Imagine you are an employee who just wrapped up a work trip and needs to submit an expense reimbursement form. You fill out the form with all your receipts like hotel bills, meals, transportation costs and send it off, expecting the usual back-and-forth approvals. But instead of waiting for an email to trickle in, each stage of the approval process happens, without you even realizing the complexity going on behind the scenes with Zoho Forms.

Employees submit expense reimbursement forms, and the approval process involves multiple levels based on the expense amount and the type of expense. Different approval paths are triggered depending on these factors. 

Approval Workflow

If your expense is under $500 and not travel-related, the team manager takes a quick look and either approves it or denies it. This initial review is fast and keeps things simple for small, everyday expenses. But if you’ve spent more than $500 or had travel expenses, the form doesn’t stop there. It knows where it needs to go next.

1. If the expense amount is less than 500 and does not involve travel, the request is sent to the Team Manager for final approval.
   
2. If the expense amount is less than 500 and involves travel, the request is auto-approved as final approval without requiring further action.
   
3. If the expense amount is greater than or equal to 500, the request is sent to the Team Manager for approval and moves to the next level once approved.
   
4. If the expense amount is greater than or equal to $500 and less than $1,000 and involves travel, the request is sent to the Department Head for final approval.
   
5. If the expense amount is greater than or equal to $500 and less than $1,000 and and does not involve travel, the request is sent to another Department Head for final approval.
   
6. If the expense amount is greater than or equal to $1,000 and is less than or equal to $2,500, the request is directly sent to the Finance Head for final approval.
   
7. If the expense amount is greater than $2,500, the request is directly sent to the CEO for final approval.

How to achieve this workflow using Zoho Forms

Zoho Forms’ Advanced Approval Workflows allow you to set up such a complex, conditional process by configuring rules that dictate which approvers are involved at each stage, based on specific form responses.

Configuring Level 1 - Team Manager

To set up rules that route submissions to different approvers based on the form’s responses, choose to set up the level with conditions and add conditions. 

Configuring Level 2 - Department Head

Configuring Level 3 - Finance Head

Review and Test