---
name: invoice-organizer
description: Automatically organizes invoices and receipts for tax preparation by reading messy files, extracting key information, renaming them consistently, and sorting them into logical folders.
---

# 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

1. **Reads Invoice Content**: Extracts information from PDFs, images, and documents:
   - Vendor/company name
   - Invoice number
   - Date
   - Amount
   - Product or service description
   - Payment method

2. **Renames Files Consistently**: Creates standardized filenames:
   - Format: `YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - ProductOrService.pdf`
   - Examples: `2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf`

3. **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.)

4. **Handles Multiple Formats**: Works with:
   - PDF invoices
   - Scanned receipts (JPG, PNG)
   - Email attachments
   - Screenshots
   - Bank statements

5. **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:

1. **Scan the Folder**
   
   Identify all invoice files:
   ```bash
   # 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)

2. **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

3. **Determine Organization Strategy**
   
   Ask user preference if not specified:
   
   ```markdown
   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
   ```

4. **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

5. **Execute Organization**
   
   Before moving files, show the plan:
   
   ```markdown
   # 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:
   ```bash
   # 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"
   ```

6. **Generate Summary Report**
   
   Create a CSV file with all invoice details:
   
   ```csv
   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

7. **Provide Completion Summary**
   
   ```markdown
   # 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**:
1. Scans folder: finds 147 PDFs and images
2. Reads each invoice to extract:
   - Date
   - Vendor name
   - Invoice number
   - Product/service description
3. Renames all files: `YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - Product.pdf`
4. Organizes into: `2024/Software/`, `2024/Travel/`, etc.
5. Creates `invoice-summary.csv` for accountant
6. Result: Tax-ready organized invoices in minutes

### Example 2: Monthly Expense Reconciliation

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

**Output**:
```markdown
# 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**:
```markdown
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

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