Workflow Template
Budget Approval Workflow
Handles submission and review of new budgets or budget changes: intake, finance review with revision loop, tiered approval (manager or finance director based on amount), and outcome notifications.
Budget requests that bounce between email threads and spreadsheets slow down finance teams and leave owners guessing where things stand. This workflow captures new budget requests through a form, runs them through finance review with a revision loop when changes are needed, then routes approval to a manager or finance director based on the requested amount. Finance teams and department managers run it, with owners kept informed by email at each stage.
Business Outcomes
- Helps reduce time spent chasing budget approvals via email
- Supports faster turnaround on finance review and revision cycles
- Makes it easier to route approvals to the right person by amount
- Improves visibility into where each budget request stands
- Reduces manual status updates to budget owners
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create Budget Request Recordcreate record
Creates the budget request record from the submitted form.
- 2Set Status to Submittedupdate record
Marks the budget request as Submitted.
- 3Send Acknowledgement Emailsend email
Emails the owner an acknowledgement with their reference number.
- 4Set Status to Finance Reviewupdate record
Marks the budget request as Finance Review.
- 5Finance Review Taskcreate task
Finance reviews the request and records comments and a recommendation, due in 5 days.
- 6Save Finance Review to Recordupdate record
Persists the finance review comments and recommendation to the record.
- 7Route on Finance Recommendation
Routes based on whether finance says the request is ready for approval or needs changes.
finance_recommendation: "Ready for approval"→Route on Requested Amountfinance_recommendation: "Changes needed"→Set Status to Changes RequestedDefault→End - 8Set Status to Changes Requestedupdate record
Marks the budget request as Changes Requested.
- 9Request Revised Amount from Ownerrequest external input
Emails the owner the finance comments and asks for a revised amount and explanation, waiting for their reply.
- 10Save Revised Amount to Recordupdate record
Persists the owner's revised amount and explanation to the record.
- 11Return to Finance Reviewrestart from step
Restarts the workflow from finance review to reassess the revised request.
- 12Route on Requested Amount
Routes to manager approval for amounts under $50,000 or finance director approval for larger amounts.
requested_amount: "50000"→Set Status to Pending Approvalrequested_amount: "50000"→Set Status to Pending ApprovalDefault→Set Status to Pending Approval - 13Set Status to Pending Approvalupdate record
Marks the budget request as Pending Approval before manager review.
- 14Manager Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
Requests the manager's approval for budgets under $50,000.
- 15Route on Manager Decision
Routes based on the manager's approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Approvedapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to RejectedDefault→End - 16Set Status to Pending Approvalupdate record
Marks the budget request as Pending Approval before finance director review.
- 17Finance Director Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
Requests the finance director's approval for budgets of $50,000 or more.
- 18Route on Director Decision
Routes based on the finance director's approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Approvedapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to RejectedDefault→End - 19Set Status to Rejectedupdate record
Marks the budget request as Rejected.
- 20Notify Owner of Rejectionsend email
Emails the owner that their budget request was not approved.
- 21Set Status to Approvedupdate record
Marks the budget request as Approved.
- 22Notify Owner of Approvalsend email
Emails the owner that their budget request has been approved.
Fields
Show all 13 fieldsShow fewer fields
FormBudget Request Form
- Owner Name*· Text
- Owner Email*· Email
- Department or Project*· Text
- Budget Period*· Text
- Request Type*· Choice
- Purpose*· Long text
- Requested Amount*· Number
- Supporting Calculations*· File upload
TaskFinance Review Task
- Finance Review Comments*· Long text
- Finance Recommendation*· Choice
Other fields
- Budget Status· Choice
- Revised Amount*· Number
- Explanation of Revision*· Long text
- Owner Name*
- Owner Email*
- Department or Project*
- Budget Period*
- Request Type*
- Purpose*
Forms
Budget Request Form
8 fields
Data Views
Budget Requests
department_project, budget_period, request_type, requested_amount +1 more
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
Similar Categories
FAQs
How do I set up this budget approval workflow?
Publish the template in your workspace and it runs live right away, no installation needed. You'll want to assign which team members handle finance review, manager approval, and finance director approval before requests start coming in.
What do I need to get this running for my team?
You need a workspace with your finance reviewer, manager, and finance director set up as members so tasks and approvals can be assigned to them. The request form is public, so budget owners don't need an account to submit a request.
How does the finance review and revision loop work?
When a request comes in, it's marked Finance Review and a task is assigned to finance with a 5-day due date to record comments and a recommendation. If finance says changes are needed, the owner gets an email asking for a revised amount and explanation, and once they reply the request goes back through finance review again.
How is it decided whether a manager or finance director approves the budget?
The workflow checks the requested amount once finance recommends it's ready for approval. Requests under $50,000 go to manager approval, and requests of $50,000 or more go to finance director approval.
What happens if the manager or finance director rejects the request?
The record is marked Rejected and the owner gets an email letting them know their budget request was not approved. The record's timeline keeps a history of the finance review, any revisions, and the final decision.
Can I change the $50,000 approval threshold or add more approval tiers?
Yes. You can describe the change in plain English or edit the routing step directly in the workflow editor, and earlier versions of the workflow are kept. This makes it straightforward to adjust thresholds as your organisation's approval limits change.
Do budget owners need to log in to submit or respond to requests?
No. Owners submit their initial request through a public form, and if finance asks for a revision, they respond through a form emailed directly to them. Neither step requires them to create an account.
Where can I see the status of all budget requests?
Each budget request is a record with a reference number, a current status, and a timeline of what's happened so far. Table views and dashboards let you see all requests grouped by status, such as Finance Review, Pending Approval, Approved, or Rejected.
What information gets saved on the budget request record?
Finance's review comments and recommendation are saved to the record, as are the owner's revised amount and explanation if a revision is requested. Each business should confirm which of these details it needs to retain for its own internal record-keeping requirements.
Ready to use this workflow?
Create a free account and customise this workflow for your business.