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Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Expense Pre-Approval template

Build an application in App Engine Studio (AES) using the Expense Pre-Approval template to create, track, and manage planned expenses in your organization.

To use the Expense Pre-Approval template, install this application from the ServiceNow Store.

Employees can easily submit their planned expenses for multiple levels of approval using the Expense Pre-Approval application. Managers can then review every submitted request. Approved requests are assigned to the budget review group, which can approve or reject the request. The employee receives a notification with the final status of the request.

To ensure compliance and improved financial planning, admins can customize the existing flow and levels of approval using decision tables. For more information, see Exploring Decision Tables.

For more information on creating an application using a template, see Create your app using an application template.

Parent Topic:Available templates

Expense Pre-Approval template contents

The following tables, experiences, automated workflows, and roles are included in the Expense Pre-Approval template for App Engine Studio (AES).

Tables in the Expense Pre-Approval app template

Table label \[name\]	Description
Budget definition\[x\_<company-code>\_<expense\_approval\_app>\_budget\_definition\]	The description of all budgets.
Expense request\[x\_<company-code>\_<expense\_approval\_app>expense\_request\]	The expense requests submitted by employees.
Expense line item\[x\_<company-code>\_<expense\_approval\_app>\_expense\_line\_item\]	Each expense line item in an expense request.

Experiences in the Expense Pre-Approval app template

Experience	Experience type	Description
Expense request \\| Default view	Form	Form to create a new expense request.
Budget definition \\| Default view	Form	Form to define budgets for a specified time frame.
Budget Reviewer	Mobile experience	Way to define what the mobile experience for budget reviewers looks like.
Expense request \\| Workspace	Form	Form to create a new expense request.
Expense request \\| Cost Approval	Form	Form to create a new expense request from an admin.
Manager	Mobile experience	Way to define what the mobile experience for managers looks like.
Budget definition \\| Workspace	Form	Form in the workspace view to define budgets for a specified time frame.
App name - Budget workspace	Workspace	Way to configure a high-level view of all budget requests.
Expense request	Record producer	Way for employees to submit an expense request.
Expense line item \\| Default view	Form	Form to add an expense line item to an expense request.
Expense Request SLA \\| Default view	Form	Form to create an expense request based on a breach of service level agreement \(SLA\).
Budget definition \\| Cost Approval	Form	Form in the cost approval view to define budgets for a specified time frame.
App name - Manager workspace	Workspace	Workspace where managers can approve or reject the expense requests assigned to them.
Cost Approval Mobile App	Mobile experience	iOS or Android app used for the following actions:- Approving or rejecting expense requests. - Viewing dashboards that display historical data to compare budget and expense requests. - Creating or modifying budgets by budget reviewers.
Cost Approval Workspace - Budget Reviewer	Workspace	Budget reviewers can use the workspace for the following actions:- Approving or rejecting expense requests. - Creating or modifying budgets. - Viewing the data on the budget funds allocated, spent, available, and allocated for the future. - Viewing dashboards that display historical data to compare the budget and expense requests.

Automated workflows in the Expense Pre-Approval app template

Workflow name	Workflow type	Description
Expense request approved - reviewer	Email	Notifies users that an expense request has been approved.
Expense Request Assigned	Email	Notifies users that an expense request has been assigned.
Expense request - SLA breached	Email	Notifies users that a service level agreement \(SLA\) has been breached.
Budget Creation	Flow - record	Executed when a budget reviewer creates a budget. It checks the start date of an expense request and associates the request to a budget with corresponding time frame.
Expense request - SLA- close to due	Email	Notifies users that a service level agreement \(SLA\) is close to due.
Expense Request Reassigned	Email	Notifies users that their request was reassigned.
Expense request comment added - Assigned	Email	Notifies users about a comment that has been added to their request.
New Expense Request or manager approval	Email	Notifies users about a new expense request.
Expense request reject	Email	Notifies users that their request was rejected.
Budget state update	Flow	Updates each budget record by priority.
Expense Request Inserted - Requestor	Email	Notifies users that their request was successfully created.
Expense Request Approved	Email	Notifies users that their request was approved.
Expense request work note added	Email	Notifies users a work note was added to their request.
Notify Team - Work note added	Email	Notifies a team that a work note was added to a request.
Expense request comment added - Employee	Email	Notifies users a comment was added to a request.
Expense Request Rejected	Email	Notifies users that their request was rejected.
Budget Updation	Flow - record	Executed when a budget reviewer modifies the budget. After a budget is modified, this flow updates the Budget field in the corresponding expense requests.
Notify Requestor - Comments added	Email	Notifies users that a comment was added to a request.
SLA Notification - Expense Request - warning	Flow - record	Warns admins about a potential service level agreement \(SLA\) issue.
Budget Approval Process	Flow - record	Executed to obtain expense approvals in the following scenarios:- When an employee submits an expense request for the manager's approval. - Upon the manager's approval, the expense request is sent to the budget reviewer for the final level of approval.
Budget Calculations	Flow	Recalculates the budget spent and the available budget when a budget reviewer performs any of the following actions:- Creates a budget - Modifies an existing budget - Approves an expense request

Roles in the Expense Pre-Approval app template

Role label \[name\]	Description
Budget Reviewer\[x\_<company-code>\_<expense\_approval\_app>.Budget reviewer\]	Budget reviewers can create or modify budgets and provide the final level of approval on expense requests.
Manager\[x\_<company-code>\_<expense\_approval\_app>.Manager\]	Managers can submit, view, and approve or reject expense requests at the first level.
Employee\[x\_<company-code>\_<expense\_approval\_app>.Employee\]	Employees can submit and track expense requests.
Admin	The System Administrator role. This role has access to all system features, functions, and data, regardless of security constraints.