invoice-organizer（发票组织者）

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

1. Renames Files Consistently: Creates standardized filenames:

- Format: YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - ProductOrService.pdf - Examples: 2024-03-15 Adobe - Invoice - Creative Cloud.pdf

1. 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.)

1. Handles Multiple Formats: Works with:

- PDF invoices - Scanned receipts (JPG, PNG) - Email attachments - Screenshots - Bank statements

1. 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: # 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)

1. Extract Information from Each File For each invoice, extract: From PDF invoices: From image receipts: Fallback for unclear files:

- 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:" - Read visible text from images - Identify vendor name (often at top) - Look for date (common formats) - Find total amount - Use filename clues - Check file creation/modification date - Flag for manual review if critical info missing

1. 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
2. Create Standardized Filename For each invoice, create a filename following this pattern: YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - Description.ext Examples: Filename Best Practices:

- 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 - 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

1. 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"`
2. 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

1. 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:

1. Scans folder: finds 147 PDFs and images
2. Reads each invoice to extract:

- Date - Vendor name - Invoice number - Product/service description

1. Renames all files: YYYY-MM-DD Vendor - Invoice - Product.pdf
2. Organizes into: 2024/Software/, 2024/Travel/, etc.
3. Creates invoice-summary.csv for accountant
4. 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

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