DIY Quickbooks with ChatGPT and Make

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Running a business can feel like juggling a million tasks with just 2 hands. 

One tool that I’ve found to be a lifesaver is the humble spreadsheet. It’s amazing how versatile and budget-friendly they are. 

Whether you’re keeping track of sales and inventory, managing HR, or doing financial reports, spreadsheets really do it all.

But as useful as spreadsheets are, they can sometimes be a headache with all the manual work and the potential for errors. 

Enter AI automation. 

For example, if you’re one of the 60% of business owners who use spreadsheets to do your bookkeeping, you can set up a simple AI automation to capture your receipts and invoices, extract and classify the financial data, and post it directly into Google Sheets or Excel. 

This simple automation would immediately cut down on accounting mistakes and save you hours of manual data entry every month.

1 Minute Bookkeeping

Anyone - yes, even you! - can create an automated bookkeeping system. 

The latest ChatGPT model, GPT-4o, makes it easy. 

It can analyze multiple formats, such as images and PDFs, and output structured information. 

That means it can read even your handwritten receipts, and spit out the correct accounting data.

You’ll have your own DIY Quickbooks in no time!

Try out a demo here. 

Here's how it works:

• Capture: Snap a photo of your receipt with your smartphone and upload the images to a designated folder in Google Drive.

• Analyze: ChatGPT analyzes the uploaded documents, extracting relevant data such as dates, amounts, items, and vendors.

• Classify: The extracted data is then classified into predefined expense categories, such as Travel, Utilities or Salaries.

• Integrate: The categorized data is automatically posted into your spreadsheet, updating your records in real-time.

• Notify (optional): You get an SMS notification to inform you that your receipt has been processed and recorded.

This AI automation is especially beneficial if you use the cash accounting system, meaning that you record your business transactions when money is received or paid. 

Around 61% of small businesses prefer cash accounting because it’s simple and it clearly reflects your cash flow. 

Add this AI automation to your cash accounting system, and you’ll always be sure that your financial records are accurate and up-to-date. 

Keeping your books won’t be a tedious task anymore. It truly becomes 1-minute bookkeeping!

Build Your Own Quickbooks

This section is a step-by-step guide on how to build this bookkeeping automation using Google Drive, Make, ChatGPT, and (optionally) Twilio.

Get this tutorial as a Google Doc

Make is a no-code automation platform that connects software together. It’s really easy to understand and use, even for a complete beginner. 

We’ll use it to connect our Google apps and ChatGPT so they work together like a charm. 

If you’re new to Make, sign up for a free account.

Then follow these steps:

1. Make a Copy of this bookkeeping Google Sheet template.

   

   Make a copy of the bookkeeping spreadsheet

2. Create a folder in your Google Drive where you’ll store your receipts. Change the folder Share settings to Anyone with the link can View. Add a picture of a receipt to the folder.

3. Get your OpenAI API key. 

4. Go to Make and Create a New Scenario.

5. Follow these steps:

   Add your Google Drive connection. Use a paid Google account preferably. If you’re using your personal Google account, you have to click the Advanced Settings and follow these steps to authorize the Make app. 

   Watch Files in a Folder: 

   1. Add a Google Drive module. Select ‘Watch files in a folder’ as the trigger. 

   2. Select the folder in Google Drive where you upload your receipts and click OK. 

   3. Click Run once to make sure it works correctly.

Analyze Image: 

1. Add an OpenAI module. Choose Analyze Image as the task.

2. Add your OpenAI connection (you’ll need to add your API key). 

3. For the prompt, copy what you see in the following picture.

4. For “How would you like to specify an image?”, choose “Image URL” then add the WebContentLink in the Image URL field. (Once you click in the input field, the data from the previous module will appear.)

5. Choose the GPT-4o model. Leave the Max Tokens as is. Click OK.

6. Click Run once to ensure everything works fine.

Transform Text to Structured Data: 

1. Add another OpenAI module. Choose ‘Transform Text to Structured Data’ as the task.

2. Choose GPT-4o as the Model. 

3. Add Result from the previous module as the Text to Parse. 

1. Copy the Prompt text from the image above. 

2. Now, you need to define the structured data you want the AI to extract. Here’s an example:

1. Add Data Definitions for Merchant, Description and Amount.

2. Click OK.

3. Run once to verify everything works.

Add a Row to Google Sheets: 

1. Add a Google Sheets module. Choose Add a Row as the task.

2. Select your Google Sheets bookkeeping spreadsheet in the Spreadsheet ID field. 

3. Select Journal as the Sheet Name. 

4. Select Yes for Table contains Headers.

Add the appropriate data from the previous module, as shown in the picture below:

Click OK and Run once to test that everything works.

Send SMS Notification via Twilio: This is an optional step, but I think it’s well worth it. 

1. Add your Twilio API key and secret to set up your connection.

2. Add your Twilio number in the Phone field.

3. Add your mobile phone number in the To field.

4. Choose Create a Body in the Message Body field.

5. Add the following text to the Body field: 

6. Click OK.

7. Run once.

Save the scenario and toggle it On.

Here’s what the entire scenario will look like at the end.

Congratulations! You just made your very own automated bookkeeping system. 

Now, whenever you get a receipt,  all you have to do is snap a picture of it and upload it to your designated Google Drive folder. Everything else is done for you.

A point to note:

ChatGPT hallucinates, which means that sometimes it returns responses that are incorrect. As such, always check the data that it adds to your spreadsheet to make sure. 

Of course, you can always correct any errors on your spreadsheet manually.

I prefer to build this system with code for this very reason. Using code, I can add checks and validations to guard against hallucination and errors. 

You also get to use advanced features and control exactly what you want in your system.

The demo I linked was built with Python code. 

(Let me know if you want me to write about building AI automations with code as well.)

Upgrading the System

This basic system can be improved in several ways. Some of the upgrades could include:

• Another module to add your sales data directly from Shopify or Stripe to the bookkeeping spreadsheet.

• A RAG system to verify the expense against your company’s compliance policies. 

• A manual approval system before data is added to the spreadsheet.

Want me to set up a custom version of this system for your business? Book a free discovery call with me.

Beyond Bookkeeping

Of course, you can automate many other business processes with AI, not just your bookkeeping. 

For instance, you can automate your inventory management, customer support, and project management. 

The possibilities are endless!

Furthermore, you can integrate AI automations into your existing workflows, so you don’t have to change what you’re already doing.

I hope by now you have a better idea of how AI can make your business more efficient and productive.

Next Week…

In next week’s newsletter, I’m going to lay out the simple AI system that I use to automate 90% of my social media content creation. You’ll learn how to find ideas and turn them into engaging content so you can post more regularly. This has really helped me become more consistent, and I know it can help you as well.

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Want to discuss how AI can help your business be more productive and profitable? Book a free discovery call with me. 

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P.S. What should I automate with AI next? Reply and tell me where AI automation makes the most sense for your business.

P.P.S. Let’s connect on LinkedIn