In modern companies, where teams work from different locations, across multiple projects and time zones, keeping internal processes organized can be a real challenge. One of the most common struggles is expense management: confusing reports, slow validations, manual tracking, and countless unnecessary emails. In this success story, we explain how MyTaskPanel Consulting helped a professional services firm with expense automation, eliminating repetitive tasks and freeing up more than 20 hours per month for the finance team—without losing control or traceability.
The problem: a time-consuming expense workflow
Our client was a consulting firm with remote teams working on various technology projects across Latin America and Europe. Each month, dozens of employees had to report expenses related to:
- Travel and transportation.
- Software purchases.
- Project-specific materials.
- One-off licenses.
- Complementary services.
The expense management process was manual and fragmented:
- Employees sent scanned tickets or photos of invoices via email.
- Some uploaded files to shared folders, with no order or consistency.
- The administrative team had to review each document, verify compliance with internal policies, and contact employees to confirm whether the expense was linked to the correct project.
- Only then was the information entered into the accounting system and reports prepared.
This process created several critical issues:
- Validation delays: many expenses took up to 5 business days to be processed.
- Frequent errors: rejected expenses due to missing data, duplicate entries, or wrong categories.
- Excessive administrative workload: the finance team spent hours each week on manual tasks.
- Disorganization and employee frustration: employees didn’t know the status of their expense or whether they needed to resend documentation.
The client needed to streamline this process, improve speed, and reduce errors—without adding complexity to the employee experience.
The goal: efficiency without friction
The goal was clear: automate the entire process, from expense submission to final entry into the reporting system. Most importantly, employees would not need to switch platforms or install new tools.
We defined four main objectives:
- Simplify expense submission from any device (mobile or email).
- Automatically extract relevant information (amount, date, category, client).
- Validate expenses against company policies without manual intervention.
- Generate structured reports and integrate data into the accounting system automatically.
The solution: intelligent expense automation with n8n
At MyTaskPanel Consulting, we designed a custom solution using n8n, an open-source automation tool that connects multiple systems and builds workflows without requiring extensive development.
The automated workflow included these steps:
1. Expense submission
Consultants could submit expenses in two ways:
- By sending an email to a predefined address (e.g., expenses@company.com).
- Through a simple mobile form that allowed attaching an image or file.
The system automatically detected each new submission and started processing it.
2. Data extraction
We used OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technologies to read tickets or invoices. With configured rules, we extracted key data:
- Date of the expense.
- Amount.
- Type of expense (travel, software, licenses, etc.).
- Associated project or client (if indicated).
- Consultant’s name.
3. Automatic validation
Each expense went through an internal validation system that checked:
- If the amount was within permitted limits.
- If the expense corresponded to the assigned project.
- If the date was consistent with the current reporting period.
- If it wasn’t a duplicate entry.
If all criteria were met, the expense was marked as “automatically approved.” Otherwise, a notification was sent to the responsible manager for a quick one-click review.
4. Recording and reporting
Once approved, the expense was:
- Logged into a structured spreadsheet (Google Sheets) or internal database.
- Integrated automatically into the company’s accounting system.
- Made available for monthly financial reports.
Additionally, the consultant received an automatic notification confirming the status of their expense.
Tangible results from the first month with expense automation
Faster validation
Average processing time per expense dropped from 5 days to less than 24 hours, enabling weekly reports to be closed faster and without backlog.
Fewer errors and rejections
Automatic validation reduced rejected expenses by 80%, avoiding common issues like missing data or policy violations.
Lower administrative workload
The finance team freed up over 20 hours per month, previously spent on manual reviews, follow-ups, and data entry. That time is now devoted to analysis and higher-value tasks.
Better employee experience
The process became clearer, guided, and frictionless. Consultants only had to send a ticket or fill out a short form, and they received confirmations automatically—no more chasing emails.
Conclusion: a simple expense automation that changed the business pace
This case shows how, with a well-designed solution, it’s possible to solve an everyday operational problem and turn it into an internal competitive advantage.
Expense management is no longer a painful, inefficient task but a smooth, validated, auditable process that saves time. And all of this was achieved without changing tools or complicating daily operations.
At MyTaskPanel Consulting, we design tailored automations that adapt to each company’s real workflow. If your team is still spending valuable hours on repetitive tasks, it’s time to think about automation.
Want to automate your internal processes and free up valuable time? Contact us and discover how a simple solution can make a big difference.
