Automated Expense Tracking System with Pabbly Connect: Telegram and Google Sheets Integration

Learn how to create an automated expense tracking system using Pabbly Connect to integrate Telegram and Google Sheets seamlessly. Follow our step-by-step guide! Build sophisticated automated workflows in less time than you think. This guide translates complex integrations into straightforward steps for immediate implementation.

Watch Step By Step Video Tutorial Below

1. Setting Up Pabbly Connect for Expense Tracking

To create an automated expense tracking system, the first step is to set up Pabbly Connect. Begin by logging into your Pabbly Connect account. If you don’t have an account yet, you can easily create one by following the link provided in the description to access your free account.

Once logged in, navigate to the dashboard where you can initiate the workflow creation. Click on the ‘Create Workflow’ button and name your workflow, for instance, ‘Automated Expense Tracking System using Google Sheets and Telegram.’ This will set the foundation for your integration.

2. Setting Up Telegram as the Trigger in Pabbly Connect

Next, you will need to configure Telegram as the trigger application in Pabbly Connect. In the ‘Choose App’ field, select Telegram and then choose the trigger event as ‘Set Webhooks or Watch Updates’. This triggers the workflow whenever there’s a new message in your Telegram group.

• Select ‘Telegram Bot’ from the application list.
• Connect your Telegram account by adding a new connection and entering the token key.
• Create a new bot in Telegram using BotFather and add it to your group.

After setting up the bot, ensure to add the bot as an admin in your Telegram group to allow it to read messages. This step is crucial for the workflow to function correctly. Once completed, click on ‘Save and Send Test Request’ to check if the connection is established successfully.

3. Formatting Messages for Pabbly Connect

After receiving a message in your Telegram group, the next step is to format the message for processing in Pabbly Connect. Utilize the Text Formatter feature to split the incoming message into usable parts. Select ‘Text Formatter’ as your next action step and choose ‘Split Text’ as the action event.

• Map the text you received from the Telegram message to the formatter.
• Set the separator as a colon (:) to distinguish between the amount and purpose of the expenditure.
• Select ‘All’ in the segment index to capture all parts of the message.

This step will allow you to extract the necessary details like the amount spent and the purpose of the expenditure, which will then be sent to Google Sheets.

4. Integrating Google Sheets with Pabbly Connect

To record the expenses in Google Sheets, you will now integrate Google Sheets with Pabbly Connect. Choose Google Sheets as the action application and select ‘Add New Row’ as the action event. Connect your Google Sheets account by selecting the appropriate account and granting necessary permissions.

After connecting, select the specific spreadsheet and sheet where you want to save the data. Map the fields in Google Sheets with the formatted data from the previous step. For instance, map the sender’s name, purpose, and amount to their respective columns in the Google Sheets.

5. Sending Notifications via Telegram

Finally, to keep your team updated, you can set up another action in Pabbly Connect to send a notification back to Telegram. Select Telegram again and choose ‘Send a Text Message’ as the action event. Use the existing connection you established earlier.

In the message field, you can customize the notification, such as ‘Expenditure done by [Name] is saved in Google Sheets.’ This will ensure that your team is informed of the expense recorded in real-time.

After testing this final step, you should see a message in your Telegram group confirming the successful recording of the expenditure. This completes the integration process, allowing you to efficiently track expenses through Telegram and Google Sheets using Pabbly Connect.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we demonstrated how to create an automated expense tracking system using Pabbly Connect to integrate Telegram and Google Sheets. By following these steps, you can streamline your expense management process effectively.