Invoice file naming convention (with examples)
A consistent invoice naming convention makes it easy to find documents months later, share them with your accountant, and keep Drive/Dropbox folders readable without opening files.
The simplest convention that works
Use a predictable pattern that sorts correctly and includes the few fields you always need:
YYYY-MM-DD_VENDOR_AMOUNT_PURPOSE.pdfExamples (before → after)
See how messy filenames turn into a consistent pattern you can sort and search.
Before
invoice.pdf
After
2026-01-15_ACME_1234.56_Consulting.pdf
Before
scan_001.jpg
After
2026-01-12_OfficeDepot_45.99_Stationery.jpg
Before
Receipt.png
After
2026-01-10_Uber_18.20_Transport.png
Before
IMG_3921.JPG
After
2026-01-08_Hilton_219.00_Hotel.JPG
Before
document (3).pdf
After
2026-01-05_AWS_97.31_CloudHosting.pdf
Tips to keep it consistent
Follow these guidelines to maintain a clean, sortable archive.
Use YYYY-MM-DD
So files sort by date in every folder.
Normalize vendor names
E.g. "Amazon Web Services" → "AWS".
Keep purpose short
One to three words so filenames don't get huge.
Avoid special characters
That can break sync tools.
Want to automate this?
RenameMyInvoice can do this automatically: upload invoice PDFs and receipts, extract the date/vendor/amount, and download a ZIP of renamed files.