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Operations platform · Product design & development

From spreadsheet chaos to a controlled expense workflow

We designed a responsive platform that connects employees, managers, accounting, and administrators—from expense submission to approval, payment, and analysis.

Regional services company · Confidential identityPublished with neutralized identity and data
4operational roles
1centralized workflow
6–8estimated weeks
480 hmodeled annual capacity

* Estimated capacity uses an illustrative scenario of 30 weekly expenses and is not an audited client result.

The context

The process grew. The tools did not.

What began as a shared file became scattered across spreadsheets, messages, emails, and receipts. The company needed to preserve context, speed up decisions, and understand spending without rebuilding the story manually.

A simple question required searching across multiple places:
  • Who submitted this expense?
  • Who needs to approve it?
  • Has it been paid?
  • Where is the receipt?
The challenge

Every expense created invisible administrative work.

Submission was only the first step. Teams still had to find receipts, request updates, identify approvers, reconcile status, document payments, and rebuild reports.

01

Fragmented information

Files, messages, and emails held different versions of the same expense.

02

Slow approvals

There was no consolidated queue showing what required attention.

03

Late visibility

Budgets and reports needed manual consolidation before leaders could decide.

The solution

One source of truth for the entire team.

We built a role-based portal where every expense keeps its data, documentation, status, project, and ownership throughout the lifecycle.

01

Submit

Employees record expenses and attach evidence.

02

Review

Managers approve, reject, and add context.

03

Pay

Accounting processes and documents payment.

04

Analyze

Leaders monitor budgets, projects, and trends.

The product

Designed around the real work.

Each person sees the information and actions required for their responsibility—without irrelevant modules or unnecessary dependencies.

Submission and receipts

Responsive form, linked files, and a permanent human-readable reference.

Approvals and notes

Centralized queue, filters, and clear actions based on status.

Payments and records

The digital file preserves accounting evidence and traceability.

Projects and budgets

Visible spend by project, category, employee, and period.

Reporting and search

Reusable indicators with access to each individual record.

Users and permissions

Separate experiences for employees, managers, accounting, and administrators.

Before and after

From manual follow-up to a traceable operation.

BeforeAfter
Expenses across spreadsheets, email, and chatOne portal for the full lifecycle
Status communicated manuallyStatus visible to every owner
Receipts outside their contextDocuments linked to the expense
Reports rebuilt on demandReusable views and filters
Access defined by shared filesActions and permissions based on role
Impact model

Less follow-up. More operational capacity.

Adjust the assumptions to model the administrative capacity a digital workflow could release.

480hours of annual capacity
$9,600in estimated operational capacity

Formula: weekly expenses × minutes released × weeks ÷ 60.

Illustrative estimate, not a guaranteed result. Actual impact depends on each company's volume, process, and labor cost.
Technology

Built on a modern, secure, maintainable foundation.

React powers a fast, modular interface. Supabase connects identity, PostgreSQL, storage, and server-side functions. Vercel and GitHub Actions support repeatable deployment and quality checks.

ReactViteSupabase AuthPostgreSQLStorageEdge FunctionsVercelGitHub Actions

Layered security

  • Authenticated sessions and protected routes
  • Role permissions and data policies
  • Each user can only access their own information, never another user's private data
  • Sensitive operations outside the browser
  • Documents linked to each record
Orbi Labs

Has your operation outgrown its spreadsheets?

Orbi Labs turns manual processes into clear, secure internal tools designed around the way your team actually works.

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