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  • Google SheetsSeptember 2026Dry run example

    September 2026

    55

    Total #

    #DateSupplierWhat it was forAmountCurrencyTax shownCategoryEmail subjectReceipt is
    12 SepDesign software companyPro plan, monthly24.00USD0.00Software and subscriptionsYour receipt for SeptemberIn the email
    25 SepRail companyReturn ticket, city centre46.50USDIncluded, amount not shownTravelYour e-ticket and receiptIn the email (e-ticket.pdf attached)
    39 SepCloud storage company2 TB plan, annual renewal99.99USD8.25Software and subscriptionsPayment receivedBoth: in the email, plus invoice-0923.pdf
    412 SepRestaurant booking site (harbour bistro)Lunch for 2, tip included68.40USDNot shownMeals with clientsYour receipt from the harbour bistroIn the email
    512 SepRestaurant booking site (harbour bistro)Lunch for 2, tip included68.40USDNot shownMeals with clientsYour receipt from the harbour bistroIn the email
    618 SepOffice supplies shopPrinter paper (5 reams), ink cartridges58.20USD4.35Office and suppliesOrder confirmationIn the email
    720 SepStock photo siteImage pack, 10 downloads29.00EURNot shownAdvertisingYour invoiceBoth: in the email, plus invoice-SP-7781.pdf
    824 SepOffice supplies shopRefund: ink cartridges, wrong model-21.60USDNot shownOffice and suppliesRefund issuedIn the email
    927 SepStreaming serviceFamily plan, monthly22.99USDNot shownOtherYour monthly billIn the email
    1030 SepWeb hosting companyBusiness hosting, monthlyunclearunclearunclearSoftware and subscriptionsInvoice for your hosting planAttachment only (hosting-invoice-sep.pdf)
    Made with Claude Code · Playbook

    Google Sheets · Spreadsheet

    Step 2: the receipt table, a dry run. A dry run on ten pasted made-up receipt emails, with connectors off. Nothing was logged. The flagged duplicate and the unclear amount are highlighted.

  • MarkdownSeptember 2026 receipts (dry run)Dry run example

    September 2026 receipts (dry run)


    Here are your September 2026 receipts, built from the 10 emails you pasted. I worked from the email text only, so anything that appears only in an attachment is marked "unclear". Gmail isn't connected, so nothing in your inbox was touched.

    #DateSupplierWhat it was forAmountCurrencyTax shownCategoryEmail subjectReceipt is
    12 SepDesign software companyPro plan, monthly24.00USD0.00Software and subscriptionsYour receipt for SeptemberIn the email
    25 SepRail companyReturn ticket, city centre46.50USDIncluded, amount not shownTravelYour e-ticket and receiptIn the email (e-ticket.pdf attached)
    39 SepCloud storage company2 TB plan, annual renewal99.99USD8.25Software and subscriptionsPayment receivedBoth: in the email, plus invoice-0923.pdf
    412 SepRestaurant booking site (harbour bistro)Lunch for 2, tip included68.40USDNot shownMeals with clientsYour receipt from the harbour bistroIn the email
    512 SepRestaurant booking site (harbour bistro)Lunch for 2, tip included68.40USDNot shownMeals with clientsYour receipt from the harbour bistroIn the email
    618 SepOffice supplies shopPrinter paper (5 reams), ink cartridges58.20USD4.35Office and suppliesOrder confirmationIn the email
    720 SepStock photo siteImage pack, 10 downloads29.00EURNot shownAdvertisingYour invoiceBoth: in the email, plus invoice-SP-7781.pdf
    824 SepOffice supplies shopRefund: ink cartridges, wrong model-21.60USDNot shownOffice and suppliesRefund issuedIn the email
    927 SepStreaming serviceFamily plan, monthly22.99USDNot shownOtherYour monthly billIn the email
    1030 SepWeb hosting companyBusiness hosting, monthlyunclearunclearunclearSoftware and subscriptionsInvoice for your hosting planAttachment only (hosting-invoice-sep.pdf)

    Flags

    Possible duplicates

    • #4 and #5: same sender, date, subject and amount ($68.40). This is most likely one lunch with the receipt sent twice. Count it once unless your card statement shows two charges.

    Refunds and credits

    • #8: a refund of -$21.60 from the office supplies shop for ink cartridges (wrong model), which goes against the 18 Sep order (#6, $58.20). That leaves $36.60 net for the order. The refund email doesn't say how much of the $21.60 is tax.

