data.day
process optimization / email management / accounts payable / logistics

The One Inbox Rule: How We Stop Invoices From Hiding in 12 Mailboxes

If your invoices are going to '[email protected]', you are broken. We set up a single intake pipe to stop the monthly archaeological dig for receipts.

Klara Budget Klara Budget

Closing the Month is Not an Treasure Hunt

Every month-end follows the same tragic script. We are missing a €5,000 invoice for Google Ads. The credit card has been charged. The ledger is empty.

I ask the Marketing Manager. “Oh yeah, I have that. It’s in my personal Gmail because I signed up with that account.”

This is Professional Failure.

We treat invoices like greeting cards—sent to random people, at random times, via random channels. This makes finance a reactive game of “Find the Receipt.” We waste hours every month chasing paper. We pay late fees because an invoice sat in a spam folder of an employee who is on holiday.

This is not a “people problem.” You cannot fix this by asking people to “be better.” It is a flow problem. You have too many pipes.

The Leak: Decentralized Chaos

When invoices land in personal inboxes (john@, sarah@), they are effectively lost.

  • John goes on leave. The invoice sits.
  • Sarah leaves the company. The invoice is deleted.
  • The vendor sends a reminder. It goes to Spam.

We lose visibility. We lose input tax credits (VAT). We annoy suppliers. But mostly, we waste mental energy. I want my finance team analyzing cash flow, not emailing Dave to ask if he bought a new monitor.

The Plug: The billing@ Protocol

We solve this with brute force logistics. One Pipe. One Destination.

Step 1: Create the Alias Set up [email protected] or accounts@. This is the Holy Grail. This inbox does not belong to a person. It belongs to the system.

Step 2: The Forwarding Rule Connect this inbox directly to your OCR/Accounting software.

  • Email arrives -> Auto-forward to Software -> Draft Bill Created.
  • No human touches the email.

Step 3: The Vendor Training This is the hard part. You must retrain your vendors. “Please update your records. Future invoices must be sent to bills@. Invoices sent to personal addresses will be rejected.” Be blunt. If they want money, they will update the field.

Step 4: The Internal Wall Tell your team: “If you buy something, the receipt goes to bills@ immediately. If it is not in bills@ by the 30th, I deduct it from your salary.” (I am joking. Mostly. But the threat helps).

Summary

Finance is a machine. Machines need clean fuel lines.

If you are currently forwarding emails, dragging PDFs to folders, or logging into Amazon to print a page… stop.

Set up the pipe. Watch the data flow. Go to sleep early.

Meten is weten. If it is in the inbox, we know it exists.

FAQs

Vendors keep emailing me personally. How do I stop them?

Auto-reply. Set a rule: 'I do not process invoices. Forward to billing@ or you will not be paid.' They learn fast when money is involved.

What about physical mail?

Scan it immediately. Then shred it. The physical paper is a liability. The digital file in the central inbox is the asset.

Can't I just cc the accountant?

No. CC is where accountability goes to die. 'I thought you saw the CC.' 'No, I thought YOU saw it.' Direct send only.