{"id":1728,"date":"2021-03-24T18:53:25","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T22:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog2wrkdev.wpenginepowered.com\/expense-approval-process\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T07:53:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:53:47","slug":"expense-approval-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/expense-approval-process\/","title":{"rendered":"How automation can transform your expense approval process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than 2 in every 5 organizations<\/a> task their employees with submitting and approving expenses manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leads to all kinds of unwanted consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requesters can mistakenly submit expenses without receipts, expense by the wrong amount, or unknowingly expense items that fail to qualify for reimbursement; while approvers are forced to review and reconcile a high volume of reports manually, leading them to get overwhelmed quickly and to make mistakes themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can effectively prevent these issues from taking hold, both for approvers and requestors, by implementing an automated expense approval process.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll show you how this automation can work and we\u2019ll break down all of the benefits it offers, but before we do, let\u2019s define this type of process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: 5 HR automation examples you can easily put to use<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an expense approval process?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the end-to-end workflow for approving an expense, whether that expense falls under work-related travel, a home office improvement, or a meal with a client. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To automate your expense approval process, your team will need to use a chatbot that can communicate between your business communications platform (e.g. Slack<\/a>) and your expense management tool. That way, employees can submit expenses and approvers can review and approve (or reject) any in just a few clicks, without leaving their business communications platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example of an automated expense approval workflow <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The following workflow automation example<\/a> shows you exactly how this can work\u2014assuming you use Slack as your business communications platform and Expensify as your expense management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

1. An employee types in a command within their chatbot in Slack, like \u201cExpensify submit expense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. In real time, the chatbot pulls in the required fields from Expensify and displays them in a pop up (or modal) for the employee. This includes fields like: Expense Type, Amount, Transaction Date, etc. The chatbot also prompts the employee to upload the receipt, which the employee can do directly in Slack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Once submitted, the chatbot can check to see if the expense meets your policy guidelines. Assuming it does, the expense gets created, and the chatbot notifies the approver of the expense along with all of the details that were submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The approver can accept or reject the request with the click of a button. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Whichever option gets selected (accept or reject), the requestor gets updated on the decision via a message in Slack and the chatbot changes the status of the expense in Expensify\u2014both in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is an automated expense approval process important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are just some of the benefits that come with implementing this type of workflow automation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. It saves your organization a substantial amount of money<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Something as simple as a single night stay at a hotel can cost an organization $58, on average<\/a>, to process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering that your organization likely receives at least hundreds of expense reports every year\u2014many of which are more complicated to review than a night at a hotel\u2014, it\u2019s clear that the costs can quickly balloon to a level that\u2019s unmaintainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By streamlining this process, your costs in processing each expense drop dramatically for a number of reasons, including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n