With Automatic Expense Import, Allfred helps you save time and reduce manual data entry. Simply forward your invoices to a dedicated collection email, and Allfred will automatically extract key information using OCR and AI.
When an email with an invoice is received:
Allfred reads the attachment using OCR,
Extracts key details (contractor, date, amount, variable symbol, etc.),
Automatically creates a new expense,
Links the invoice to a contractor (either a new one or matches an existing one),
Puts the expense into a separate “Imported” category.
🔒 Note: This feature is part of our most advanced plan. If you don’t see it in your workspace, reach out to us — we’ll help you explore the upgrade options.
Access to Imported expenses is limited to Admins and CFOs only.
How to Activate the Integration
Only Admins can activate this functionality.
Step-by-step:
Contact the Allfred team with the email address you want to use for forwarding invoices.
Once confirmed, go to Allfred and navigate to:
Profile icon → Settings → Expense Inbox Integration
Click Enable and proceed through the steps (Continue → Continue → Confirm).
You’ll be asked to grant permissions via Google – if a warning appears that the app is not verified, it is due to the ongoing approval process on Google's side. You can safely proceed with the connection—Allfred's integration is secure and fully functional.
🛠️ Integration is built for email accounts using Google as the email service provider (Gmail or Google Workspace). If you don’t have such an account, we recommend creating one or setting up forwarding from your current inbox to a Google-hosted address.
To deactivate the integration use the Disable Google Integration button.
Working with Imported Expenses
Once processed, all imported expenses appear in:
🔹 Finance → Expenses → Imported
🔐 Access is restricted to Admin and CFO roles.
Click on the Expense ID to open the detail view. Here’s what you’ll find:
Extracted data (date, amount, contractor, etc.),
Show Email button – lets you view the original email and sender details.
If the invoice has several invoice items, Allfred will break it down into individual Expense Items and use the invoice text as descriptions that can be used in accounting system.
You can:
Keep the split structure, or
Simplify it to a single item by merging the amounts and editing manually.
How to Approve an Imported Expense
Once you're in the detail view of the imported expense, there are two main ways to proceed:
Option 1: Approve directly as Admin or CFO
Review all extracted data (contractor, amount, date, etc.).
Assign the expense to a project.
If everything is correct, toggle the Approved switch.
Save the expense as Approved
Option 2: Send for review by another team member
In the Responsible Person field, assign the person who should review expense and assign it to project
Make sure the Approved toggle is off.
Click For Items Approval – the selected person will be notified (if notifications are enabled).
They can assign it to a project, review the data, toggle Approved, and forward it for Financial Approval.
What about Duplicates?
If an expense is:
Automatically imported via email and
Also entered manually into Allfred,
Allfred will detect the duplication based on Amount and Variable Symbol.
A Duplicate Warning will appear in the top-left of the expense detail, next to the expense ID.
You can delete the duplicate imported record:
Click the three dots at the end of the row → Delete
❓FAQs
Q: Who can see the imported expenses?
A: Only users with Admin or CFO roles.
Q: Can I use any email provider?
A: No, the integration works only with Gmail/Google Workspace accounts.
Q: What happens if there are multiple attachments in one email?
A: If an email contains multiple attachments, the OCR (the service that reads PDFs) evaluates which file has the most usable data and considers it the main invoice. Other attachments are also added to the same expense in Allfred. At the moment, all such cases are processed as invoice expenses.
We tested automatic recognition of different document types, but the results were less reliable. Some email servers also send signatures or tracking reports as separate attachments, which often caused issues. That’s why the system is currently designed this way – to ensure more consistent results.
👉 In cases where several separate documents are saved into one expense, we recommend creating a new expense manually and deleting the unnecessary attachment from the original one (using the delete icon in the expense preview on the left side).
Q: I sent an email to the collection inbox but don’t see it in Allfred. What should I do?
A: First, check that the email was sent to the correct collection address and that it includes a valid, readable invoice attachment. Only emails with properly processed invoice files appear in Allfred. Another possibility is that the invoice was sent in the same email together with a different document. In this case, Allfred does not recognize them as two separate expenses but processes them together (see the answer above). If everything looks correct and the invoice still doesn’t show up, please contact the Allfred support team.
Q: What happens if the same invoice is entered twice?
A: Allfred will detect a duplicate and show a warning based on amount and variable symbol.
Q: Is the original email accessible after import?
A: Yes – click “Show Email” in the expense detail to view the sender and email body.
Q: How do I approve an imported expense?
A: Open the expense detail and either assign it to a project and mark it as Approved, or assign a Responsible Person and send it for approval.