What this guide covers
This guide is for business owners, accountants, and finance teams who want to eliminate manual data entry and folder creation. You will learn how to sort invoices automatically by uploading PDF documents and letting FilePile organize them by vendor and month.
Before you begin
You can use the Free, Pro, or Business plan to follow this guide. The Free plan allows you to upload 25 invoices per month. Ensure you have your vendor invoices saved as PDF files. Scanned PDFs are supported, provided the text is legible. You do not need to create any folder structures in advance.
Step-by-step instructions
- Log in at filepile.co/login.
- Open Dashboard from the left sidebar.
- Click the Process tab located at the top of the Dashboard view.
- Drag PDF files into the upload area or click to choose files from your computer.
- Wait for the system to process the files. You will see a status indicator in the processing queue.
- Once processing is complete, click the Browse tab on the Dashboard.
- Locate the folder named after the vendor extracted from your invoice.
- Click the vendor folder to see subfolders organized by month.
- To manage payments, navigate to Business HQ from the left sidebar.
- Click Vendor Payment Command Center to review open bills and due dates.
Setting up recurring vendor detection
FilePile simplifies the management of regular bills by auto-detecting recurring products. You do not need to register these vendors in a separate setup wizard.
- Upload this month's invoice PDF when it arrives using the Process tab on the Dashboard.
- Upload next month's invoice for the same vendor when you receive it.
- FilePile will auto-detect this as a recurring product after two uploads.
- Navigate to the Recurring tab on the Dashboard to view the status of your recurring products.
- Look for the checkmark in the Recurring products section to confirm the current month has been received.
Managing one-off payments
For bills that are not part of a recurring pattern, you can manage their status directly from the Dashboard.
- Look at the Upcoming vendor payments card on the Dashboard.
- Find the one-off vendor bill you want to clear from the open list.
- Click Mark paid on that specific item. This action is optional and only applies to items in the Upcoming vendor payments list.
What you should see
After uploading your files, the Process tab displays a queue showing the status of each PDF. Once finished, the status changes to indicate successful processing. In the Browse tab, you should see a clean directory structure where top-level folders represent vendor names and second-level folders represent months, such as "Vendor A > 2023-10".
On the Dashboard, the Recurring products section lists vendors that FilePile has identified as recurring. You should see a checkmark next to the current month if the invoice has been uploaded. In the Vendor Payment Command Center at Business HQ, you will see a list of open bills, the total amount due, and a 30-day cash outlook based on the due dates extracted from your uploaded PDFs.
Tips and common issues
- Ensure PDF quality: While scanned PDFs are supported, the AI works best with high-resolution scans. If a vendor name is not detected correctly, check if the document is blurry or rotated.
- Recurring detection timing: The system requires at least two monthly invoices for the same vendor or product to auto-detect a recurring relationship. Upload your second month of data to trigger this feature.
- Free plan limits: The Free plan allows 25 invoices per month. If you exceed this limit, you will need to upgrade to Pro or Business to continue processing.
- Do not mark recurring items as paid: Avoid clicking Mark paid for auto-detected recurring products. The act of uploading the invoice serves as confirmation of payment for these services.
Why FilePile
FilePile removes the friction of document management by using AI to interpret and file your paperwork. Traditional methods require you to manually create folders, rename files, and sort them into directories. FilePile analyzes the content of your PDFs to identify the vendor and the date, instantly placing the file in the correct logical location. This automation reduces errors and saves hours of administrative work every month.
Getting started with FilePile
Ready to streamline your invoice management? Sign up today to start sorting invoices automatically.