Sort mixed PDFs and build a receipt workbook without mixing currencies
At a glance
A business owner gives Claude Cowork a copied folder and receives sorted PDFs plus traceable receipt totals. This workflow is listed under Life Admin, Document Organization, Receipts.
- Agents / tools
- Claude Cowork, Microsoft Excel
SourceBuilding a tool for these workflows? See weekly rates.
What they did
1) Have a paid Claude account with Cowork folder access. Copy the PDFs into a dedicated working folder and connect only that folder in the desktop app. Use manual approval. 2) Ask Cowork to create separate receipt, invoice, and agreement folders, classify and move every file, then extract each receipt's merchant, amount, and currency into Excel. Require source filenames, separate totals by currency, and verification before finishing. 3) Read the plan and approve the file operations. 4) Open the resulting folders and receipt-summary.xlsx. Trace the rows back to their PDFs and confirm currencies have separate totals. 5) If you subsequently request conversion, require the exchange rate to remain visible and the original amounts to be retained; inspect the result again.
How it went
The walkthrough sorted eleven PDFs and summarized four receipts, initially totaling USD 715.59 and CAD 184.20 separately.
Worth knowing
The author labels the Claude interface panels as redrawings; the files and workbooks are real. The later conversion rate is illustrative.
