotations, versioning, duplicate detection, external-folder indexing, local or hosted AI, agents and MCP. Kempt aims at everyday paperwork with less setup: it files into ordinary Finder folders on its own, answers with the source page and gathers requested papers for your review. Choose DEVONthink for research archives and fine control; choose Kempt if you want your paperwork handled without building a system.
For everyone else
- They ask for papers. Kempt prepares them.Drop a landlord’s, bank’s or consulate’s email on the notch. Kempt finds the papers you have, hides the numbers they don’t need and opens a draft in Mail.
- Your rental application, ready before anyone else’s.Paste the landlord’s email and Kempt lists every document, finds each one on your Mac, flags what’s missing or too old, and exports one clean PDF.
- Your month of receipts, gathered for your accountant.Kempt gathers your month of receipts and invoices from wherever they landed, so you can review them and send your accountant one pack: copies, a merged PDF and a CSV.
- Visa, residence permit, consulate: every paper ready when they ask.Schengen visa, residence permit, consulate: Kempt finds the papers you have on your Mac, says what’s missing, flags what’s too old and exports one PDF.
- Your first Mac, organized from the very first download.New MacBook Air, Pro or MacBook Neo? The setup steps that matter, tips for Windows switchers, and the app that names and files every document from day one.