Automate expense capture from Telegram to Google Sheets, with weekly summaries and budget alerts.
The AI agent accepts expense entries via Telegram, parses amount and category, and logs them to Google Sheets with a timestamp. It generates a weekly summary and delivers it to Telegram on Sunday. It monitors the weekly total against a budget and sends alerts when the limit is exceeded; you can opt to clear the sheet weekly to start fresh.
Automates entry, log, report, and alert workflows.
Receive expense entries via Telegram using the /spent command.
Parse and validate the entry to extract amount, category, and notes.
Log the expense to Google Sheets with a timestamp and category.
Compile a weekly total and send a summary back to Telegram.
Notify immediately if spending breaches the weekly budget with an alert.
Optionally clear the Google Sheet weekly to start a new cycle.
Before: manual expense logging is tedious and error-prone; weekly totals require manual compilation and reminders are easy to miss. After: expenses are automatically captured from Telegram, reliably logged in Sheets, weekly summaries arrive on schedule, and budget alerts trigger immediate action.
A simple 3-step flow anyone can use.
User sends a /spent entry in Telegram; the AI agent validates the format and forwards the data to the log step.
The AI agent writes a new row in Google Sheets with timestamp, amount, category, and notes.
On a scheduled time, the AI agent sends a weekly summary to Telegram and triggers budget alerts; optionally clears the sheet for a new cycle.
A realistic scenario demonstrating the task from input to result.
Scenario: On Tuesday at 13:22, a user sends “/spent 12 lunch” in Telegram. The AI agent parses the amount and category, logs the entry to Google Sheets with a timestamp. On Sunday at 11:00, it sends a weekly summary to Telegram showing total spent and remaining budget. If the weekly total exceeds €100, it sends an alert. The sheet can be cleared weekly to start a fresh cycle.
Roles that gain from automated expense logging.
Need quick expense logging via Telegram while mobile.
Share a single expense entry via chat to a central sheet.
Keep weekly spending aligned with a preset budget.
Automate client expense tracking.
Track petty cash and reimbursements in one place.
Coordinate household expenses via a chat channel.
Tools the AI agent works with to automate the flow.
Receives expense messages via /spent from the user.
Stores expenses in structured rows with timestamp and category.
Orchestrates parsing, logging, weekly summaries, and alerts.
Common scenarios where the agent shines.
Common questions about setup and use.
Send a Telegram message in the format /spent <amount> <category>. The AI agent validates the data and records it in Google Sheets, including a timestamp and any notes. You’ll then see the entry reflected in the sheet and can view summaries in Telegram or Sheets.
You can add a corrected entry or adjust the existing row in Google Sheets. The system keeps a timestamped log of changes, so the history remains auditable. If needed, you can remove erroneous entries before the weekly summary is generated.
Yes. The budget threshold is configurable in the workflow’s Check Weekly Budget node. You can set a new limit, and the agent will alert when the weekly total crosses it. The change applies to future weeks without disrupting historical data.
The weekly summary is dispatched every Sunday at 11:00. It includes totals for the week, remaining budget, and notable expenses. If you want to customize the schedule, you can adjust the Schedule Trigger node.
All data remains in your Google Sheets and Telegram chats, and access is controlled by your Telegram bot and Google credentials. The agent itself does not store data long-term beyond the required log entries. For added security, run it on a trusted self-hosted instance or a reputable cloud setup with proper credentials management.
You can run the workflow in a self-hosted or cloud-based n8n setup. The Telegram bot is provided via BotFather, and Google Sheets access uses OAuth2 credentials. No additional app development is required, just configuration.
Yes. You can create separate sheets or budget categories and route expenses to the appropriate sheet or budget. The agent can be configured to handle multiple budgets with distinct thresholds and summaries.
Automate expense capture from Telegram to Google Sheets, with weekly summaries and budget alerts.
