OCR receipts from Google Drive

For Google Drive, this workflow automates the recognition of receipts and invoices, converting them into structured data for easy tracking and management. It monitors a designated folder for new files, processes them through OCR technology, and saves the results directly into Google Sheets, streamlining expense tracking and reducing manual data entry.

7/8/2025
10 nodes
Complex
manualcomplexsticky notegoogledrivetriggergoogle drivegooglesheetsapiintegration
Categories:
Complex WorkflowManual TriggeredData Processing & AnalysisCloud Storage & File Management
Integrations:
Sticky NoteGoogleDriveTriggerGoogle DriveGoogleSheets

Target Audience

This workflow is ideal for:
- Small Business Owners: Who need to manage receipts and invoices efficiently.
- Accountants: Looking for a way to streamline data entry from documents.
- Freelancers: Who want to automate their expense tracking and invoice processing.
- Developers: Interested in integrating OCR capabilities into their applications or services.

Problem Solved

This workflow addresses the challenge of manually processing receipts and invoices. By automating the extraction of data from documents stored in Google Drive, it saves time and reduces the risk of human error. Users can quickly convert various document formats into structured JSON data, making it easier to manage financial records.

Workflow Steps

  • Manual Trigger: The workflow begins when the user clicks the ‘Test workflow’ button or when a new file is added to a specific Google Drive folder.
    2. Load Files: It retrieves files from the designated Google Drive folder.
    3. Check Processed Files: The workflow checks which files have already been processed to avoid duplicates.
    4. Download for OCR: It downloads the new files that have not been processed yet.
    5. OCR Recognition: The downloaded files are sent to the OCR API to extract data.
    6. Unserialize Response: The JSON response from the OCR API is parsed to make the data usable.
    7. Save Results: Finally, the extracted data is saved into a Google Sheets document for easy access and further analysis.

    • Customization Guide

    Users can customize this workflow by:
    - Changing the Google Drive Folder: Update the folder ID in the settings to monitor a different folder.
    - Modifying OCR Settings: Customize the OCR API settings in the OCR recognize node to adjust for different document types or languages.
    - Updating Google Sheets Mapping: Adjust the columns in the Save OCR result into Sheets node to fit specific data requirements or to add additional fields.
    - Adding More Triggers: Users can add more triggers based on different events in Google Drive or other integrated services.