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Import your expenses from Google Drive

Have the AI analyse a whole Drive folder, then review and accept each document before it enters your expenses.

Accounting6 min read
Table of contents+

The Drive import tab analyses the PDFs and images of a Google Drive folder in one go. Each document becomes a draft to review: nothing enters your expenses without your approval. Google Drive is the only possible source and there is no bulk file upload. The import is one-off: Bill Alps does not watch the folder. For a single document, add the expense directly.

1. Connect Google Drive

  1. Open AccountingExpenses, then the Drive import tab.
  2. Click Connect Google Drive. If the page shows Documents to review, drafts are already waiting for you: first click Import more documents.
  3. In the Google window, allow read-only access.

Bill Alps can neither modify nor delete your Drive files. The access you grant is kept in your browser's memory: after you reload the page, you will need to reconnect.

2. Choose the documents

  1. Start from My Drive and click the folders to move down the folder tree.
  2. Once you are in the right folder, click Import from “folder name”. Bill Alps looks there for PDFs and PNG, JPEG and WebP images, subfolders included.
  3. All the files found are ticked: untick the ones to leave out.
  4. Click Import N document(s).

The search stops at 500 files or 10 levels of subfolders. A message warns you if the list was limited.

3. Follow the analysis

A counter shows the number of documents processed. Keep the tab open: the analysis runs in your browser. If the page closes, the drafts already created are kept. The Stop button lets the documents in progress finish, and the others move to Skipped.

A tick mark indicates a draft that was created. The other statuses indicate a document that did not go through:

  • Unreadable: the quality is too low. Take a sharper scan. The analysis is not counted.
  • Too large: the file exceeds 10 MB.
  • Unsupported format: the file is neither a PDF nor a PNG, JPEG or WebP image.
  • Download failed: the file could not be retrieved from Drive, for example if you closed the Google reconnection window.
  • Service busy: the analysis service is still overloaded after an automatic retry. Try again later.
  • Quota reached: the analyses for the month have run out. The remaining documents move to Skipped.
  • Error: processing failed.

To process these files again, run a new import on the same folder and tick only those files.

4. Review and accept the documents

The Documents to review list stays available until everything has been processed: come back to it through the Drive import tab or through the banner shown at the top of the Expenses page. Supplier invoices are grouped separately, while the other document types come first under To classify.

  1. Click a row to open Review document. The Open document link shows the original file.
  2. Correct the data. The form is the same as for an expense entered by hand.
  3. For a supplier invoice or an expense report, choose an Account. If the AI suggests one, it appears after the Classification to review note and moves to the top of the list.
  4. Click Accept to create the expense, Save to keep your corrections and decide later, or Reject to delete the draft immediately, with no confirmation.

To process several rows at once, tick them, then click Accept (N) or Reject (N). A rejection permanently deletes the draft and its copy in Bill Alps, but does not touch the file in Drive.

Points to check

  • Account: if a supplier invoice or an expense report in your selection has no account (Account column under To classify), accepting the whole selection is refused, with the message: Choose an account for each line and for shipping costs. If the list of accounts is empty, fill in the legal form.
  • Missing data: with no readable vendor, Bill Alps uses the file name; with no date, it uses the modification date of the file. An amount that is not detected stays at 0, with a warning icon on the row. Open the document to complete it: accepting several documents at once does not check it.
  • Skipped documents: the message announces documents skipped because of the monthly limit, but it also appears when a Tax assessment or a Social insurance statement lacks its required reference. These documents stay in the list.
  • Currency on Starter: the currency is forced to CHF and the amount stays as it is on the document, with no conversion. Correct the amount of an invoice in a foreign currency.
  • Status and notes: all drafts arrive as To pay, and the Notes field shows the path of the file in Drive.

5. Avoid duplicates

Bill Alps does not detect files that have already been imported. Running another import on the same folder analyses every ticked file again, uses one analysis per file and creates a new draft. So untick what has already been processed, or sort your invoices into one folder per period. If a duplicate reaches the list, reject it.

6. Disconnect Google Drive

As long as you are connected, the Disconnect Google Drive button stays at the top of the page. After you confirm, Bill Alps no longer has access to your Drive. Documents already imported and pending drafts are kept.

Once your expenses are accepted, import your bank statements to reconcile them with your payments.