Patterns

What are export patterns?

Export patterns let you organize your exported invoices into custom folder structures and filenames using placeholders. This helps you maintain a consistent file organization across your exports and integrations.

How patterns work

Patterns consist of two parts:

• Folder pattern: Defines the folder structure (subfolder hierarchy)
• Filename pattern: Defines how files are named

Example:

• Folder pattern: {{year}}/{{month}}
• Filename pattern: {{vendor}}-{{invoiceId}}
• Result: Files like 2025/03/Acme Corp-INV-2025-001.pdf

Available placeholders

You can use these placeholders in your patterns:

Preset patterns

Invoice Radar comes with pre-configured patterns you can use as a starting point:

Default

• Folder pattern: {{vendor}}
• Filename pattern: {{invoiceId}}
• Result: Organized by company name

By Year & Month

• Folder pattern: {{year}}/{{month}}
• Filename pattern: {{vendor}}-{{invoiceId}}
• Result: Organized by date, with vendor and ID in filename

By Quarter

• Folder pattern: {{quarter}}
• Filename pattern: {{vendor}}-{{invoiceId}}
• Result: Organized by quarter within the year

Flat Structure

• Folder pattern: (empty)
• Filename pattern: {{vendor}}-{{invoiceId}}
• Result: All files in one folder, named with vendor and ID

Using patterns

In manual exports

1. Go to Settings → Export Pattern
2. Click a preset pattern or customize your own
3. See a live preview of how your files will be organized
4. Click Save Export Pattern when satisfied
5. When you export documents manually, they'll use this pattern

In filesystem integrations

The filesystem integration offers two options:

• Same as manual exports: Uses your saved pattern from Settings
• Custom pattern: Create a different pattern just for this integration

This lets you organize different integrations differently. For example:

• Manual exports by vendor
• Filesystem integration by date
• Email integration uses a flat structure

Tips for organizing patterns

By vendor (best for reviewing invoices from specific companies):

Folder: {{vendor}}
Filename: {{invoiceId}}

By date (best for timeline tracking):

Folder: {{year}}/{{month}}
Filename: {{invoiceId}}

By quarter (best for quarterly reporting):

Folder: {{quarter}}
Filename: {{vendor}}-{{invoiceId}}

Detailed tracking (combines vendor and date):

Folder: {{year}}/{{month}}/{{vendor}}
Filename: {{invoiceId}}

Flat with full details (everything in one place):

Folder: (empty)
Filename: {{year}}-{{month}}-{{day}}-{{vendor}}-{{invoiceId}}

Examples in practice

Given an invoice from "Acme Corp" with ID "INV-2025-001" dated March 15, 2025:

Valid characters

Patterns are converted to valid filenames/folder names. Invalid characters (like /, \\, :, ?, etc.) are handled as follows:

• The folder separator / creates subdirectories
• Other invalid characters are replaced with spaces
• Leading/trailing spaces are removed
• Multiple consecutive spaces are collapsed

Example: An invoice from "A/B Corp" with pattern {{vendor}}/receipt becomes A B Corp/receipt.pdf