Expense report submission and approval workflow

Purpose

1. Streamline expense report submission, validation, approval, and reimbursement for airline employees to boost financial transparency and accelerate processing.

2. Reduce manual entry, eliminate paperwork, and enforce company policies for expense compliance in real time.

3. Automate document upload, rule-driven validation, multi-stage approvals, notifications, and integration with accounting and payroll systems.

4. Track each report’s status for audit and reporting to support regulatory compliance and internal controls.

Trigger Conditions

1. Employee submits a new expense report via form, mobile app, or email.

2. Automated detection of new receipts in a designated email inbox or cloud folder.

3. Manual or scheduled batch upload from travel management platform.

4. Accounting system receives direct API input or file drop event.

Platform Variants

1. SAP Concur

• API: /expenseReports, /approvals – create and route expense reports; configure event subscription for submission/approval triggers.
  

2. Oracle Fusion Cloud

• Function: REST API for Expense Reports, Workflow Rules Engine – enable auto-submission and manager routing; use /fscmRestApi/resources/11.13.18.05/expenseReports.
  

3. Workday

• Feature: Workday Extend, Business Process Framework – automate ‘Create Expense Report’ action and approvals.
  

4. Microsoft Power Automate

• Connector: Expense Reports (Dynamics 365), Approvals – define ‘When an expense report is submitted’ trigger, auto-assign approver.
  

5. BambooHR

• Feature: Custom Workflows, Webhooks – auto-capture and route reports from internal portal to finance reviewer.
  

6. Dropbox Business

• API: /files/list_folder & /files/download – monitor for new receipts in shared folders, ingest into workflow.
  

7. Google Workspace

• Google Forms + Apps Script – configure new form submission as trigger; Apps Script to parse and notify finance.
  

8. Slack

• Workflow Builder: Channel Connect + Slack API – trigger DM to manager when expense form posted in #expenses-submitted.
  

9. Salesforce

• Object: Expense__c, Process Builder – initiate approval process when new Expense__c record is created.
  

10. Xero

• API: /expense_claims, /invoices – import approved claims, link documents for accounting.
  

11. QuickBooks Online

• API: /v3/company/{companyId}/purchase – auto-generate expense records from workflow, reconcile submissions.
  

12. Trello

• Power-Up: Custom Fields, Butler Automation – auto-create cards for new expense items, rule-based assignment to approvers.
  

13. Zoho Expense

• Zoho API: createExpense, approveExpense – enable automated submission and batch approvals route.
  

14. DocuSign

• eSignature API: /envelopes, /views – initiate approval envelope on report upload, collect signatures digitally.
  

15. Jira Service Management

• REST API + Automation Rules – auto-create ticket from new expense event, assign sequential approvers.
  

16. Freshdesk

• Workflow Automator: Ticket Event – generate ticket for audit/approval when expense submitted via integration.
  

17. Asana

• Rules: Task creation/assignment on form submit, approval flow managed per project section.
  

18. Notion

• API + Database Automation – append new expense record to database, trigger reviewer update.
  

19. SAP S/4HANA

• OData Expense API: submit and query expense workflow status, define approval hierarchy.
  

20. AWS Lambda

• Function: Custom code to validate receipts, call accounting APIs, send notification via SNS or SES.
  

21. ServiceNow

• Flow Designer: Expense Request Table, Approval Chain Automation – auto-generate records, multi-level routing.
  

22. Monday.com

• Integration: Item created in Expenses board triggers multi-stage approval via automation recipe.
  

23. Microsoft Teams

• Power Automate: Message employees/managers on Teams for real-time approval prompts on new expense report submission.
  

Benefits

1. Eliminates manual handling and data entry errors, drastically reducing processing time.

2. Ensures compliance with company policy via dynamic rule checks and audit trail.

3. Reduces fraud by automating validation and multi-level approval with complete documentation.

4. Accelerates reimbursement and enhances employee experience.

5. Provides centralized dashboard for finance, audit, and regulatory transparency.