n8nGmailOpenAI VisionGoogle Sheets/Xero

Invoice & Receipt to Bookkeeping

Auto-extract data from invoices and receipts and log them straight to your books.

Difficulty: IntermediateTypical price: $300–$900

n8n nodes used

Gmail TriggerExtract AttachmentOpenAIGoogle SheetsXero

The problem it solves

Small business owners drown in receipt photos and PDF invoices. Manual entry into bookkeeping software takes hours every month and is error-prone.

Tools you'll need

Gmail Trigger — watches a forward-to address like receipts@
Extract From File node — pulls PDF or image attachments
OpenAI Vision node — extracts vendor, date, amount, tax, category
Google Sheets / Xero node — logs the structured row

Build steps in n8n

Check each step as you complete it — your progress is saved automatically in this browser.

0 of 7 steps complete0%

1Create a dedicated email like receipts@yourdomain.com and forward all receipts there.
2Gmail Trigger node watches that inbox for new attachments.
3Extract From File node pulls the PDF/image bytes.
4OpenAI Vision (gpt-4o) node with prompt: return JSON with vendor, date, subtotal, tax, total, suggested_category.
5Code node validates the JSON (numbers parse, date is real).
6Google Sheets 'Append Row' OR Xero 'Create Bill' node writes the record.
7If validation fails: Slack alert to the owner with the original attachment for manual handling.

Premade n8n workflow

Skip the setup — download this workflow and import it into your n8n instance.

Download workflow.json

Import in n8n: Workflows → Import from file. Then add your own credentials to each node.

What to charge

$300 for the Sheets-only version. $600–$900 with Xero/QuickBooks integration, category auto-mapping, and a monthly summary email.

How to pitch it

"Forward any receipt to one email address — vendor, amount, tax, and category land in your books automatically. Bookkeeping goes from 4 hours a month to 10 minutes of review."