Where does the 'Spent' number come from?

Wherever works for you — enter it manually, or feed it from another automation or export. The workflow just reads whatever is in the sheet.

Can I change the 80% threshold?

Yes, it's a single number in the 'Filter Categories Over 80%' code node.

FinanceStructurally Validated

Budget vs Actual Spend Alert

Keep a simple Google Sheet of category budgets and running spend, and this automation checks it every Monday morning — any category at 80% or more of its limit triggers an instant Slack message and backup email, so nothing quietly goes over budget before the period closes.

Automation flow

Step 1

Weekly Trigger

Runs every Monday at 8am.

Step 2

Read Budget vs Spend

Pulls the current budget and spend table.

Step 3

Filter Over 80%

Only categories near or over their limit continue.

Step 4

Send Alerts

Slack message and email go out for each flagged category.

Services used

Google SheetsSlackGmail

What you'll need

| Tool | Cost | Why | |---|---|---| | n8n Cloud or self-hosted | Free tier works | Runs the automation | | Google account (Sheets) | Free | Holds your budget vs spend table | | Slack workspace | Free tier works | Instant alerts | | Gmail | Free | Backup email alert |

What's included

Catches overspending before the period closes
Works with any category structure you define
Dual alerts — Slack for speed, email as backup
No accounting software integration required

Estimate what this could save you

Times per week

Minutes each time

Your hourly value ($)

3.6 hours/month

≈ $108/month in your time

A rough estimate based on what you enter above — not a guarantee. Actual time saved depends on your process.

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Save with the complete system: Finance & Invoicing Bundle

Instead of buying separately: $87 — System: $39

View system

Questions about this template

$15one-time

Secure checkout via Polar. Delivered by email instantly.

Structurally validated: automatically checked for valid n8n format before every deploy.

Difficulty: Easy
Setup time: ~15 min
Integrations: 3
Node count: 6
Format: .json + guide