Purchase Order Extraction with n8n: Free PDF to Google Sheets Automation [Workflow Included]

Description and use

Automated import of PDF purchase orders into Google Sheets using n8n, with duplicate prevention and a summary of processed records.

Problem

Manual processing of purchase order PDFs was time‑consuming and error‑prone.

Outcome

The workflow processes batches of PO PDFs, prevents duplicate entries, and provides a clear summary of processed records, enabling reliable automation without manual review.

Workflow

• Upload one or many PO PDFs through a form
• Extract each PDF into structured data
• Check each PO number against the Google Sheet to avoid duplicates
• Write new line items to the Google Sheet
• Display a completion screen summarizing added, skipped, and failed records

Evidence

you upload one or many PO PDFs through a form, and it extracts each into a Google Sheet, one row per line item, with the source document name on every row.

Source

before writing it checks each PO number against the sheet so nothing gets entered twice.

Source

The completion screen then tells you what was added, what it skipped as already processed (with the PO number), and whether any extraction looked off.

Source