Invoice processing. 320 monthly. Manual work consuming 240 hours. Built n8n workflow. Automatic validation. THE ACCOUNTING PROBLEM: Every invoice processed manually. Finance team downloading PDF documents. Typing invoice details. Checking vendor approval manually. Searching database. Verifying limits. Looking for duplicates. Validating purchase orders. Cross-referencing procurement. Flagging missing POs inconsistently. Categorizing line items by hand. Assigning categories. Checking budgets. Noting overruns when noticed. Fraud checking subjective. Round numbers, rushed terms, missing info. Detection inconsistent. Calculating discounts manually. ROI estimated informally. Opportunities missed. Routing for approval based on memory. Rules applied inconsistently. 45 minutes per invoice. 320 monthly. 240 hours. Audit - 67 duplicates ($47,200). 142 missed discounts ($28,400). 89 budget overruns caught late. 23 fraud indicators missed. 84% accuracy. THE n8n AUTOMATION: 11-node workflow: Gmail Trigger → Get Invoice → Prepare Binary → Extract Data → Duplicate Check → Vendor Validation → Auto-Categorize → Fraud Detection → Payment Optimization → Sheets Log → Approval Router EXTRACTION: Invoice number, vendor name/address/tax ID, dates, PO, line items, totals, terms DUPLICATE DETECTION: ```javascript const primary = `${vendor}-${invoiceNumber}`.toLowerCase(); const secondary = `${vendor}-${total}-${date}`.toLowerCase(); const fuzzy = `${vendor.substring(0,10)}-${invoiceNumber.replace(/[^0-9]/g, '')}`; ``` VENDOR VALIDATION: Database with approved vendors, limits, risk scores. Lookup matches vendor. Checks total against limit. Determines approval requirements. AUTO-CATEGORIZATION: ```javascript const categories = { 'Office Supplies': ['paper', 'pen', 'toner'], 'Software': ['software', 'license', 'saas'], 'Marketing': ['ads', 'marketing', 'campaign'] }; ``` Match line items to categories. Aggregate by category. Check against monthly budgets.

Don’t run workflows from strangers without inspecting every single node first. Whether it’s an n8n workflow, Make scenario, Zap export, or a random JSON someone drops in a Discord or Skool post — blindly importing and running automations is risky. There are bad actors out there. Some are obvious. Some are very good at hiding what they’re doing. I’m sharing workflows to help people learn and move faster — but you should still verify everything before you run anything. Why this matters Automation tools usually have deep access to: - APIs - Databases - Credentials - File systems - Webhooks - Internal business data A single hidden node can: - Exfiltrate credentials - Send your data to a third-party server - Create hidden webhooks - Write or delete database records - Trigger actions on a schedule you never notice And the scariest part? ⚠️ It can look completely harmless at first glance. Good security practices (please don’t skip these) 1️⃣ Inspect every node — no exceptions - Open each node - Check URLs, endpoints, headers, payloads - Look for unfamiliar domains or IPs - Be suspicious of “utility” or “helper” nodes 2️⃣ Verify the source - Who posted it? - Do they explain what it does and why? - Does the workflow come with context or documentation? - Anonymous drops = 🚩 3️⃣ Never import with credentials pre-attached - Remove all credentials before testing - Re-add your own manually - Never trust “ready-to-run” workflows with keys baked in 4️⃣ Test in a sandbox first - Use a dev instance - Use test APIs / fake data - Never run unknown workflows in production first 5️⃣ Watch for outbound traffic - HTTP Request nodes - Webhooks - “Logging” endpoints - Anything sending data “for analytics” If you don’t recognize the destination — investigate. 6️⃣ Least-privilege access - Use limited API keys - Separate prod vs dev credentials - Rotate keys regularly 7️⃣ Assume automation = code No-code does not mean low-risk.