    Amounts I could not read

    • #10, web hosting: the email says "see attached invoice", and I didn't open attachments, so amount, currency and tax are all unclear. The figures are in hosting-invoice-sep.pdf.
    • #3, cloud storage: the amounts are readable, but the email doesn't say whether the $8.25 tax is included in the $99.99 or added on top. The total charged was either $99.99 or $108.24. The attached invoice-0923.pdf should say which.

    Not in USD

    • #7, stock photo site: €29.00. I haven't converted it. The USD figure is whatever your card was charged, plus any foreign transaction fee, so take it from your statement. I filed it under Advertising. Change it to Other if the images weren't for marketing.

    May be personal rather than business

    • #9, streaming service: a family plan is usually personal. I filed it under Other.
    • #4/#5, harbour bistro lunch for 2: filed under Meals with clients, but nothing in the email says who it was with. Keep it there only if it was a client lunch, and note the attendee and business purpose for your records.
    • #2, rail ticket: a return ticket to the city centre counts as Travel if the trip was for work. Regular commuting usually isn't a business expense.

    This was a dry run, so I've stopped at the table and flags.

    Made with Claude Code · Playbook

    Markdown · Document

    Step 2: the whole reply and its flags, a dry run. The dry run reply as it came: the table, then duplicates, a refund, unclear amounts, a euro receipt and three that may be personal.

Works with

  • Claude
  • Claude Code
  • ChatGPT
  • +24 more

Not affiliated with or endorsed by the companies shown.

Admin and financePlaybookMembers

File emailed receipts for your accountant

Once a month, find every emailed receipt, log it in a sheet with totals and draft a note to your accountant.

Version 1.1Updated 12 Oct 2026

Needs access to
Gmail, Google Sheets
Permissions
Reads your email, drafts email for you to review, reads files you give it and writes files in a folder
Time to result (our estimate)
12 minutes to set up, 30 minutes a run
Reads
Gmail, Google Sheets
Sends
Drafts only, never sends
Money and deletion
Cannot move money. Can change files in Google Sheets
Disconnect
Gmail: Remove the Google connector (for example Gmail) in your AI tool's settings, or revoke access at myaccount.google.com/permissions.Google Sheets: Remove the Google connector (for example Google Drive) in your AI tool's settings, or revoke access at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

Example

Example session

  1. Step 2: Find this month's receipts
  2. You

    Pasted the step 2 prompt for September 2026, with "Dry run" and the month's ten receipt emails, because the Gmail connector was not on.

  3. Your AI

    Here are your September 2026 receipts, built from the 10 emails you pasted. I worked from the email text only, so anything that appears only in an attachment is marked "unclear".

  4. Your AI

    This was a dry run, so I've stopped at the table and flags.

What comes out
Google SheetsSeptember 2026Dry run example

September 2026

55

Total #

#DateSupplierWhat it was forAmountCurrencyTax shownCategoryEmail subjectReceipt is
12 SepDesign software companyPro plan, monthly24.00USD0.00Software and subscriptionsYour receipt for SeptemberIn the email
25 SepRail companyReturn ticket, city centre46.50USDIncluded, amount not shownTravelYour e-ticket and receiptIn the email (e-ticket.pdf attached)
39 SepCloud storage company2 TB plan, annual renewal99.99USD8.25Software and subscriptionsPayment receivedBoth: in the email, plus invoice-0923.pdf
412 SepRestaurant booking site (harbour bistro)Lunch for 2, tip included68.40USDNot shownMeals with clientsYour receipt from the harbour bistroIn the email
512 SepRestaurant booking site (harbour bistro)Lunch for 2, tip included68.40USDNot shownMeals with clientsYour receipt from the harbour bistroIn the email
618 SepOffice supplies shopPrinter paper (5 reams), ink cartridges58.20USD4.35Office and suppliesOrder confirmationIn the email
720 SepStock photo siteImage pack, 10 downloads29.00EURNot shownAdvertisingYour invoiceBoth: in the email, plus invoice-SP-7781.pdf
824 SepOffice supplies shopRefund: ink cartridges, wrong model-21.60USDNot shownOffice and suppliesRefund issuedIn the email
927 SepStreaming serviceFamily plan, monthly22.99USDNot shownOtherYour monthly billIn the email
1030 SepWeb hosting companyBusiness hosting, monthlyunclearunclearunclearSoftware and subscriptionsInvoice for your hosting planAttachment only (hosting-invoice-sep.pdf)
Made with Claude Code · Playbook

Fit

About this item

Month end can mean an hour of searching your inbox for receipts. This playbook does the search for you: Claude finds every receipt, invoice and order confirmation for the month, shows you a table to check, logs the ones you approve in a Google Sheet with totals by category (or gives you the rows to paste), and drafts a short note to your accountant.

