Stop manually entering expense data from receipts. This workflow monitors your Gmail for receipt emails, uses AI to extract vendor, amount, date, and category information, and automatically logs everything to Google Sheets for easy expense tracking and reporting.
Detect receipt email in Gmail
The workflow monitors your Gmail inbox for emails that appear to be receipts based on sender, subject line, or content patterns. It captures the email body, any attached PDFs or images, and sender information for processing.
Extract expense data with OpenAI
Using OpenAI, the workflow analyzes the receipt content to extract vendor name, transaction date, total amount, tax, payment method, and line items. The AI handles various receipt formats from different vendors consistently.
Categorize expense with AI
The AI categorizes the expense based on vendor and items purchased (meals, travel, software, office supplies, etc.). Categories can be customized to match your company's expense policy and accounting codes.
Log expense to Google Sheets
The extracted data is added as a new row in your Google Sheets expense tracker with all relevant fields. The sheet can be configured with formulas for running totals, monthly summaries, and budget tracking.
Why automate expense receipt processing with AI?
Manual expense entry is tedious and error-prone. Receipts pile up, data gets entered incorrectly, and reconciliation becomes a nightmare. AI automation processes receipts instantly and accurately, freeing you from manual data entry.
Eliminate manual data entry entirely
Instead of typing vendor names, amounts, and dates from dozens of receipts, let AI handle it. The workflow processes receipts the moment they arrive in your inbox.
Reduce errors in expense tracking
Manual entry leads to typos, transposed numbers, and miscategorization. AI extraction is consistent and accurate, making expense reconciliation much simpler.
Always have up-to-date expense records
With real-time processing, your expense spreadsheet is always current. No more end-of-month scrambles to process a stack of receipts.
How to set up automated receipt processing
Setting up this Gmail to Sheets workflow takes about 15 minutes. You'll configure receipt detection, customize categories, and set up your expense spreadsheet.
What you need to get started
- Gmail account where receipts are sent
- OpenAI API key for receipt extraction
- Google Sheets for expense logging
- List of expense categories for your organization
Configuring receipt detection
- Create Gmail filters or labels for receipt emails
- Specify common receipt senders to watch for
- Define subject line patterns that indicate receipts
- Set up forwarding rules if receipts go to a different inbox
Setting up your expense spreadsheet
- Create columns for date, vendor, amount, category, etc.
- Add formulas for totals and summaries
- Set up data validation for categories
- Consider separate sheets for different expense types or months
Frequently asked questions about AI receipt processing
How accurate is AI at reading receipt data?
Modern AI is highly accurate at extracting structured data from receipts. It handles various formats well, including email receipts, PDF attachments, and image attachments. Accuracy is typically 95%+ for common receipt formats.
What if a receipt has multiple line items?
The AI can extract individual line items if needed, or just capture the total. Configure based on your expense reporting requirements.
Can I connect to QuickBooks or Expensify instead of Google Sheets?
Yes, you can swap Google Sheets for any accounting or expense management software with API access. The AI extraction works the same regardless of destination.
What about receipts in different currencies?
The AI extracts the currency along with the amount. You can add a conversion step to standardize to your home currency if needed.