AI-Powered Invoice Processing: PDFelement to QuickBooks Online (n8n)

1. **Setup Cloud Trigger**: Since PDFelement syncs to cloud storage, add a 'Google Drive' or 'Dropbox' Node in n8n. Set the trigger to 'On File Added' in your specified 'Invoices' folder. 2. **Fetch Binary Data**: Ensure the trigger outputs the file content. Use the 'Download File' action if using a cloud storage node to pull the binary data into the n8n buffer. 3. **Extract Data**: Add a 'PDF' node to extract text, or for better results, use the 'n8n AI' suite with an 'OpenAI' or 'Anthropic' chain. Send the PDF text/image to the AI to return a JSON object containing `VendorName`, `TotalAmount`, `InvoiceDate`, and `Tax`. 4. **Credential Setup**: Open the QuickBooks Node and create new credentials. You will need your Client ID and Secret from the Intuit Developer Portal. Ensure the 'Accountant' or 'Company Admin' scope is selected. 5. **Vendor Lookup**: Add a QuickBooks Node with the resource 'Vendor' and action 'Get All'. Use an n8n Expression to filter by Name: `{{ $json.VendorName }}`. 6. **Conditional Logic (If Node)**: Use an 'If' node to check if the Vendor search returned a result. If empty, route to a QuickBooks 'Create Vendor' node first. 7. **Format Date/Currency**: Use the 'Edit Image' or 'Code' node to ensure the date is in `YYYY-MM-DD` format and the amount is a float (QuickBooks will reject strings like '$100.00'). 8. **Create Bill**: Add the QuickBooks Node with Action 'Create Bill'. Map your extracted AI fields to the 'Total Amount', 'Vendor Ref', and 'Line Items' fields. 9. **Attach PDF**: Add a final QuickBooks Node with Resource 'Attachable' and Action 'Create'. Use the binary data from Step 2 and link it to the 'Bill' ID generated in Step 8. 10. **Error Handler**: Create a separate workflow with an 'Error Trigger' node. Connect it to a Slack or Email node to notify you if an invoice fail to process (e.g., due to low-quality OCR).

| Source Field (PDFelement/AI) | Transformation (n8n Expression) | QuickBooks Destination Field | Required | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | `VendorName` | `{{ $json.vendor.trim() }}` | `VendorRef` (ID lookup) | Yes | | `TotalAmount` | `{{ parseFloat($json.total) }}` | `TotalAmt` | Yes | | `InvoiceDate` | `{{ $now.toISODate() }}` | `TxnDate` | Yes | | `InvoiceNumber` | `{{ $json.inv_no || 'N/A' }}` | `DocNumber` | No | | `Binary Image` | `{{ $binary.data }}` | `Attachable` | No |

* **Rate Limiting**: QuickBooks Online API has a limit of 500 requests per minute. If batch-uploading old PDFs from PDFelement, use the n8n 'Split In Batches' node (set to 50) with a 'Wait' node (2 seconds) to avoid 429 errors. * **Binary Memory**: n8n stores binary data in memory by default. If processing very high-resolution PDFs, ensure your n8n instance has sufficient RAM or configure it to save binary data to disk. * **Vendor Matching**: QuickBooks is case-sensitive. Always use `.toLowerCase().trim()` in your n8n expressions when comparing PDF text to QuickBooks records to prevent duplicate vendor creation. * **Tax Codes**: QuickBooks requires specific `TaxCodeRef` IDs rather than text strings like '7%'. Use a 'Merge' node to map text strings into your specific QuickBooks Tax IDs.

- [ ] **Execution Profile**: Run the workflow manually once with a sample PDF from PDFelement. - [ ] **Binary Inspection**: Verify in the n8n 'Binary' tab that the PDF is being read correctly before the AI/OCR step. - [ ] **Sandbox Test**: Ensure you are using a QuickBooks Sandbox environment before moving to Production. - [ ] **Attachment Check**: Open QuickBooks and verify that the 'Attachable' appears in the side drawer of the created Bill. - [ ] **Error Trigger**: Intentionally upload a non-PDF file to ensure your Error Workflow triggers a notification.