Automated Invoice Processing

Connect Claude to your email and ledger. Extract line items, validate totals, and flag discrepancies automatically.

03:12 / 08:45

Watch: Full end-to-end setup demonstration (8 mins)

checklist Prerequisites

verified_user

Claude Pro Account

Required for high-volume API access and PDF parsing.

hub

Make.com / Zapier

Middleware for connecting email to external tools.

mail

Google Workspace

Dedicated inbox for invoice intake (e.g., [email protected]).

account_balance_wallet

ERP / Ledger Access

API access to Google Sheets or QuickBooks.

Step 1: Configure the Trigger

Set up your automation middleware to watch for new attachments in your designated 'Billing' folder. We recommend filtering for file types like .pdf and .jpg to ensure only relevant documents are sent to Claude.

Step 2: Define the Prompt Strategy

The prompt below is optimized for precision. It uses XML tagging to ensure Claude returns structured data that your middleware can easily parse into spreadsheet columns.

<system_prompt>
  You are an expert financial analyst.
  Extract the following from the attached invoice:
  1. Vendor Name
  2. Tax ID (if present)
  3. Net Amount
  4. Tax Amount
  5. Total Due
  6. Line Items (List: Description, Qty, Unit Price)

  Format the output strictly as a JSON object.
</system_prompt>

Step 3: Map the Output

Connect the JSON response from Claude to your destination. Ensure you have a 'Validation' step where a human reviews any invoice where the "Total Due" exceeds $1,000 or the confidence score is low.