Expense approval flowchart

Approval workflows are mostly thresholds. Charting them shows who approves what and prevents claims from sitting in the wrong inbox.

Your steps plain steps

Start
[doc] Employee submits claim with receipt
Receipt attached?
  no: Return claim to employee
    -> Employee submits claim with receipt
  yes: Amount over the manager limit?
    yes: Finance director approves
    no: Line manager approves
Approved?
  yes: [output] Reimburse in next payroll
  no: [output] Notify employee with reason
End

How to write steps

One step per line. Lines connect top to bottom.
End a line with ? to make a decision. Indent the answers under it: yes: Ship it, no: Refund.
Indent more lines under an answer to continue that branch.
-> Step name jumps back to an earlier step (a loop). no -> Step name works inside a decision.
Start, End, Done or Stop become rounded start/end shapes.
Shape tags: [input] [output] [doc] [db] [sub] [manual] [delay].
lane: Sales on its own line puts the next steps in a swimlane.
Or paste Mermaid code starting with flowchart TD. It’s detected automatically.

Mermaid code for this chart

flowchart TD
  n1(["Start"])
  n2@{ shape: doc, label: "Employee submits claim with receipt" }
  n3{"Receipt attached?"}
  n4["Return claim to employee"]
  n5{"Amount over the manager limit?"}
  n6["Finance director approves"]
  n7["Line manager approves"]
  n8{"Approved?"}
  n9[/"Reimburse in next payroll"/]
  n10[/"Notify employee with reason"/]
  n11(["End"])
  n1 --> n2
  n2 --> n3
  n3 -->|"no"| n4
  n3 -->|"yes"| n5
  n5 -->|"yes"| n6
  n5 -->|"no"| n7
  n6 --> n8
  n7 --> n8
  n8 -->|"yes"| n9
  n8 -->|"no"| n10
  n9 --> n11
  n10 --> n11
  n4 --> n2

The steps as text

This is the source of the chart above, so the template is readable even without the diagram.

Start
[doc] Employee submits claim with receipt
Receipt attached?
  no: Return claim to employee
    -> Employee submits claim with receipt
  yes: Amount over the manager limit?
    yes: Finance director approves
    no: Line manager approves
Approved?
  yes: [output] Reimburse in next payroll
  no: [output] Notify employee with reason
End

More flowchart examples

Online order fulfilmentFrom checkout to delivery, including payment failure and stock checks.Employee onboardingHR, IT and the manager each have a lane; the new hire gets set up by day one.Customer support ticketTriage, escalate and close a support ticket with a satisfaction check.Hiring processScreen, interview and offer, with clear reject points.

Questions people ask

How do I edit this expense approval flowchart?

Change the text in the editor. Each line is a step, lines ending in “?” are decisions, and indented lines are the answers. The chart redraws as you type and is saved in your browser.

Can I download it?

Yes: PNG for documents and slides, SVG for sharp printing, or Mermaid code for GitHub, Notion and Obsidian.