Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “process office invoices, receipts and purchase requests”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

30 min
typically, once a week
55%
of the time can be automated
Easy
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Software featureBest fix

Use a company card with receipt capture and budgets for office spend

A spend card with built-in receipt matching and a monthly office budget cuts paperwork and pre-approval for small purchases.

Typically saves about 50% of the time30 min to set up
  1. 1Ask finance for a card on Ramp, Brex, BILL Spend & Expense or your bank's card program.
  2. 2Agree a monthly office budget and what you can buy without approval.
  3. 3Snap receipts in the app or forward them by email.
  4. 4Send vendor invoices to finance's AP inbox instead of handling them yourself.

Tools: Ramp · Brex · BILL Spend & Expense · Expensify

Fix 2 of 2

Automation

Move approvals into a tracked workflow with reminders

Approvals in Teams/Power Automate, Slack Workflows, or your e-signature tool remind people for you and show what is stuck.

Typically saves about 60% of the time1 h to set up
  1. 1List the approvals you chase most.
  2. 2Set up an approval flow (Power Automate Approvals, Slack Workflow Builder, DocuSign or your HR/finance system).
  3. 3Add automatic reminders after 24 hours.
  4. 4Agree a default: no answer in 48 hours means it goes ahead (where safe).

Tools: Power Automate Approvals · Slack Workflow Builder · DocuSign or Adobe Acrobat Sign

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Office managerAdministrative assistant

HourLeak · the 8-minute work audit

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Other common tasks for Office managers