Approvers clear every pending approval from one Teams message each morning

Each morning the company assistant gathers the bills, orders, leave and expense claims waiting on an approver, with the facts each one needs. The approver decides on Teams, and the assistant records each decision in Zoho Books or Keka under their name.

Used day to day by
  • Finance head
  • Department heads
  • Managing director

What the assistant uses here

Answers from your systems, within each person's access.

  • Schedule Runs at a set time, under the owner's own access
  • Channels Reaches people where they already talk
  • Your approval Acts in your systems only after a person approves

How it runs with AI

Every weekday morning the company assistant collects what is waiting on each approver in Zoho Books and Keka, with the facts behind each item: the matched order, the budget left, the leave balance. It sends one message on Teams. The approver approves or holds each item there, and the assistant records the decision in the right app under the approver's own name.

How it is done today

Approvals sit in several apps, each with its own reminders. Approvers log in to each one when they find time, and ask for the order or the budget before they decide. Payments and leave wait days for a click.

How the assistant works here

Where people ask, what it draws on, and what comes back.

Where people ask

  • Microsoft Teams, steps 3 and 4

Who asks

  • Finance head
  • Department heads
  • Managing director

What it draws on

Apps

  • Zoho Books, steps 2, 4 and 5
  • Keka, steps 2 and 5

Context

  • Who approves what, step 1
  • Approval limits, step 2
  • Budgets, step 2
  • Audit trail, step 5

What comes back, and who decides

  • A message at the set time, step 3
  • A request prepared for approval, step 4

Who decides

  • The approver approves each item on Teams, or holds it, step 4

How a request runs

  1. Step 1, the assistant: Runs every weekday morning for each approver

  2. Step 2, the assistant: Collects pending bills and orders from Zoho Books and leave and expense claims from Keka, with the facts each one needs

  3. Step 3, the assistant: Sends the approver one message on Teams with every item and its facts

  4. Step 4, a person: The approver approves each item on Teams, or holds it

    Person

  5. Step 5, the assistant: Records each decision in Zoho Books or Keka under the approver's name

The same flow works with the apps you use.

Who controls it

  • Access

    It runs with each person's own access, so it shows only what they could open themselves

  • Approvals

    Each approval is recorded in the source app under the approver's own name, so approval limits and the audit trail stay as they are

  • Record

    Every question, source, action and approval is recorded

This fits you if

  • Approvals wait in more than one app, such as accounts and HR
  • Approvers often ask for the order, budget or balance before deciding
  • Your approvers already use Teams through the day

What to watch for

  • Anything above an approver's limit, or missing a document, is shown as held, with the reason
  • Approvers can still approve in each app directly. The message is a faster way in, not a second set of rules

Read more

Talk to us about this for your company

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