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Productivity & Team Ops

Expense Approval Workflow

Expense submissions routed, approved, and logged — with a paper trail.

Saves about ~1 hr per week

What it does

  • Receives expense submissions in a standard form
  • Routes to the right approver by amount/type
  • Tracks approval status until reimbursed
  • Publishes the monthly expense ledger

How it works

  1. Expense submitted
  2. Routing rule picks the approver
  3. Approval tracked in the sheet
  4. Monthly ledger published

What's included

  • Submission form
  • Approval routing
  • Monthly ledger

Set it up yourself

Follow these 4 steps in order. You will need accounts for: Slack, Sheets.

Step 1: Set the submission form

  1. Create the expense form: date, category, amount, receipt link, reason.
  2. Require the receipt link as a mandatory field.
  3. Send the form link to the team.
  4. Store submissions in an 'Expenses' sheet.
  5. Test a submission lands.

Watch out: Receipt-link mandatory — without it, 'approval' is approval of someone's memory, and the audit trail evaporates.

Step 2: Set the routing rules

  1. Rules: amount ≤ $50 → auto-approve with note; ≤ $500 → manager; > $500 or travel → finance.
  2. Store rules in a sheet.
  3. Test routing on different amounts.
  4. Handle missing approvers.
  5. Review rules with your finance process.

Watch out: The auto-approve threshold is where the workflow pays for itself — spending approval bandwidth on $30 coffee is why expense processes get ignored.

Step 3: Track approvals

  1. Status lifecycle: Submitted → Approved/Rejected → Paid.
  2. Approvers act in Slack (buttons) or the sheet.
  3. Log the decision + actor.
  4. Reimbursement: mark Paid when the transfer runs.
  5. Test the lifecycle.

Watch out: Log the actor on every decision — the paper trail is the entire point of expense workflows; a sheet that records decisions without names is a gossip column.

Step 4: Monthly ledger

  1. Monthly: aggregate approved expenses by category + person.
  2. Publish the ledger (sheet/finance channel).
  3. Flag anything over personal limits.
  4. Reconcile with payments.
  5. Export for the accountant.

Watch out: Publish monthly regardless of volume — a ledger that only surfaces at tax time is a cleanup project, not a control.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Expense Approval Workflow automation do?

Expense submissions routed, approved, and logged — with a paper trail. Receives expense submissions in a standard form

How much time does Expense Approval Workflow save?

It is estimated to save ~1 hr per week. Actual savings depend on your volume.

Which tools does Expense Approval Workflow use?

It works with Slack and Sheets.

What does Expense Approval Workflow include?

Submission form, Approval routing, Monthly ledger.

Can I set up Expense Approval Workflow myself?

Yes. The do-it-yourself guide on this page walks through 4 steps, from getting access to testing the finished automation.