What this checklist solves
Invoice automation creates risk when extraction, duplicate detection, approval thresholds, and payment review are not defined first. This checklist maps the pieces that should be clear before building an invoice PDF to Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack, or accounting workflow.
Automation map
| Layer | What to define |
|---|---|
| Invoice source | Gmail attachment, shared inbox, Drive folder, vendor export, form upload, or manual n8n upload. |
| Extraction fields | Vendor, invoice number, dates, currency, subtotal, tax, total, and payment terms. |
| Approval rules | Missing invoice number, duplicate invoice, math mismatch, high-value invoice, new vendor, and unsupported currency. |
| Destination | Spreadsheet row, Airtable record, accounting draft, Slack approval, or finance email summary. |
| Failure paths | Unreadable PDF, invalid fields, API failure, duplicate detection, and manual review routing. |
Best-fit use cases
Use it for invoice PDF parsing, AP intake, vendor invoice review, finance operations, Google Sheets invoice logs, approval routing, and n8n invoice workflows.
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