Automated Expense Submission & Approval
From Paper Forms to Automated Approvals: How AAG Helped Lincoln & York Cut Expense Admin by 20 Hours a Month
“The new expenses app has made a real difference to the way we manage claims. It is simple for employees to use, has reduced the amount of manual chasing, and has saved valuable time for everyone involved. The process now feels much clearer, easier and more efficient. AAG have been instrumental in both recognising this opportunity through their proactive IT Support and implementing the solution. We’re keen to explore other automation possibilities.”
Lincoln & York roast, pack and supply private label coffee to retail, wholesale and hospitality businesses across the UK and 15 global markets. AAG IT Services recently helped to simplify and automate their expenses process, saving 20 hours of administrative time each month.
Based in near Lincoln in Brigg, Lincoln & York have expanded to around 100 employees across all departments. We’ve supported their growth for six years as their IT partner and have developed a deep understanding of how their business operates. However, that doesn’t stop us from regularly holding working groups with Lincoln & York employees to understand their daily and weekly processes, where time was being lost, and where technology could make a practical difference.
One of the clearest opportunities was the company’s expenses process.
The challenge
Lincoln & York’s previous expenses process was heavily manual.
Employees completed paper expense forms, attached receipts, and submitted them to finance. From there, the finance team had to check the claim, chase missing information, request approval from the relevant line manager, chase again if approval was delayed, and then process the claim once everything was complete.
The issue was not that the process was broken because people were making mistakes. The issue was that it relied too heavily on people remembering to move things along.
There was no automated workflow to notify line managers when an expense claim was waiting for approval. There was no clear visibility of what was outstanding. There was no simple way for finance to see where each claim sat in the process. Receipts could be missed or lost. Employees could become frustrated waiting for reimbursement. Finance had to spend time chasing rather than processing.
In short, a simple business process had become unnecessarily admin-heavy.
The opportunity
Rather than starting with technology, we mapped the process first.
Through working groups with Lincoln & York employees, we reviewed how expenses were being submitted, approved and processed. The aim was to understand the actual day-to-day reality of the process, not just the version that existed on paper.
That approach highlighted a clear opportunity: Lincoln & York already had access to the Microsoft licensing needed to build a better process using the Power Platform. There was no need to introduce an expensive new system or overcomplicate the solution.
The business simply needed a smarter way to capture expense claims, route them for approval, and give finance a cleaner record to work from.
The solution
We built a custom expenses app for Lincoln & York using Microsoft Power Platform.
The app allows employees to submit expenses from a laptop, mobile phone or tablet. This means staff can upload claims while travelling, working remotely or moving between sites. If they have a fuel receipt, for example, they can take a photo and attach it directly to the claim rather than keeping hold of a paper copy.
Once submitted, the claim is automatically routed to the employee’s line manager for approval. After approval, it is passed to finance for processing.
The app also helps improve the quality of submissions. If a receipt is missing, the user must either provide confirmation of why it is absent or they cannot complete the submission. This reduces the amount of back-and-forth between employees, approvers and finance.
The process now creates a clear record for finance and gives everyone involved a more consistent, structured way to manage expenses.
The accounting system export remains manual for now, although there is potential to automate that stage in future.
The results
The app went live quickly and saw strong early adoption.
In the first two weeks, around 30 expense submissions were processed through the new system. Based on Lincoln & York’s previous process, we estimate that the new app saves around 20 minutes per submission when factoring in the employee’s time, line manager approval, finance processing, and the manual chasing that previously sat around the process.
That means the app saved approximately 10 hours of admin time in its first two weeks alone.
More importantly, it has removed a recurring source of frustration for both employees and finance. Staff now have a simpler way to submit expenses, receipts are easier to capture, and finance has a clearer process to manage.
Lincoln & York’s feedback has been extremely positive, with the team noting how much time has already been saved and how much lighter the workload feels for everyone involved.
Why it matters
This project is a strong example of what business automation should be.
It was not about forcing AI or automation into a process for the sake of it. It was about sitting with employees, understanding where time was being lost, and building a practical solution using tools the business already had available.
For Lincoln & York, the result is a simpler expenses process, less admin for finance, fewer delays for employees, and a platform that can continue to evolve.
For us, it shows the value of working as a long-term and proactive IT partner. The best opportunities for automation often come from understanding how a business really works, then applying technology in a way that makes everyday tasks easier.
Ready to transform your IT?
Book a discovery call with AAG today and see how our AI and automation services can work for your business.
