MONTHLY INVOICE CHECKING AND FILING
Schedule: 15th of every month at 9:00 am
YouTube setup: https://youtu.be/yHjdO03Iqyg

This is the MONTHLY version. Want it every week instead? Use the WEEKLY version. You only need one of them.

This workflow checks invoice files already on your computer, finds missing invoices in connected Gmail and downloads supported attachments into the correct local due-month folders. It organises the admin and summarises what is confirmed unpaid, overdue, due soon or still needs checking. You review and make the payments. It does not pay bills or create the cloud repair-history register.

Before you paste it:
1. Connect Gmail to ChatGPT.
2. Give ChatGPT Work/Codex or Claude work access to the folder containing your invoices.
3. Replace both folder placeholders in the prompt below with your real folder locations.
4. Paste the prompt into Scheduled > Work and set it to run on the 15th of every month at 9:00 am.
5. Enable email or push notifications and review the first run carefully.

Duplicate test: run it twice in a row. The second run should download nothing new and report everything as skipped as duplicate. If anything is saved twice, don't schedule it yet.

COPY-AND-PASTE PROMPT

On the 15th of each month, reconcile invoices for the most recently completed accounting period, where each accounting period runs from the 21st of one month through the 20th of the next month.

First, scan all invoice files already present under <YOUR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE FOLDER>, including overdue, due-month, and paid-archive folders. Extract the vendor, invoice number, invoice date, due date and amount. Record payment status as paid, unpaid or unknown only as supported by evidence; never infer that an invoice is unpaid merely because it is in a folder. Do not pay invoices, approve payments, delete files, or take any other financial action.

Then search my connected Gmail account for genuine invoice or bill emails that may belong to that accounting period. Search with a reasonable date buffer around the period because an invoice may be emailed after its invoice date. Inspect the email and attachment rather than relying only on the subject. Exclude statements, quotes, purchase orders, promotions, unrelated attachments, and receipts that are clearly already paid unless they are needed to identify a missing invoice.

Compare the Gmail candidates with the files already in <YOUR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE FOLDER> using the vendor, invoice number, amount, and invoice date. Download only missing invoice attachments. Save each missing unpaid invoice into the appropriate existing due-month folder, creating a <YYYY-MM>_Due folder only if needed. Use the filename format "Invoice - YYYY-MM-DD - Vendor - Invoice Number - UNPAID.ext" and never overwrite an existing file.

NO DOUBLE-LOGGING. Follow these rules before saving anything: An invoice is identified by vendor + invoice number (if there's no number, use vendor + invoice date + total amount and send it to review). Check that identity against every file already in the folders, including Needs Review, and match on what's inside the invoice, not the filename. The same invoice arriving more than once (a reminder, a resend, a forwarded copy, or a copy in two inboxes) is ONE invoice, so save it once. Statements, payment reminders and overdue notices are not new invoices. A credit note is its own document; link it to the original and don't change the original. If an invoice is already in Needs Review, don't add it again. If the same vendor and invoice number turns up with a different amount, don't save it; flag it as a conflict in Needs Review. Anything skipped because it's already saved counts as "skipped as duplicate".

Put anything uncertain in <YOUR NEEDS REVIEW FOLDER> and clearly flag it. Do not reply to senders, archive messages, alter mailbox labels, or pay anything.

At the end, email me with the subject "Monthly invoice reconciliation complete — <period start> to <period end>". Include the number already found locally, downloaded from Gmail, skipped as duplicates, and sent for review. List the vendors, invoice numbers, due dates, and amounts, and highlight anything overdue or due within 14 days. Also post the same concise summary back to this task.

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE

AI can misread invoices or payment status. Review the summary against your accounting system and bank records before paying anything. Depending on your permissions, ChatGPT may ask you to approve downloading attachments or sending the summary email.

This example requires a task with permission to read and write the named folders on your computer, plus access to Gmail attachments. Keep the required computer and app available for local scheduled runs. Test the exact setup manually first. The separate cloud invoice and repair tracker uses a persistent register in Drive; this filing prompt does not automatically create or update that register.