Today's AI Tip
Turn a shoebox of receipts into a spreadsheet with a few chat messages
Why this takes so long
Typing receipt totals into a spreadsheet one at a time is slow, easy to mis-key, and the first task freelancers put off until tax season. A phone camera and a few chat messages replace almost all of it.
Step one: just take photos
Lay the receipts flat and snap one photo per receipt in decent light — don't bother sorting them first. Upload them to ChatGPT or Claude in batches of about 10 (free tiers work but limit uploads per day); it reads every photo in a message together.
Step two: name your columns
Vague requests get vague tables. Ask: "Read these receipts and give me a table with the columns Date, Vendor, and Amount." Naming the columns yourself keeps the output consistent across every batch.
Step three: ask for CSV
Once the table looks right, add: "Now format that as CSV" (a plain text list separated by commas). Paste the reply into Google Sheets, then choose Data → Split text to columns (Excel: Data → Text to Columns), or ask for a downloadable .csv file instead.
What still needs a check
Faded thermal paper, handwriting, and blurry photos cause misreads, including on the total. Check every amount against what you expect before you file the sheet — treat the first pass as a rough draft, not final numbers.
One test before your first batch
Do this before you run a real batch for the first time: test the workflow on five receipts you already have. Confirm the columns come out right and the totals match, then use it on every future batch.
