Automate repetitive data entry between desktop apps on Windows

The job, in plain words

• • Once a month: open the timesheets, the invoicing tool and last month's folder, in the same order.
• • On every invoice: type the same description, the same terms and the same reference into the same fields.
• • Between two programs: copy a figure, switch windows, paste, press Tab, repeat.
• • When the month is done: archive the month's papers and lock them away.

The first, second and last are fixed, and fixed steps are what Seqtrix is for. The third is fine one figure at a time. When it is a list of figures, or a spreadsheet of rows, you need a tool that repeats a step down the list, and the two below do it for free.

The free way first: Power Automate for desktop or AutoHotkey

If your job is rows, start here, not with Seqtrix. Both tools can read a value, put it into a field in another program and repeat down a list. Checked on 24 October 2026, on each tool's own pages.

For the longer comparisons, read Seqtrix vs Power Automate and Seqtrix vs AutoHotkey.

The Seqtrix way: the fixed parts, from a template

Seqtrix is a Windows app where you drag steps onto a canvas and fire the sequence from a hotkey, a schedule or a click. It has no step that reads a spreadsheet and no loop, so it does not work through a list. What it does well is the part of the job that is the same every time: open the same files and programs, type the same text, press the same keys, then archive and lock what is finished. The two steps that do the typing are Type Text, which types into whichever window is in front, and Press Key, which sends any key or shortcut, such as Tab, Enter or Ctrl+S.

From template: Invoice day

Template

Invoice day

Plan

Advanced

Steps

9

Trigger

None built in: it runs when you click it. Add a Hotkey, or a Schedule set to monthly; both trigger types are on every plan.

Open Templates in Seqtrix, search for Invoice day and click its card. You land in the editor, where you review the steps and save before running. In the template's own words: The monthly billing run: gathers the month's timesheets into one folder, totals the hours, opens a pre-filled invoice checklist and your invoicing tool, then encrypts last month's billing folder now that it is closed. These are its steps, as they ship:

1. 1
   Create this month's billing folder

   Run Command

   Makes a folder for this month under Documents\Billing, named by year and month.

2. 2
   Gather the month's timesheets

   Run Command

   Moves every timesheet-*.txt file on your Desktop into that folder. The Friday timesheet and archive template leaves one there each time it runs.

3. 3
   Total the hours logged

   Run Command

   Copies the lines of every .txt file in the folder into one file, all-hours.txt. It puts the timesheets together; it does not add the hours up.

4. 4
   Create the invoice checklist

   Run Command

   Writes invoice-checklist.md into the folder, headed with the month.

5. 5
   Open the checklist

   Run Command

   Opens the checklist in Notepad.

6. 6
   Let it take focus

   Wait

   Waits a moment so Notepad is in front before anything is typed.

7. 7
   Fill in the checklist

   Type Text

   Types five tick boxes (hours confirmed against all-hours.txt, expenses added, invoice raised and numbered, sent to client, payment date diarised) and empty Amount and Due lines into Notepad. This is the step that enters text into another program.

8. 8
   Open the invoicing tool

   Run Command

   Opens app.zohoinvoice.com in your default browser; change the address to your own tool. Nothing is typed there.

9. 9
   Encrypt last month now it is closed (pick the folder)

   Security Lock

   Encrypts the folder you pick under Select Target with AES-256-GCM, using the password you set in the step.

Where the data goes: the timesheets move into one folder and one file, and the checklist is typed into another program, Notepad. Your invoicing tool is only opened: nothing is typed into it, and Seqtrix has no connection to Zoho Invoice or any other invoicing or accounting software. Before the first run, open the last step and pick the folder to encrypt and its password; the step encrypts whichever folder it points at, so check it each month.

Add the typing into your invoicing tool

Seqtrix cannot click a field, so the typing goes in a second, small sequence that starts wherever your cursor is. Fire it with a hotkey once the new invoice is open:

1. 1
   Create the sequence

   Make a new sequence, called something like Fill the fixed fields, and give it a Hotkey trigger. Hotkeys are on every plan, the free Starter plan included.

2. 2
   Type the first fixed field

   Add a Type Text step with the text that never changes, for example: Bookkeeping services for [MONTH]. When the step runs, [MONTH] becomes the month and year, and [TODAY], [TIME], [NOW] and [DAY] work the same way.

3. 3
   Move to the next field

   Add a Press Key step with Tab. Repeat Type Text and Tab for each fixed field: your terms, your reference, your notes.

4. 4
   Leave the changing number to you

   The text is the same on every run, so type this month’s amount yourself, or carry it across from another window as shown below.

5. 5
   Run it and check it

   In your invoicing tool, click into the first field and press the hotkey. Read what it typed before you save; Seqtrix lists every step as it runs, with the time each one took.

Carry one value from another window

To move a single value, such as a total or a reference, from one program to another, select it and fire a sequence that starts with Press Key Ctrl+C, then Press Key Alt+Tab (Windows switches to the window you used last), a short Wait, and Press Key Ctrl+V. It moves one selection per press, not a list. Put the paste before any Type Text step: Type Text pastes its own text through the clipboard, so whatever you copied is replaced once it runs.

What Seqtrix cannot do

Common questions

Keep going

• Template: Invoice day, and the rest of the template library
• Seqtrix vs Power Automate: when Microsoft's tool is the better fit, and when it is not
• Seqtrix vs AutoHotkey: the same keystrokes, with or without a script
• Open multiple apps at once on Windows
• Run a script when a file is added to a folder