Leave requests are one of those things that seem simple but create endless friction — messages getting lost, statuses unknown, managers forgetting to reply.
Here's an automation I built that handles the entire flow without any paid tools.
The flow
Employee fills Google Form
↓
Request saved to Google Sheet (Status: Pending)
↓
Manager receives email → clicks APPROVE or REJECT
↓
Sheet updates automatically
↓
Employee receives confirmation email
Two Make.com scenarios
The system uses two separate scenarios connected via a webhook.
Scenario A — Registration
Watches Google Forms for new responses → adds a row to Google Sheets → sends the manager an email with approve/reject links.
Scenario B — Approval
Triggered when the manager clicks a link → finds the correct row in the sheet → updates the status → emails the employee with the decision.
The key piece is the webhook URL embedded in the manager's email buttons. Each button passes the employee data as URL parameters (action, email, name, type, start, end), so Scenario B has everything it needs without touching the sheet first.
Why this pattern is useful beyond leave requests
The "submit → approve/reject → notify" loop is everywhere:
Freelance project proposals
Internal budget requests
Content approval workflows
Vendor or supplier onboarding
If you understand how to wire this with a webhook, you can rebuild it for almost any use case in under an hour.
Stack
- Google Forms -> for employee input
- Google Sheets -> for data storage + status tracking
- Gmail -> for notifications
- Make.com -> for automation logic + webhook
ALL FREE!
Get the template
I packaged this as a ready-to-import Make.com template with both blueprints, a sheet template, and a setup guide.
[Download on Gumroad →] https://alexkraft.gumroad.com/l/aafvwb
Built by Alex Kraft — automation developer.
Follow the journey: alexkraft.hashnode.dev | linkedin.com/in/alexandru-bobo | dev.to/alexkraft
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