Audit SaaS Seats in Google Sheets: OpenAI + Slack Approval

Automatically audit SaaS seats in Google Sheets—and use OpenAI + Slack approval to cancel unused users

This n8n workflow runs weekly to check SaaS seat usage listed in your Google Sheets. It pulls recent activity from Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, or a custom usage API, then uses OpenAI (gpt-4o-mini) to decide whether each seat is unused. Low-cost seats get cancelled automatically; high-cost seats go through Slack approval—with every outcome logged back to Google Sheets.

What this workflow does

• Runs on a weekly schedule to keep seat audits consistent.
• Reads your seat inventory from a Google Sheets spreadsheet’s “Subscriptions” tab.
• Processes seats one by one and retrieves last-activity details from the appropriate usage endpoint (Google Workspace Admin API, Slack API, Zoom API, or a custom SaaS usage API).
• Normalizes usage data into a consistent format for analysis.
• Uses OpenAI (gpt-4o-mini) to classify each seat as “unused” or “active,” including a recommended action.
• Cancels unused low-cost seats immediately, while unused high-cost seats are posted to Slack for approval before proceeding.
• Logs decisions (kept, cancelled, rejected) to the Google Sheets “Audit Log” tab.
• Posts a completion summary to Slack and sends a Slack alert if the workflow errors.

Use cases

• Control SaaS spend by identifying inactive seats across Google Workspace, Slack, and Zoom.
• Reduce compliance risk by maintaining an auditable record in Google Sheets.
• Introduce a human-in-the-loop approval step for high-cost seat cancellations via Slack.

Technical details

• n8n nodes/tools: if, code, wait, slack, switch, sticky note
• Integrations: Google Sheets, OpenAI (gpt-4o-mini), Slack, Google Workspace Admin API, Slack API, Zoom API, and a custom SaaS usage API
• Setup required: Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials, OpenAI API credential, Slack OAuth2 credentials, and a spreadsheet with “Subscriptions” and “Audit Log” tabs