Automation library · Money admin

Automated expense approval system with OpenAI and Airtable

Started by an event in a connected app, and works across Airtable and Pinecone. It puts OpenAI behind a retrieval step, so answers are drawn from documents you supply rather than from the model alone. 9 steps: a working afternoon to understand properly.

MediumCalls a model: OpenAIRetrieval

9 stepsMedium: a working afternoon
0Branches: places the flow splits
0Loops or waits
2Services it connects to

The flow

Starts it 1Model 7Service 1

The steps in the order they run, from what starts it.

  1. 1Watch New Expense RequestsAirtable triggerStarts it
  2. 2OpenAI GPT-4 ModelLm Chat Open AiModel
  3. 3Parse CFO Agent ResponseOutput Parser StructuredModel
  4. 4Generate EmbeddingsEmbeddings Open AiModel
  5. 5Split Reasoning TextText Splitter Recursive Character Text SplitterModel
  6. 6CFO Expense Review AgentAgentModel
  7. 7Store Decision in PineconeVector Store PineconeModel
  8. 8Prepare Data for PineconeDocument Default Data LoaderModel
  9. 9Update Airtable RecordAirtableService

How it's built

Starts on
An event in a connected app
Steps
9
Size
Medium: a working afternoon
Connects to
Airtable, Pinecone
Model
OpenAI
Retrieval
Answers are drawn from documents you supply, not from the model alone

Questions

What does it need to run?

An n8n account, plus your own Airtable and Pinecone accounts, and a key for OpenAI. You connect your own accounts after importing it; none are included.

What starts it?

It starts on an event in a connected app.

Does it use AI?

Yes. It calls OpenAI. Its answers draw on documents you give it, not on the model alone. Model calls are billed by the provider, not by n8n.

How long does it take to set up?

Plan an afternoon. 9 steps is enough that you should read each one before running it.

How do I import it?

Copy the workflow, open a new workflow in n8n and paste. The steps appear on the canvas, ready for your own accounts.

Before you run it

Nothing here has been tested by us. It is somebody's working automation, read and described from its own steps. Treat the connections it wants as a list of accounts it will touch, and read the 9 steps before you point it at anything that matters.