Invoice Inbox

Invoice Inbox automatically extracts invoices from your email. Connect your Gmail account for one-click setup, or forward invoices to your unique Brikly email address. Either way, Brikly extracts the invoice data, matches line items to your ingredients, and creates invoice records - no manual upload needed.

There are two ways to get invoices into Brikly from email:

Method	How it works	Best for
Gmail Direct Connection	Connect your Gmail account and Brikly automatically scans for invoice attachments	Gmail users who want a one-click setup
Email Forwarding	Forward invoices to your unique Brikly email address	Any email provider (Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.)

Both methods feed into the same AI extraction pipeline - the only difference is how the email reaches Brikly.

Gmail Direct Connection

The simplest way to get started if you use Gmail. Connect your Google account and Brikly automatically scans your inbox for invoice attachments every 30 minutes.

Setting up

1. Navigate to Invoices in the sidebar.
2. Click Inbox Settings.
3. Click Connect Gmail in the Gmail Direct Connection card.
4. Sign in with your Google account and grant read-only access.
5. Brikly immediately runs an initial scan of your last 30 days of emails.

That's it - invoices will start appearing in your invoice list automatically.

info

Brikly only requests read-only access to your Gmail. It cannot modify, send, or delete any emails. PDF and image attachments are extracted automatically. If an email has no attachments but contains invoice content in the body (e.g. an HTML table), Brikly converts the body to a PDF for processing — this only happens when the subject or body contains words like "invoice" or "receipt".

Configuring filters

By default, Brikly scans all emails with attachments. To narrow this down to specific suppliers:

1. In the Gmail Connection card, click Filters.
2. Add sender filters (one per line):

@bidfood.co.uk
@brakes.co.uk
invoices@supplier.com

3. Use @domain.com to match all emails from a domain, or enter a full email address.
4. Click Save Filters.

Manual sync

Brikly automatically checks for new emails every 30 minutes. To trigger an immediate scan, click Sync Now in the Gmail Connection card.

Disconnecting

Click Disconnect to revoke Brikly's access to your Gmail account. This stops all scanning immediately. You can reconnect at any time.

Email Forwarding

An alternative method that works with any email provider. Forward supplier invoices to a dedicated email address and they are processed automatically.

How it works

1. Enable Invoice Inbox in your settings.
2. Copy your unique inbox address (e.g. your-business@invoices.brik.ly).
3. Forward supplier invoices to that address.
4. Review the automatically processed invoices in your invoice list.

Supplier email ──▶ your-business@invoices.brik.ly ──▶ AI Extraction ──▶ Matching ──▶ Invoice created

Behind the scenes, Brikly validates the email, uploads any attachments, runs the same AI extraction used for manual uploads, and auto-matches line items to your existing ingredients. You receive a notification when processing is complete.

Setting up email forwarding

Enable the feature

1. Navigate to Invoices in the sidebar.
2. Click Inbox Settings.
3. Toggle Enable Invoice Inbox to on.
4. Click Save.

Copy your inbox address

Once enabled, your unique inbox email address is displayed on the settings page. It follows the format:

your-business-slug@invoices.brik.ly

Click the copy button next to the address to copy it to your clipboard.

Configure allowed senders (optional)

For added security, you can restrict which email addresses or domains are allowed to send invoices to your inbox.

Allowed sender domains - add domains (one per line) to only accept emails from those domains:

bidfood.co.uk
brakes.co.uk
tesco.com

Allowed sender emails - add specific email addresses for more precise control:

invoices@bidfood.co.uk
accounts@brakes.co.uk

tip

If both lists are empty, emails from any sender are accepted. If either list has entries, only matching senders are allowed. We recommend adding your regular suppliers for an extra layer of security.

Forwarding invoices

Supported formats

Format	Extensions	Notes
PDF	.pdf	Best quality - especially PDFs with selectable text
PNG	.png	Screenshots from supplier portals
JPEG	.jpg, .jpeg	Photos of printed invoices
GIF	.gif	Supported but less common
WebP	.webp	Supported but less common

Maximum file size is 10 MB per attachment.

Ways to forward

Manual forwarding - forward individual invoice emails from your email client to your inbox address. This is the simplest way to get started.

Auto-forwarding rules - set up email rules so supplier invoices arrive automatically:

• Gmail: Settings → Forwarding → Add a forwarding address → enter your Brikly inbox address. See Gmail forwarding setup below for step-by-step instructions.
• Outlook: Rules → New rule → From specific senders → Forward to your inbox address.
• Apple Mail: Preferences → Rules → Add rule → Forward to your inbox address.

CC or BCC your suppliers - add your Brikly inbox address as an additional recipient with your suppliers so invoices arrive directly without any forwarding.

info

If an email has no file attachments but contains invoice content in the body (e.g. some suppliers send invoices as HTML tables), Brikly converts the email body into a PDF and processes it as an invoice. This only happens when the email subject or body contains the word "invoice" or "receipt" - other emails (newsletters, order confirmations, spam) are automatically filtered out.

