I built TidyLedger to turn messy invoices into clean Excel reports
The problem I’m trying to solve is simple: collecting information from invoices and putting it into a usable spreadsheet can be repetitive and time-consuming. With TidyLedger, you can: • Upload invoices as PDFs or images, as well as text and CSV files • Choose, rename, and reorder report columns • Review and edit the extracted data • Download your results as Excel or CSV There’s also a free plan with up to 5 invoices per day. 🚀 Try it here: https://tidy-ledger-1.onrender.com/ I’m now looking for honest feedback from people who work with invoices, spreadsheets, or business data. I’d especially love to know: 1. Is this a problem you face in your work? 2. What would you change or improve? 3. What features would make you want to use a tool like this regularly? This is an early-stage product, and I’m building it to solve a real problem. Any feedback or suggestions would mean a lot. Thanks for checking it out! 🙏
I'll try the free plan this week with my supplier receipts. Good luck!
The 5-invoices-per-day cap is worth rethinking. A_Bartholomew's point about the monthly pile is exactly right — the actual use pattern is "dump 40 invoices on the 3rd," not "trickle one per day." Reframing the free tier as 50/month instead of 5/day costs you nothing but matches how bookkeepers actually work.
One thing nobody's mentioned: date and number format parsing across locales. We run our site in seven languages and learned the hard way that 1.000,00 vs 1,000.00 and DD/MM vs MM/DD break extraction silently — the numbers look valid, just wrong. A locale flag on upload that sets parsing rules would catch those errors before they reach the spreadsheet.
The Render cold start is worth fixing first though. Sixty seconds of loading on a first visit means most people never see the product at all.
Solid use case. Your lesson (one specific use case, more user conversations) is the right one. Bookkeepers and small agencies processing supplier invoices monthly might be the sharpest first niche. Asking new users what they did before TidyLedger would tell you which workflow to nail.
Thanks for the thoughtful advice! I agree that focusing on bookkeepers and small agencies processing supplier invoices could be a good starting point for TidyLedger.
I really like your suggestion about asking new users what they did before using TidyLedger. Understanding their existing workflow will help me identify where the biggest time savings are and what I should improve first.
My next step is to talk to potential users, learn how they currently handle invoice data, and use that feedback to make TidyLedger more useful.
Appreciate the guidance! 🙌
Yes, this is a real monthly job for me, not a daily one. After the fields are extracted, the time goes to duplicates (the same invoice forwarded twice, or a copy PDF with a different filename) and to mixed currencies sitting in one amount column, which makes the spreadsheet total a lie. A check on supplier plus invoice number before a row is added, and separate amount and currency columns that do not sum across currencies, would change whether I used this every month. The 5 invoices a day cap also fights that workflow, since the real use is a pile of invoices at month end.
This is great work — I'm a CS student also considering this kind of automation for small businesses. If you were starting from zero today, what would you focus on first, and what was the hardest part for you?
Taking your three questions in order:
(1) The pain usually isn't typing the fields, it's the exceptions: the invoice with two VAT rates, the credit note that should be negative, the supplier who changes their layout. The tool that wins here is the one that makes those obvious.
(2) What I'd change: a confidence flag per field and a filter for "rows that need a look", so reviewing 50 invoices means checking 6 cells, not 50 rows. And flag any row where net + tax doesn't equal the total. That one check catches a lot of extraction errors for free.
(3) What would make it a habit: a saved column template, so every month's export matches the accountant's sheet exactly, and a forwarding email address, so invoices land in TidyLedger without downloading and re-uploading them.
One small thing: if it's on Render's free tier, the first visit after a quiet period can take close to a minute to wake up, which looks like a broken site. Worth a paid instance or a "waking up" message before you share the link widely.
The editable columns make this more than invoice OCR: the useful output is a report that fits someone's existing spreadsheet. I'd ask the first few users for one real export they already prepare each month, then see whether TidyLedger can reproduce it without manual cleanup. What report are they trying to get from those invoices today?
That's a great point. I want TidyLedger to do more than extract invoice data — the goal is to turn messy invoices into clean, structured Excel reports that fit into existing workflows. I'll focus on learning what reports early users actually prepare and how much manual cleanup they still need to do. That feedback will help shape the next steps for TidyLedger.
The problem is definitely real, but I think the biggest challenge will be making the value obvious beyond “extract invoices.” I’d be curious whether users care more about saving time, reducing manual errors, or fitting the output into their existing accounting workflow. That distinction could really shape the positioning.
That's a great point. I think the real value goes beyond extraction — it's about turning messy invoice data into clean, usable Excel reports with less manual work. I'm still learning which benefit matters most to users: saving time, reducing errors, or fitting into their existing accounting workflow. I'll make that a key question when talking to early users. Thanks for the insight!
Exactly. I think talking to a few real users will make that pretty clear. I’d also pay attention to the words they naturally use to describe the problem — those can be gold for your positioning and landing page.
Have early users shown that TidyLedger replaces a recurring spreadsheet workflow, or are people mainly testing it on a few invoices to see how accurate the extraction is?
That's exactly what I'm trying to validate right now. So far, I'm still learning whether users will make TidyLedger part of their recurring spreadsheet workflow or mainly use it to test extraction accuracy. My next step is to understand how often they process invoices, what they currently do with the extracted data, and whether TidyLedger saves them enough time to use it regularly.
Could be useful to compare notes as you see whether it becomes a recurring workflow — happy to continue by email sometime.
This is great work — reminds me of some of the calls I've had to make building Xstream4K. What would you do differently if you started over?
Thanks! I really appreciate that.
If I were starting over, I’d spend more time talking to potential users before building and focus on one specific use case first. I probably built more features than I needed before getting enough real-world feedback.
Now I’m trying to learn from actual users and improve TidyLedger based on their workflow and pain points.
What about Xstream4K? What’s one decision you’d make differently if you started over?