Turn a box of 63 crumpled receipts into a QuickBooks batch-upload sheet with Claude Cowork
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- by John Fong (LinkedIn)
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Beginner-friendlyNo logins, payments or coding needed. Low risk: paste the prompt and you should get something useful.
Outcome
John Fong had a box of receipts that had sat on their desk for 1.5 years, some crumpled, some with faded ink, and some restaurant meals split across two receipts with the tip on its own. They started a Claude Cowork project called AP Agent, photographed 63 receipts into a folder and asked for an Excel sheet they could batch upload to QuickBooks. They took a shower and 8 minutes later came back to a completed file with every receipt allocated to an account and amount. It flagged 3 receipts it had only partly read, asking them to check those, and 3 that weren't valid expenses under CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) rules.
Agent
Prompt Original prompt
Exact prompt as published in the source.
I want you to create an Excel sheet that I can use to populate information from my expense receipts. This sheet will be used to upload to Quickbooks. The purpose is that I want to batch upload receipt information instead of entering each receipt individually and manually into Quickbooks.
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Optional stronger version
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Turn a folder of receipt photos into a spreadsheet I can batch upload to my accounting software. Fill in before running: - The folder of receipt photos: [FOLDER] - My accounting software and its import format, if I know it: [SOFTWARE] - My country or tax rules for what counts as a business expense: [COUNTRY] You're not my accountant or financial adviser. Show your working, label estimates as estimates, and tell me which points a professional or the official source should confirm. Rules: - Make one row per expense, with date, vendor, amount, tax, payment method and suggested account. - Combine receipts that belong to the same expense, such as a bill and a separate tip slip. - List every receipt you couldn't read fully, with what you guessed, so I can check it. - Flag anything that may not be a valid business expense, and say which rule you mean. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Check the totals against my card statement if I give you one, and list any receipts that are missing. Output: An import-ready spreadsheet plus a short list of receipts to check and possible non-deductible items. You'll know it worked when: I can import the file without retyping a single receipt. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
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Your prompt
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Turn a folder of receipt photos into a spreadsheet I can batch upload to my accounting software. Fill in before running: - The folder of receipt photos: [FOLDER] - My accounting software and its import format, if I know it: [SOFTWARE] - My country or tax rules for what counts as a business expense: [COUNTRY] You're not my accountant or financial adviser. Show your working, label estimates as estimates, and tell me which points a professional or the official source should confirm. Rules: - Make one row per expense, with date, vendor, amount, tax, payment method and suggested account. - Combine receipts that belong to the same expense, such as a bill and a separate tip slip. - List every receipt you couldn't read fully, with what you guessed, so I can check it. - Flag anything that may not be a valid business expense, and say which rule you mean. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Check the totals against my card statement if I give you one, and list any receipts that are missing. Output: An import-ready spreadsheet plus a short list of receipts to check and possible non-deductible items. You'll know it worked when: I can import the file without retyping a single receipt. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
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Source
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