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Full-Cycle Invoice Automation: Airtable, QuickBooks & Stripe

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Created by: Intuz || intuz

Intuz

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Last update 3 days ago

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This n8n template from Intuz provides a complete and automated solution for full-cycle invoicing, orchestrating a seamless flow between Airtable, QuickBooks, and Stripe.

This is the ultimate sales-to-cash automation. When a deal in Airtable is marked "Approved for Invoicing," this workflow intelligently syncs customer data across QuickBooks and Stripe (creating them if they don't exist), generates an official QuickBooks invoice, creates a Stripe payment link, and then updates the original Airtable record with all the new IDs and links. Eliminate manual data entry and keep your systems perfectly in sync.

Who's this workflow for?

  1. Finance, Accounting, and Operations Teams
  2. SalesOps and RevOps Teams
  3. Small Business Owners and Founders
  4. Agencies and Freelancers

How It Works:

1. Airtable Trigger & Approval Gate: The workflow starts when a record in your Airtable base is updated. An If node immediately checks if the Status field is set to "Approved for Invoicing." If not, the workflow for that item stops.

2. Customer Sync (QuickBooks & Stripe):

  • The workflow searches for the customer in both QuickBooks and Stripe using the details from Airtable.
  • Using If nodes, it intelligently checks if the customer exists. If a customer is not found in either platform, it creates a new one. This "find-or-create" logic prevents duplicate records.

3. Update Airtable with IDs: Once the customer IDs from both QuickBooks and Stripe are secured (either found or newly created), the workflow updates the original Airtable record with these new IDs for future reference.

4. Generate Financials:

  • Stripe Payment Link: It sends an HTTP request to Stripe to create a unique, ready-to-use payment link for the specified amount.
  • QuickBooks Invoice: It fetches your product list from QuickBooks, finds the matching item from the Airtable record, and generates a formal, detailed invoice.

5. Close the Loop: In the final step, the workflow updates the Airtable record one last time to:

  • Add the QuickBooks Invoice #.
  • Add the Stripe Payment Link.
  • Change the Status to "Invoiced."

Step-by-Step Setup Instructions

This is an advanced workflow. Follow these setup steps carefully.

1. Connect Your Credentials

  • Airtable: Create and connect a Personal Access Token with data.records:read and data.records:write scopes.
  • QuickBooks: Connect your QuickBooks Online account using OAuth2 credentials.
  • Stripe: Connect your Stripe account using your Secret Key.

2. Airtable Base Setup (Crucial)
Your Airtable base must have a table with the following columns. The names must match exactly:

  • Deal Name (Text)
  • Client Name (Text)
  • Client Email (Email)
  • Status (Single-select with options: Draft,
  • Approved for Invoicing, Invoiced)
  • QuickBooks Customer ID (Text)
  • Stripe Customer ID (Text)
  • Stripe Payment Link (URL)
  • QuickBooks Invoice # (Text)
  • Stripe Price Id (Text - The API ID of your price in Stripe, e.g., price_123...)
  • Quantity (Number)
  • Quickbooks Product Name (Text)
  • Created (Created Time) - This is used by the trigger.

3. Configure the n8n Nodes

  • All Airtable Nodes: In each Airtable node, select your Base and Table from the dropdown lists.
  • Get all Quickbook products (HTTP Request Node):
    You must replace {YOUR_QUICKBOOKS_COMPANY_ID} in the URL with your actual QuickBooks Company ID (also known as a Realm ID).

4. Activate the Workflow
Save the workflow and toggle the Active switch to "on". The workflow will now trigger whenever the Created field is updated for a record in your Airtable base.

Customization Guidance

  • Changing the Trigger Status: If you use a different status than "Approved for Invoicing," simply update the value in the "IF - Status Check" node.
  • Modifying Invoice Details: You can customize the Description or other line item details in the "Create an invoice" (QuickBooks) node by pulling more fields from your Airtable record.
  • Adding Email Notifications: To notify a customer when their invoice is ready, add a Gmail or SendGrid node after the last Airtable Update node. You can include the Stripe Payment Link and a PDF of the QuickBooks invoice directly in the email.
  • Advanced Error Handling: For a production environment, consider connecting the false output of the various IF nodes or using the .onError() workflow setting to send a Slack or email alert if a customer can't be found or an API call fails.

Support

For further support, or to develop a custom workflow, reach out to: