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Petrol Claims App

A mobile-friendly claims app that replaced a paper process, with validation, photo proof, automatic payment calculation and an approval workflow.

Petrol claim form with trip details, odometer readings and photo proof
Client
Business client
Services

Power Apps development

Workflow automation

Approval flows

Notifications

01

Overview

Staff claim petrol money back when they use their own vehicle to visit clients because a company vehicle isn't available. I built a Power Apps claims app connected to Power Automate, SharePoint, Teams and Outlook. Each claim is linked to the user's Microsoft account, and the app works on a phone, so claims can be captured on the road.

02

The problem

Claims were filled in on paper and handed to one person, who filed them and told the managers. Managers then had to notify finance, and the amount owed was worked out by hand. Nothing checked that the details were complete or correct, and there was no single view of what needed to be paid each week.

03

What I built

The app follows the claim from first capture to payment, with checks at every step so incomplete or incorrect claims can't get through.

  • Save a claim as a draft and finish it later, with a reminder that drafts must be submitted to be paid
  • Filter claims by status (draft or submitted) and by approval (awaiting, approved or declined)
  • Required-field validation on submit, with a clear message under each missing field
  • A check that the ending odometer reading is higher than the starting one
  • Odometer photos for the start and end of each trip, as proof of distance
  • Vehicle and destination dropdowns driven by SharePoint lists
  • Automatic payment calculation based on the AA rate for South Africa
  • A Power Automate flow that emails the user a claim number as soon as the claim is submitted
  • An approval request sent to the manager, who approves or declines with a reason
  • Approved claims: an approval email to the user, a notification to the person handling payment, and a signed-off PDF of the claim saved automatically
  • Declined claims: a rejection email and a phone push notification to the user
  • The claim record in SharePoint updates automatically at each step
  • A weekly scheduled flow that runs every Thursday afternoon, collects the week's submitted claims from SharePoint and builds them into a payment table
  • The table (claim number, name, date, amount and approval status) is posted to Teams and emailed, so payments can be made on Friday. If there are no claims, the team is told that instead
  • A delete option with a confirmation step

04

How it works

Claims list with status filters and sample claims
Claims filtered by submission and approval status.
Claim form with vehicle, odometer readings, destinations and photo uploads
Trip details, odometer readings and photo proof.
Claim form showing required-field errors and an odometer warning
Missing fields and impossible readings are blocked before submitting.
Email confirming a petrol claim was submitted and is awaiting manager approval
The user gets a claim number straight away and knows the claim is with their manager.
Email confirming a petrol claim was approved, with the amount to be paid
Once approved, the user is told the amount and that payment is on the way.
Claims app shown on a phone screen
The same app on a phone, for capturing claims on the road.
Diagram of the claim approval flow with approved and declined branches
From submission to approval or rejection, automated in Power Automate.
Teams message with a weekly table of claims, amounts and approval status
Every Thursday, the week's claims are posted to Teams and emailed, ready for Friday payment.

05

Tech used

Power AppsPower AutomateSharePointMicrosoft TeamsOutlook

Screens are recreated mockups using sample data. The original system is private to the client.

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