How to automate invoices arriving by email with n8n and AI
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If every week someone copies supplier, date and amount by hand from invoices arriving by email, it is a perfect job to automate: repetitive, rule-based and easy to check.
The problem
Typing invoice data eats hours and causes errors: wrongly copied amounts, duplicate invoices, delays at month-end.
The workflow, end to end
With n8n everything chains into one flow that runs every time an email arrives.
- A trigger detects the email with the attached invoice
- The PDF is read with OCR and AI, extracting supplier, date, net amount, VAT and total
- Data is validated: duplicates, inconsistent amounts, unknown supplier
- If everything fits, it is recorded in your accounting, ERP or spreadsheet
- If something does not add up, a person is notified by Slack or email to review it
What you need
Less than it seems.
- A mailbox where invoices arrive
- A destination with an API (accounting, ERP) or a spreadsheet
- n8n, in the cloud or hosted on your own server if you want data to stay in-house
Good practices
Automating well is mostly about not trusting blindly.
- Start with about 50 real invoices to tune the flow
- Keep human review for doubtful cases
- Keep a log of what was processed and when
- Mind GDPR: where documents are stored and who accesses them
How much does it save?
It depends on your volume. The honest way to know: measure how many minutes each invoice takes today and compare it with the time spent reviewing only the doubtful ones.
Want us to do it for you?
Tell us your case and we will propose a realistic solution with clear timelines and budget.