Snap a receipt on WhatsApp, and the books update themselves

🧰 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

🪜 Steps (tick as you go)

1. ☐
   1. 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.

2. ☐
   2. Create the Google Sheet

   Make a sheet called 'Invoices' with headers: store name | description | image_url | payment | total.

3. ☐
   3. Connect your accounts

   In n8n, add credentials (saved logins) for WhatsApp Cloud API, Google Drive, Google Sheets and OpenAI, as the template explains.

4. ☐
   4. Point it to your sheet

   Paste your sheet's ID (the long code in its web address) into the Google Sheets step.

5. ☐
   5. Test with one receipt

   Activate the workflow and WhatsApp a receipt photo to your business number. Check the new row and the reply.

6. ☐
   6. Add your categories

   Edit the AI step with your own expense categories and projects (prompt below).

7. ☐
   7. Optional: send to QuickBooksOptional extra

   Add the separate n8n 'Google Sheets and QuickBooks expenses' template to push categorised rows into QuickBooks.

8. ☐
   8. Roll out to the team

   Give staff the number and one rule: one receipt per message, plus a note of the project.

💬 Prompts to copy

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.

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.

🔗 Links

• Case study: WhatsApp to QuickBooks: https://www.varmiguemunoz.com/blog/whatsapp-to-quickbooks-ai-agent
• n8n template: Sheets to QuickBooks: https://n8n.io/workflows/7870-google-sheets-and-quickbooks-expenses-automation-template/
• n8n (official): https://n8n.io/

From https://usecasy.com/use-case/whatsapp-receipts-books/ · Guide checked 15 October 2026 · Prices are rough and shown in USD unless stated (MYR where relevant).