𝗜 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝟴𝗻

Processing and tracking purchase invoices has always been time-consuming at our company—especially since most invoices are received manually and payment tracking is difficult to maintain.

To solve this, I implemented a fully automated invoice processing workflow using AI Agent and n8n, a no-code automation platform.

𝗦𝗻𝗮𝗽 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘁 — 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.

Here’s the workflow I built:

1. Set up a custom email (IMAP) to receive incoming purchase invoices.
2. We send the invoice image to this custom email id.
3. Workflow triggers when an invoice image is sent to this inbox.
4. n8n runs every minute to check for new emails.
5. Uses AI-powered OCR in n8n to extract key data from invoice images.
6. Parses and records supplier details and payment status into Google Sheets.
7. Logs detailed line items of invoice in a separate sheet.
8. Sends an automatic confirmation email to the sender (SMTP).
9. End-to-end processing time: approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute.

𝘐𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.

This setup has drastically reduced manual effort, improved accuracy, and centralized invoice records for easier payment tracking.

If your accounting software offers API access or direct database integration or using Browser usage AI Agent, this entire process can be extended to become 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱—removing manual entry altogether.

I hosted the n8n instance on a 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗣𝗦, proving that even small teams can deploy powerful automation without big infrastructure or coding expertise.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

Most repetitive finance tasks are ripe for automation. The role of accountants is evolving—from data entry to control, oversight, and strategic insight.

While the 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 is a key concern, open-source language models like 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 and 𝗟𝗟𝗮𝗠𝗔 can now run 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻-𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 using tools like 𝗟𝗠 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 —as long as you have access to a capable GPU.

𝘈𝘐 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴—𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.