Nothing is deleted, moved or sent. The first run is a dry run that changes nothing at all.

The example is a dry run of the find step on made-up receipt emails pasted into the chat, with the connectors off. A run with Gmail and Sheets connected is still to come.

What you get

  • A checked table of the month's receipts, with duplicates, refunds and unclear amounts flagged
  • New rows for your Receipts sheet, added for you or ready to paste, with totals by category
  • A list of attachments to save to the month's Drive folder
  • A note to your accountant, saved as a Gmail draft when you say yes if your connector can

Good fit

  • Freelancers and small businesses whose receipts arrive by email
  • Anyone who dreads the month-end shoebox

Not for

  • Businesses already using bookkeeping software that imports receipts
  • Anyone who needs tax advice

Who it is for

How to use

The steps

  1. Step 1: Dry run

    Searches the month's email and shows the receipt table without logging or drafting anything, so you can check it.

    Runs in Claude

  2. Step 2: Find this month's receipts

    Finds every receipt, invoice and order confirmation in Gmail for the month and flags duplicates, refunds and unclear amounts.

    Runs in Claude

  3. Step 3: Log them

    Adds the approved rows to your Receipts sheet, or gives you them to paste, with the month's totals by category.

    Runs in Claude

  4. Step 4: Save the receipt files

    You save each listed attachment to the month's Drive folder with Gmail's own save to Drive button.

    Runs in Claude

  5. Step 5: Note to your accountant

    Drafts a short email with the month's totals and anything unclear, saved as a Gmail draft when you say yes if your connector can.

    Runs in Claude

How to use it

Download the playbook and open README.md. Each step says which tool it runs in.

Trust

What's inside

  • 02-find-receipts.md1.1 KB
  • 03-log-receipts.md760 B
  • 05-accountant-note.md584 B
  • categories.md326 B
  • README.md3.4 KB
  • receipts.csv115 B

File names and sizes only. The files come with membership.

Needs access to

  • GmailReads and writes

    Reads this month's receipt emails, and saves the accountant note as a draft when you say yes, if it can

  • Google SheetsReads and writes

    Adds approved receipts as new rows, only with Claude's Sheets connector on a computer. Never edits or deletes rows

Permissions required

  • Reads your email

    ThroughGmail

  • Drafts email for you to review

    ThroughGmail

  • Reads files you give it

    ThroughGoogle Sheets

  • Writes files in a folder

    ThroughGoogle Sheets

Requirements

You bring

  • Claude with the Gmail connector on
  • Optional: Claude's Google Sheets connector (beta), which adds the rows for you on a computer
  • About 12 minutes once, on a computer, to set up the sheet, the folders and the connectors
  • Your categories, or your accountant's

Tested on

VerifiedTested in the last 90 days
  • Claude Code · Claude Opus 5.512 Oct 2026 · Dry run of step 2 on pasted made-up receipt emails only. The connector run is still to do.

Known limitations

  • Claude's Gmail connector reads email text and attachment names, not the files. You save attachments to Drive yourself, from a list it gives you.
  • It organises your records. It is not tax or accounting advice.
  • It only finds receipts that came by email. Paper receipts need adding by hand.

More

Questions

How do I set it up?
Once, on a computer, about 12 minutes. Import receipts.csv into Google Sheets and make a Receipts 2026 folder in Google Drive. In Claude on the web or desktop, open Customize, then Connectors, and connect Gmail. Claude's Google Sheets connector (beta) edits a sheet in Claude on the web in Chrome, or Claude Desktop with its built-in browser on, so connect it too if it is in your Connectors list; anywhere else, step 3 gives you rows to paste. Then steps 1, 2 and 5 run in the Claude app on your phone, and step 4 is yours, in Gmail. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an owner turns connectors on first.
Can I use it in ChatGPT?
Partly, and we have not tested it there. Connect Gmail at Settings, then Plugins in ChatGPT (OpenAI lists it for Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise), then paste each step file into a chat. It can search and read your email. Expect step 3 to give you rows to paste. If ChatGPT offers to send the accountant note, don't; copy it and send it yourself.
Does it send, move or delete anything?
No. It reads your email, adds new rows only after you approve them, and saves the accountant note as a draft only when you say yes and the connector can. It never deletes, archives, moves or sends anything. It never asks to send. If Claude ever asks you to approve sending an email, say no.
Why do I save the attachments myself?
Claude's Gmail connector can see that an email has an attachment, but cannot open or move the file. The table lists every one, so saving them takes a few taps each in Gmail.
How do I stop it?
Remove Gmail, and Google Sheets if you added it, where you connected them in Claude, or revoke Claude's access in your Google account. Your sheet and folders stay as they are.