Invoice Organizer

This skill transforms chaotic folders of invoices, receipts, and financial documents into a clean, tax-ready filing system without manual effort.

When to Use This Skill

Preparing for tax season and need organized records
Managing business expenses across multiple vendors
Organizing receipts from a messy folder or email downloads
Setting up automated invoice filing for ongoing bookkeeping
Archiving financial records by year or category
Reconciling expenses for reimbursement
Preparing documentation for accountants

What This Skill Does

Reads Invoice Content: Extracts information from PDFs, images, and documents:
- Vendor/company name
- Invoice number
- Date
- Amount
- Product or service description
- Payment method
Renames Files Consistently: Creates standardized filenames:
- Format: YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - ProductOrService.pdf
- Examples: 2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf
Organizes by Category: Sorts into logical folders:
- By vendor
- By expense category (software, office, travel, etc.)
- By time period (year, quarter, month)
- By tax category (deductible, personal, etc.)
Handles Multiple Formats: Works with:
- PDF invoices
- Scanned receipts (JPG, PNG)
- Email attachments
- Screenshots
- Bank statements
Maintains Originals: Preserves original files while organizing copies

How to Use

Basic Usage

Navigate to your messy invoice folder:

cd ~/Desktop/receipts-to-sort

Then ask Claude Code:

Organize these invoices for taxes

Or more specifically:

Read all invoices in this folder, rename them to 
"YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - Product.pdf" format, 
and organize them by vendor

Advanced Organization

Organize these invoices:
1. Extract date, vendor, and description from each file
2. Rename to standard format
3. Sort into folders by expense category (Software, Office, Travel, etc.)
4. Create a CSV spreadsheet with all invoice details for my accountant

Instructions

When a user requests invoice organization:

Scan the Folder

Identify all invoice files:
```
# Find all invoice-related files
find . -type f \( -name "*.pdf" -o -name "*.jpg" -o -name "*.png" \) -print
```
Report findings:
- Total number of files
- File types
- Date range (if discernible from names)
- Current organization (or lack thereof)
Extract Information from Each File

For each invoice, extract:

From PDF invoices:
- Use text extraction to read invoice content
- Look for common patterns:
  - "Invoice Date:", "Date:", "Issued:"
  - "Invoice #:", "Invoice Number:"
  - Company name (usually at top)
  - "Amount Due:", "Total:", "Amount:"
  - "Description:", "Service:", "Product:"
From image receipts:
- Read visible text from images
- Identify vendor name (often at top)
- Look for date (common formats)
- Find total amount
Fallback for unclear files:
- Use filename clues
- Check file creation/modification date
- Flag for manual review if critical info missing

Determine Organization Strategy

Ask user preference if not specified:

I found [X] invoices from [date range].

How would you like them organized?

1. **By Vendor** (Adobe/, Amazon/, Stripe/, etc.)
2. **By Category** (Software/, Office Supplies/, Travel/, etc.)
3. **By Date** (2024/Q1/, 2024/Q2/, etc.)
4. **By Tax Category** (Deductible/, Personal/, etc.)
5. **Custom** (describe your structure)

Or I can use a default structure: Year/Category/Vendor

Create Standardized Filename

For each invoice, create a filename following this pattern:
```
YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - Description.ext
```
Examples:
- 2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf
- 2024-01-10 Amazon - Receipt - Office Supplies.pdf
- 2023-12-01 Stripe - Invoice - Monthly Payment Processing.pdf
Filename Best Practices:
- Remove special characters except hyphens
- Capitalize vendor names properly
- Keep descriptions concise but meaningful
- Use consistent date format (YYYY-MM-DD) for sorting
- Preserve original file extension

Execute Organization

Before moving files, show the plan:

# Organization Plan

## Proposed Structure

Invoices/ ├── 2023/ │ ├── Software/ │ │ ├── Adobe/ │ │ └── Microsoft/ │ ├── Services/ │ └── Office/ └── 2024/ ├── Software/ ├── Services/ └── Office/


## Sample Changes

Before: `invoice_adobe_march.pdf`
After: `2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf`
Location: `Invoices/2024/Software/Adobe/`

Before: `IMG_2847.jpg`
After: `2024-02-10 Staples - Receipt - Office Supplies.jpg`
Location: `Invoices/2024/Office/Staples/`

Process [X] files? (yes/no)

After approval:

# Create folder structure
mkdir -p "Invoices/2024/Software/Adobe"

# Copy (don't move) to preserve originals
cp "original.pdf" "Invoices/2024/Software/Adobe/2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf"

# Or move if user prefers
mv "original.pdf" "new/path/standardized-name.pdf"

Generate Summary Report

Create a CSV file with all invoice details:

Date,Vendor,Invoice Number,Description,Amount,Category,File Path
2024-03-15,Adobe,INV-12345,Creative Cloud,52.99,Software,Invoices/2024/Software/Adobe/2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf
2024-03-10,Amazon,123-4567890-1234567,Office Supplies,127.45,Office,Invoices/2024/Office/Amazon/2024-03-10 Amazon - Receipt - Office Supplies.pdf
...

