# AI-Powered Receipt Scanner & Expense Tracker

Hey n8n community!

I recently built an AI agent that automates expense tracking through receipt scanning. Here's how it works:

# Current Features

**Core Workflow:**

1. **Photo Capture** \- Take a photo of any receipt and send it via Telegram
2. **AI Processing** \- The image is processed through my custom API for text extraction
3. **Data Extraction** \- Each item is automatically extracted with:
   * Item name and price
   * Store information
   * Category classification
   * Currency and payment method
4. **Database Integration** \- All data is automatically added to my Notion expense tracker
5. **Notifications** \- I receive confirmation when the process completes

**Technical Implementation:**

* Telegram trigger for photo input
* File download and processing
* Custom HTTP API for receipt text extraction
* Notion integration for category matching and data storage
* Notification system for job completion

# Planned Enhancements

I'm working on several exciting features:

* **Shared Expenses** \- Mark purchases as shared with my wife
* **Currency Conversion** \- Automatic conversion to my native currency using real-time exchange rates
* **AI Chat Interface** \- Talk to your spending data using RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
* **Budget Reports** \- Automated insights on budget performance

# Alternative Access Methods

**Apple Shortcuts Integration:**

* Double-tap phone back → Camera opens → Photo taken → Automatically sent and deleted (saves storage)
* Same processing workflow as Telegram version

**Google Sheets Sync:**

* Experimental dual-tracking system
* Expenses logged simultaneously in Notion and Google Sheets

# Future Vision

I'm considering developing this into an MVP for beta testing with plans to:

* Expand support for international receipts and currencies
* Build a dedicated mobile application
* Make it available to users in multiple countries

# What do you think?

I believe this solution could be incredibly helpful for automated expense management. Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Best regards,  
Kacper

I have built an AI Budget Assistant with n8n + Telegram + Notion. Is it worth building a mobile app?