If your suppliers send bills to an accounts inbox, you can set up Gmail to forward them straight to Frank. Set up the rule once, and every new bill lands on your Documents page without anyone having to upload anything.
The address to forward to is [email protected]. If you run more than one entity, each entity has its own whitelisted address, so make sure you have the correct one before you build the rule.
The same steps work for any other destination, such as your bookkeeper's inbox. Only the address changes.
Before You Start
Gmail will not forward to an address until that address has been verified, and verification means someone with access to that inbox clicks a confirmation link or reads back a code.
You also need to be on a computer. Forwarding and filters cannot be set up from the Gmail mobile app.
Step 1: Add the Forwarding Address
Open Gmail and check that you are signed in to the account that owns the inbox.
Click the gear icon in the top right, then click See all settings.
Open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
Click Add a forwarding address and enter [email protected].
Click Next, then Proceed, then OK. Gmail sends a confirmation email to that address.
Get the address confirmed. For Frank, ask us in chat. For a bookkeeper or colleague, ask them to open the email from Google and click the link.
Leave the forwarding option on that page set to Disable forwarding. That setting sends every incoming email to the address, which is not what you want. The filter you build next does the selecting.
Step 2: Build the Filter
Go back to your inbox and click the sliders icon to the right of the search bar to open the search options.
Set your conditions. See the next section for what works well.
Click Create filter at the bottom of the search box.
Tick Forward it to and choose the verified address from the dropdown.
If you want existing mail swept across too, tick Also apply filter to matching conversations.
Click Create filter to save it.
Emails matching the filter now go to Frank as they arrive. They stay in your inbox as well, so nothing disappears from your own records.
Choosing the Right Conditions
A narrow filter beats a broad one. Frank only needs bills, invoices, receipts, and checks, so aim the rule at the mail that carries them.
Filter by sender if a handful of suppliers cover most of your bills. Put their addresses in the From field separated by commas, for example [email protected], [email protected].
Filter by attachment by ticking Has attachment. This is the single most useful condition, because the document is what Frank reads.
Filter by wording using the Subject or Has the words fields, with terms like invoice, bill, statement, or receipt.
Conditions combine, so Has attachment plus invoice in the subject gives you a tight rule that catches most supplier billing without pulling in general correspondence.
Things to Watch Out For
Filters only apply to new mail unless you tick the box to apply them to existing conversations when you create the rule.
Attachments carry through the forward, so PDFs, JPGs, and PNGs all reach Frank intact.
Some suppliers email a link to a billing portal rather than attaching the invoice. Those forwards arrive with nothing for Frank to read, so download those invoices and add them from the Documents page instead.
To change or remove the rule later, go to Settings, then Filters and Blocked Addresses.
If you use Outlook or Microsoft 365, the same approach lives under Settings, then Mail, then Rules. On Google Workspace, an admin can also set this up centrally for the whole domain using routing rules.
Summary
Verify [email protected] in your Gmail forwarding settings, then create a filter that forwards supplier bills to it.
From then on, your account's inbox feeds Frank on its own, and every document is matched to a transaction, added to your paper trail, and worked into your cash flow forecast.
For what happens after the document arrives, see Uploading Bills, Invoices, Receipts & Checks to Frank.