This CSV is useful for:

Importing into accounting software
Sharing with accountants
Expense tracking and reporting
Tax preparation

Provide Completion Summary

# Organization Complete! 📊

## Summary
- **Processed**: [X] invoices
- **Date range**: [earliest] to [latest]
- **Total amount**: $[sum] (if amounts extracted)
- **Vendors**: [Y] unique vendors

## New Structure

Invoices/ ├── 2024/ (45 files) │ ├── Software/ (23 files) │ ├── Services/ (12 files) │ └── Office/ (10 files) └── 2023/ (12 files)


## Files Created
- `/Invoices/` - Organized invoices
- `/Invoices/invoice-summary.csv` - Spreadsheet for accounting
- `/Invoices/originals/` - Original files (if copied)

## Files Needing Review
[List any files where information couldn't be extracted completely]

## Next Steps
1. Review the `invoice-summary.csv` file
2. Check files in "Needs Review" folder
3. Import CSV into your accounting software
4. Set up auto-organization for future invoices

Ready for tax season! 🎉

Examples

Example 1: Tax Preparation (From Martin Merschroth)

User: "I have a messy folder of invoices for taxes. Sort them and rename properly."

Process:

Scans folder: finds 147 PDFs and images
Reads each invoice to extract:
- Date
- Vendor name
- Invoice number
- Product/service description
Renames all files: YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - Product.pdf
Organizes into: 2024/Software/, 2024/Travel/, etc.
Creates invoice-summary.csv for accountant
Result: Tax-ready organized invoices in minutes

Example 2: Monthly Expense Reconciliation

User: "Organize my business receipts from last month by category."

Output:

# March 2024 Receipts Organized

## By Category
- Software & Tools: $847.32 (12 invoices)
- Office Supplies: $234.18 (8 receipts)
- Travel & Meals: $1,456.90 (15 receipts)
- Professional Services: $2,500.00 (3 invoices)

Total: $5,038.40

All receipts renamed and filed in:
`Business-Receipts/2024/03-March/[Category]/`

CSV export: `march-2024-expenses.csv`

Example 3: Multi-Year Archive

User: "I have 3 years of random invoices. Organize them by year, then by vendor."

Output: Creates structure:

Invoices/
├── 2022/
│   ├── Adobe/
│   ├── Amazon/
│   └── ...
├── 2023/
│   ├── Adobe/
│   ├── Amazon/
│   └── ...
└── 2024/
    ├── Adobe/
    ├── Amazon/
    └── ...

Each file properly renamed with date and description.

Example 4: Email Downloads Cleanup

User: "I download invoices from Gmail. They're all named 'invoice.pdf', 'invoice(1).pdf', etc. Fix this mess."

Output:

Found 89 files all named "invoice*.pdf"

Reading each file to extract real information...

Renamed examples:
- invoice.pdf → 2024-03-15 Shopify - Invoice - Monthly Subscription.pdf
- invoice(1).pdf → 2024-03-14 Google - Invoice - Workspace.pdf
- invoice(2).pdf → 2024-03-10 Netlify - Invoice - Pro Plan.pdf

All files renamed and organized by vendor.

Common Organization Patterns

By Vendor (Simple)

Invoices/
├── Adobe/
├── Amazon/
├── Google/
└── Microsoft/

By Year and Category (Tax-Friendly)

Invoices/
├── 2023/
│   ├── Software/
│   ├── Hardware/
│   ├── Services/
│   └── Travel/
└── 2024/
    └── ...

By Quarter (Detailed Tracking)

Invoices/
├── 2024/
│   ├── Q1/
│   │   ├── Software/
│   │   ├── Office/
│   │   └── Travel/
│   └── Q2/
│       └── ...

By Tax Category (Accountant-Ready)

Invoices/
├── Deductible/
│   ├── Software/
│   ├── Office/
│   └── Professional-Services/
├── Partially-Deductible/
│   └── Meals-Travel/
└── Personal/

Automation Setup

For ongoing organization:

Create a script that watches my ~/Downloads/invoices folder 
and auto-organizes any new invoice files using our standard 
naming and folder structure.

This creates a persistent solution that organizes invoices as they arrive.

Pro Tips

Scan emails to PDF: Use Preview or similar to save email invoices as PDFs first
Consistent downloads: Save all invoices to one folder for batch processing
Monthly routine: Organize invoices monthly, not annually
Backup originals: Keep original files before reorganizing
Include amounts in CSV: Useful for budget tracking
Tag by deductibility: Note which expenses are tax-deductible
Keep receipts 7 years: Standard audit period

Handling Special Cases

Missing Information

If date/vendor can't be extracted:

Flag file for manual review
Use file modification date as fallback
Create "Needs-Review/" folder

Duplicate Invoices

If same invoice appears multiple times:

Compare file hashes
Keep highest quality version
Note duplicates in summary

Multi-Page Invoices

For invoices split across files:

Merge PDFs if needed
Use consistent naming for parts
Note in CSV if invoice is split

Non-Standard Formats

For unusual receipt formats:

Extract what's possible
Standardize what you can
Flag for review if critical info missing

Related Use Cases

Creating expense reports for reimbursement
Organizing bank statements
Managing vendor contracts
Archiving old financial records
Preparing for audits
Tracking subscription costs over time