# Invoice Processing Automation Checklist

Use this checklist before automating invoice intake, PDF extraction, approval routing, or invoice-to-spreadsheet workflows. It is designed for operators who want fewer manual invoice steps without losing control over payment review.

## 1. Workflow Goal

- Business owner:
- Finance or ops owner:
- Invoice source:
- Approval owner:
- Destination system:
- Expected output:
- Manual review threshold:

## 2. Invoice Sources

Choose the starting point before building:

- Gmail attachment
- Shared inbox
- Drive or Dropbox folder
- Vendor portal export
- Form upload
- Manual upload into n8n

Do not mix multiple sources until duplicate handling and file naming are defined.

## 3. Fields To Extract

| Field | Required | Example | Validation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor name | Yes | Acme Supplies | Not blank |
| Invoice number | Yes | INV-1042 | Unique per vendor |
| Invoice date | Yes | 2026-05-22 | Valid date |
| Due date | No | 2026-06-15 | Valid date if present |
| Currency | Yes | USD | ISO currency or approved list |
| Subtotal | Yes | 950.00 | Numeric |
| Tax | No | 76.00 | Numeric or blank |
| Total | Yes | 1026.00 | Numeric and matches subtotal + tax |
| Payment terms | No | Net 30 | Optional text |

## 4. Approval Rules

| Rule | Recommended behavior |
| --- | --- |
| Missing invoice number | Stop and request manual review |
| Total does not match subtotal plus tax | Flag for review |
| Duplicate vendor plus invoice number | Stop duplicate creation |
| Total above threshold | Route to approver |
| New vendor | Route to finance owner before payment |
| Currency not approved | Flag and stop payment workflow |

## 5. Destination Design

Define the destination before building:

- Google Sheets row
- Airtable record
- Notion database item
- Accounting system draft
- Slack approval message
- Email summary to finance

Minimum output fields:

- Source file link
- Vendor
- Invoice number
- Invoice date
- Due date
- Currency
- Total
- Approval status
- Error status
- Processed timestamp

## 6. Test Cases

| Test | Input | Expected result |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Clean invoice | Standard PDF with all fields | Row or record is created |
| Missing invoice number | PDF without invoice number | Manual review is requested |
| Duplicate invoice | Same vendor and invoice number | Duplicate is blocked |
| Math mismatch | Total differs from subtotal plus tax | Review flag is added |
| High-value invoice | Total above threshold | Approval route is triggered |
| Unreadable PDF | OCR or extraction fails | Error status is logged |

## 7. Handoff Notes

The workflow is ready when the finance or ops owner can answer:

- Where do invoices enter?
- Which fields are mandatory?
- What stops automation?
- Who approves high-value invoices?
- Where is the source PDF stored?
- How are duplicate invoices prevented?
- How do we disable the workflow safely?