Review and approve employee expenses with forms, OpenAI and Google Workspace

How it works This workflow automates employee expense reimbursements from submission to final resolution. Expenses are captured via a form, reviewed by an AI agent for justification, and routed to managers for approval or clarification. Approved expenses notify employees instantly, while rejected or unclear cases automatically schedule a follow-up discussion. All actions are logged to keep finance records clean and auditable.

Step-by-step Step 1: Capture, summarize, and request approval** On Expense Form Submission – Captures structured expense details submitted by employees. Append row in sheet – Stores each expense entry in Google Sheets for tracking. AI Agent – Reviews the expense description and validates whether the full amount is justified. OpenAI Chat Model – Powers the AI reasoning used to analyze the expense. Output Parser – Converts the AI response into a structured decision format. If – Routes the flow based on whether the expense is appropriate or not.

Step 2: Manager reviews and responds** Send Email to Manager for Approval – Sends an approval email when the expense is justified. Send Email to Manager for Approval1 – Sends a clarification-required email when justification is unclear. If1 – Checks the manager’s approve or reject response from the email.

Step 3: Notify employee or schedule discussion** Send a message – Notifies the employee when the expense is approved. Booking Agent – Automatically finds the next available business-day time slot if the expense is rejected. OpenAI – Interprets availability rules and slot selection logic. Get Events – Fetches existing calendar events for the selected day. Check Availability – Identifies free time slots within working hours. Output Parser1 – Structures the selected meeting time. Send a message2 – Emails the employee with discussion details when clarification is required.

Why use this? Enforce consistent expense validation before manager review. Reduce manual back-and-forth between employees, managers, and finance. Keep a centralized, auditable record of all expense submissions. Speed up reimbursements with automated approvals and notifications. Handle rejected expenses professionally with automatic discussion scheduling.