From a pile of files to the right team in a minute
How a mid-size services firm stopped sorting invoices, CVs and contracts by hand, using a folder watch, an AI reader and Slack, set up in three days.
01 At a glance
The short version
A mid-size services firm gets invoices, CVs and contracts in one shared folder. We set up a router that reads each file, works out what it is and posts it to the right Slack channel.
A mid-size services firm
Around 480 files a month land in one shared Google Drive folder. Finance, HR and legal each wait on their own slice.
Files wait for a human sorter
One person opens each file, works out what it is and forwards it. Files sit for hours. Some go to the wrong team.
A folder watch with an AI reader
Every new file is read, labelled, summarised and posted to the right Slack channel with a link to the original.
Hours become minutes
Routing dropped from 32 hours a month to 5.4. Average document wait time fell from 4 hours to 13 minutes.
The shift
Before: one person opens every file, guesses where it belongs and forwards it. After: the file reaches the right channel in about a minute, with the key details pulled out and a link to the original.
02 The pain
Every file waits
for someone to sort it
Documents arrive all day. Someone has to open each one, decide where it goes and pass it on.
Files sit in a shared folder
Invoices, CVs and contracts all land in the same place. Nobody owns the folder, so files wait until someone checks it. The average wait is about four hours.
Sorting is slow, dull work
Each file takes about four minutes to open, read, name and forward. Across 480 files a month, that adds up to 32 hours.
Files go to the wrong place
An invoice lands with HR. A contract gets filed as a report. About 8 in every 100 files end up misrouted or missed.
Urgent files hide in the pile
A supplier invoice with a due date looks like every other file. So does a contract waiting on a signature. Late payments and slow sign-offs follow.
Nothing is easy to find later
Files keep whatever name the sender gave them. Finding last quarter's invoice from one supplier means opening files one by one.
03 The solution
A folder that sorts
its own files
A workflow watches one Google Drive folder. When a file lands, an AI reader opens it, works out what it is, pulls out the key details and posts a short summary to the right Slack channel.
Every minute, the workflow checks the shared folder. A new file starts a run. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are turned into PDFs first.
The text is pulled out of the PDF or spreadsheet. The AI decides if it is an invoice, a CV, a contract or a report. It lists the name, date, company, amount and purpose it finds, then writes a two or three sentence summary.
The AI posts to the matching channel. Invoices go to #finance, CVs to #hr and contracts to #legal. Each post carries the details, the summary and a link to the file.
Left to right: the folder watch and download, a split by file type (PDF or spreadsheet), text extraction, a tidy-up step, then the AI agent. The AI model and the Slack post hang off the agent.
Human review stayed in
Every Slack post links to the original file. The person in each channel opens the real document before they pay, hire or sign. The router moves files along. People still make the call.
04 Implementation
What we set up,
and what it gave the team
Built in n8n, one part at a time, then tested with a batch of sample files before it went live.
| Part | What it gave the team |
|---|---|
| Folder watch | A check every minute on one shared folder. New files start the run on their own. |
| File reader | Plain text pulled out of PDFs and spreadsheets. Docs, Sheets and Slides are turned into PDFs first. |
| Tidy-up step | The text and the Drive link are bundled together, so the AI sees both. |
| AI reader | Decides the document type, lists the key details and writes the summary. |
| Routing rules | Plain instructions that say which document type goes to which channel. |
| Slack posts | One message per file in #finance, #hr or #legal, with a link back to the original. |
Connect the shared folder, Slack and the AI model. Agree the three channels with finance, HR and legal.
Write the routing instructions. Test with sample invoices, CVs and contracts, plus a few odd files.
Switch it on for the real folder. Tell the team where posts will appear. Watch the first day's files.
05 The routing
One folder,
three channels
| Document | Goes to | What the post holds |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice | #finance | Company, amount, date and what it is for, plus a short summary and the link. |
| CV | #hr | Candidate name, date and details found in the file, plus a summary and the link. |
| Contract | #legal | The parties, date, amount and purpose, plus a summary and the link. |
Facts pulled out for you
Name, date, company, amount and purpose. Only the ones found in the file get listed. Nothing is filled in by guessing.
Two or three sentences
Enough to know what a file is about before anyone opens it.
One click to the original
Each post carries the Drive link, so the team checks the real document before acting.
A searchable trail
Slack keeps every post. Finding one supplier's invoices becomes a search, not a hunt through folders.
06 The outcome
What changes,
and what we delivered
Each pain point delivered a measured operational change across the first three months.
| Area | Before | After 3 months |
|---|---|---|
| Time spent routing | 32 hours a month | 5.4 hours a month |
| Wait for the right team | About 4 hours | About 13 minutes |
| Misrouted or missed | 38 files a month (8%) | 11 files a month (2.3%) |
| Finding a file later | Folder, under the sender's file name | Slack search, with summary and link |
The first 90 days
The router handled 7 in 10 files directly. Remaining edge cases were identified and accommodated.
Standardised formats across suppliers and clients. Routing coverage increased to 85%.
95% of incoming files routed automatically. The team relies on Slack alerts without manual folder checks.
Verified operational return
These figures reflect verified document routing logs and dispatch timings across the business over 90 days of live use.
07 The numbers
The results
at $1,330 a month
Measured performance across 480 monthly files, saving hours and eliminating misplaced records.
A Slack post takes 30 seconds to read, not four minutes to sort.
An invoice now reaches finance in about a minute.
The AI reads inside the file. About 2 in 100 still go wrong.
Month by month
| Measure | Before | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Files the router handles | 0 | 336 | 408 | 456 |
| Hours spent routing | 32.0 | 12.4 | 8.2 | 5.4 |
| Average wait for the right team | 4 hours | 73 min | 37 min | 13 min |
| Files misrouted or missed | 38 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
| Value saved at $50 an hour | $0 | $980 | $1,190 | $1,330 |
a month in admin time by month three. That is 26.6 hours handed back, about 6 hours a week.