Gmail forwarding setup

Gmail requires a verification step when you add a new forwarding address. Gmail sends a confirmation email with a verification link to your Brikly inbox address. In most cases, Brikly automatically clicks the link for you - no manual action needed.

Step-by-step

1. Open Gmail Settings - click the gear icon → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
2. Add forwarding address - click Add a forwarding address and enter your Brikly inbox address (e.g. your-business@invoices.brik.ly).
3. Wait for auto-confirmation - Gmail sends a confirmation email to your Brikly inbox address. Brikly intercepts this email and automatically confirms the forwarding on your behalf. You will see:
   • Inbox Settings page - a green banner confirming that Gmail forwarding has been verified.
   • Notifications - a success notification appears in your notification bell.
4. Set up forwarding - back in Gmail's Forwarding settings, select Forward a copy of incoming mail to and choose your Brikly inbox address.
5. Dismiss the banner - click Dismiss on the banner in Brikly to clear it.

info

If auto-confirmation cannot complete (e.g. due to a network issue), Brikly shows a Confirm Gmail Forwarding button on the Inbox Settings page instead. Click this button to open the Google verification link in a new tab and confirm manually.

tip

You do not need to enable Invoice Inbox before setting up Gmail forwarding. Brikly handles the confirmation even if the feature is not yet enabled, so you can complete the Gmail setup first and then toggle the feature on when you are ready.

Setting up filters (optional)

Rather than forwarding all emails, you can create Gmail filters to only forward invoices from specific suppliers:

1. In Gmail, click the search bar dropdown → enter the supplier's email in the From field.
2. Click Create filter → tick Forward it to → select your Brikly inbox address.
3. Click Create filter.

Repeat for each supplier whose invoices you want to forward automatically.

What happens after forwarding

Validation

Brikly checks every incoming email:

• Is Invoice Inbox enabled for your account?
• Is the sender in your allowed list (if configured)?
• Is the sending rate within limits?

If any check fails, the email is logged as Rejected with a reason you can review in the email logs.

Extraction and matching

Each valid attachment is uploaded and queued for AI extraction - the same engine used for manual uploads. The AI first verifies that the document is actually an invoice or receipt. If it is not (e.g. a menu, newsletter, or order confirmation), the document is marked as Not an Invoice and skipped - no line items are created. If it is a valid invoice, the AI extracts the supplier name, invoice number, date, line items, quantities, prices, VAT, and totals. Line items are then automatically matched to your existing ingredients using the learning system.

Duplicate detection

If Brikly detects that an invoice has already been processed (e.g. you forwarded the same email twice), it flags the duplicate and does not create a second record.

Notification

You receive a notification when processing is complete - whether the invoice was created successfully, flagged as a duplicate, or encountered an error.

Monitoring email logs

Viewing the logs

1. Navigate to Invoices in the sidebar.
2. Click Email Logs (or use the link in Inbox Settings).

The logs page shows every email received by your inbox:

Column	Description
Date	When the email was received
From	The sender's email address
Subject	The email subject line
Attachments	Number of file attachments
Status	Current processing status
Invoices Created	Number of invoices generated from this email

Status meanings

Status	Meaning
Pending	Email received, waiting to be processed
Processing	AI extraction in progress
Completed	Invoices created successfully
Duplicate	Invoice already exists - no new record created
Rejected	Email failed validation (hover for the reason)
Failed	An error occurred during processing
Gmail Confirmation	Gmail forwarding verification email - automatically confirmed or awaiting user action

Use the status filter at the top of the table to quickly find emails that need attention.

Common rejection reasons

Reason	What to do
Sender not in allowed list	Add the sender's email or domain in Inbox Settings
Email ingestion not enabled	Toggle the feature on in Inbox Settings
Rate limit exceeded	Wait for the limit to reset and resend

Rate limits

Your inbox accepts up to 20 emails per hour by default. This is more than enough for normal usage.

If you hit the limit:

• Additional emails within that hour are logged as Rejected.
• They are not lost - you can see them in the email logs.
• Resend after the rate-limit window resets.

Tips for best results

• Process a few invoices manually first for each new supplier - this helps the learning system build up patterns before you switch to inbox ingestion.
• Use auto-forwarding rules to reduce manual effort once you are confident the system handles your suppliers well.
• Use original PDFs whenever possible - they produce the most accurate extractions.
• Check the logs regularly during your first week to make sure everything is working as expected.
• Restrict senders if you want to prevent accidental processing of non-invoice emails.

Using Inbox alongside other methods

Invoice Inbox works alongside manual uploads and the Chrome extension. Invoices from all three methods appear in the same invoice list - there is no need to choose one method exclusively. Use whichever suits each situation:

Method	Best for
Manual upload	Quick one-off invoices you already have as files
Chrome extension	Capturing invoices directly from supplier portals
Gmail Direct Connection	Gmail users - one-click setup, automatic scanning every 30 minutes
Email Forwarding	Non-Gmail users, or when you want forwarding rules per supplier
Quick Capture	Paper invoices during deliveries - staff snap a photo via QR code, no account needed