🎯 What you'll have at the endYou'll let your team WhatsApp a photo of a receipt and have it logged in a spreadsheet (and, later, your accounts) automatically.

⚡ One-click install

Checked install page (app stores, official sites and template pages): tap to get it straight away.

⬇️ Use the n8n WhatsApp receipt templaten8n template

🧰 Before you start

An n8n account (n8n is a tool that links apps together; it has a cloud version with a free trial)
A WhatsApp Business Cloud API number (set up through Meta for Developers)
An OpenAI API key (pay-as-you-go access to ChatGPT's AI)
Google Drive and Google Sheets
Optional: QuickBooks Online

⏱️ Time needed1-2 weeks (simpler if someone technical helps for an hour)

💵 Rough costn8n cloud subscription + a few cents of AI usage per receipt + WhatsApp API messaging fees

🪜 Step by step

🐣 Beginner mode: showing the 7 essential steps only. Extra steps are hidden; tap 🚀 Advanced at the top to see all 8.

✅ 0 of 8 steps done 📄 Printable page

1
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Open the ready-made template
Click the install button on this page to open the n8n template, then click Use for free to copy it into your n8n account.
Mark as done
2
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Create the Google Sheet
Make a sheet called 'Invoices' with headers: store name | description | image_url | payment | total.
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3
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Connect your accounts
In n8n, add credentials (saved logins) for WhatsApp Cloud API, Google Drive, Google Sheets and OpenAI, as the template explains.
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4
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Point it to your sheet
Paste your sheet's ID (the long code in its web address) into the Google Sheets step.
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5
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Test with one receipt
Activate the workflow and WhatsApp a receipt photo to your business number. Check the new row and the reply.
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6
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Add your categories
Edit the AI step with your own expense categories and projects (prompt below).
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7
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Optional: send to QuickBooks
Add the separate n8n 'Google Sheets and QuickBooks expenses' template to push categorised rows into QuickBooks.
➕ Extra step: hidden in 🐣 Beginner mode Mark as done
8
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Roll out to the team
Give staff the number and one rule: one receipt per message, plus a note of the project.
Mark as done

💬 Copy-paste prompts

Tap Copy prompt, paste it into your AI (Grok, ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini), then replace the [yellow bits] with your own details.

💬 Receipt reading instructions (for the AI step)

Read this receipt image and return JSON with: date (YYYY-MM-DD), vendor, total, currency (MYR unless clearly different), tax amount if shown, payment method, category (one of: [Materials, Fuel, Meals, Utilities, Office, Subcontractor, Other]) and project (from the sender's message, or 'unknown').
If anything is unclear, set it to null and add a short 'question' field I can send back to the sender.

💬 Ask your numbers

From the Invoices sheet [link/attach], how much did we spend on [category/project] between [date] and [date]? Show the total in MYR, top 5 vendors, and anything unusual.

⚠️ Tips & common mistakes

Keep a human doing a quick weekly check before anything is posted to the accounts.
Don't share the WhatsApp number publicly.
Remove unnecessary personal data from receipts.