Pingo — Sheet-Native Payment Automation using n8n

Automate payment reminders, follow-ups, and report generation directly from Google Sheets — powered by n8n.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Key Features
• How It Works
• Architecture
• Tech Stack
• Installation
• n8n Workflow Setup
• Usage
• Example Use Cases
• Security
• Future Improvements
• Why n8n?

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Overview

Small businesses often track invoices in Google Sheets but manually send reminders — which is slow, error-prone, and inefficient.

Pingo solves this by connecting Google Sheets to n8n, enabling automated communication, logging, and reporting with a single click through a Chrome Extension.

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Key Features

• 📧 Send automated Email and WhatsApp payment reminders directly from Google Sheets
• ⚙️ Powered by n8n workflows for message automation, logging, and orchestration
• 🤖 AI-generated and customizable message templates
• 📊 Automated financial report generation with charts and summaries
• 🔐 Secure OAuth-based access and encrypted data handling

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How It Works

1. User opens Google Sheet containing invoice data
2. Chrome Extension reads sheet data securely
3. User clicks "Send Reminder" or "Send WhatsApp Message"
4. Extension sends data to n8n webhook
5. n8n handles the rest automatically

n8n Automation Engine handles:

• Message generation
• Email delivery
• WhatsApp delivery
• Logging and tracking
• Report generation

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Architecture

Google Sheets
      │
      ▼
Chrome Extension
      │
      ▼
n8n Webhook (Automation Engine)
      │
      ├── Email Service (Gmail API)
      ├── WhatsApp API
      ├── Report Generator
      └── Logging Database / Sheet

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Chrome Extension (JavaScript, HTML, CSS)
Automation	n8n (Workflow automation engine)
APIs	n8n Webhooks, Gmail API, WhatsApp API
Data	Google Sheets API

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Installation

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/hahaanisha/Pingo.git
cd pingo

2. Load Chrome Extension

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions
2. Enable Developer Mode (top-right toggle)
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the project folder

3. Set Up n8n

1. Install and launch n8n (see n8n Workflow Setup below)
2. Import the provided workflow JSON files
3. Copy the generated webhook URL into the extension config file

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n8n Workflow Setup

The n8n/ folder in this repository contains pre-built workflow JSON files that you can import directly into n8n — no need to build the automation from scratch.

Step 1 — Launch n8n

Run n8n locally using npx:

npx n8n

Then open your browser and go to http://localhost:5678.

Alternatively, use n8n Cloud for a hosted instance.

Step 2 — Import the Workflow JSON

1. In the n8n dashboard, click "New Workflow"
2. Click the ≡ menu icon (top-right of the canvas)
3. Select "Import from File"
4. Navigate and select the relevant .json file (here it is : N8N Agents):
5. Click "Import" — the full workflow canvas will load automatically

Step 3 — Configure Credentials

After importing, update the following nodes with your own credentials:

• Gmail / SMTP node → Add your Google account or SMTP details under Credentials → Gmail OAuth2
• WhatsApp node → Enter your WhatsApp Business id and auth token
• Google Sheets node → Connect your Google account via OAuth and select your target sheet

💡 Go to Settings → Credentials in n8n to manage all saved credentials in one place.

Step 4 — Activate the Workflow

1. Toggle the workflow status from Inactive → Active using the switch in the top-right of the n8n canvas
2. The webhook is now live and ready to receive triggers from the Pingo extension

⚠️ Workflows must be set to Active to respond to incoming webhook calls. Inactive workflows will silently ignore all requests.

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Usage

1. Open your invoice Google Sheet
2. Launch the Pingo Chrome Extension
3. Choose an action:
   • 📧 Send Email Reminder
   • 💬 Send WhatsApp Reminder
   • 🙏 Send Thank You Message
   • 📊 Generate Report
4. n8n automatically processes and delivers the messages

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Example Use Cases

Use Case	Description
Payment Reminders	Automatically remind clients about pending invoices
Thank You Messages	Send acknowledgements immediately after payment
Bulk Greetings	Send festive or seasonal messages to all customers
Monthly Reports	Auto-generate revenue summaries with charts

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Security

• 🔑 OAuth-based Google authentication
• 🔒 Encrypted communication between extension and n8n
• 🚫 No permanent storage of sensitive sheet data
• ✅ User-controlled permissions

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Future Improvements

• Dashboard analytics
• Scheduled automatic reminders
• Invoice PDF attachments
• Multi-sheet support
• Business insights using AI

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Why n8n?

n8n serves as the automation backbone of Pingo, providing:

Capability	Benefit
Workflow orchestration	Chain multiple actions in one trigger
Message routing	Deliver via Email or WhatsApp intelligently
Automation logic	Conditional flows based on payment status
Logging & tracking	Auto-update sheets with delivery status
Report generation	Produce formatted financial summaries

This architecture makes Pingo scalable, flexible, and fully automated without requiring a dedicated backend server.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Built with ❤️ to simplify payment workflows for small businesses