Automate Vendor Contract Renewals & Reminders with GPT-4.1 mini, Slack, and Gmail

πŸ“ Smart Vendor Contract Renewal & Reminder Workflow With GPT 4.1 mini

Never miss a vendor renewal again!

This smart workflow automatically tracks expiring contracts, reminds your finance team via Slack, and helps initiate renewal with vendors through email β€” all with built-in approval and logging. Perfect for managing both auto-renew and manual contracts.

πŸ“Œ Who’s it for

This workflow is designed for Finance and Procurement teams responsible for managing vendor/service contracts. It ensures timely notifications for expiring contracts and automates the initiation of renewal conversations with vendors.

βš™οΈ How it works / What it does

  1. ⏰ Daily Trigger

    • Runs every day at 6:00 AM using a scheduler.
  2. πŸ“„ Retrieve Contract List

    • Reads vendor contract data from a Google Sheet (or any data source).
    • Filters for contracts nearing their end date, using a Notice Period (days) field.
  3. πŸ”€ Branch Based on Renewal Type

    • Auto-Renew Contracts:

      • Compose a Slack message summarizing the auto-renewal.
      • Notify the finance contact via Slack.
    • Manual Renewal Contracts:

      • Use an OpenAI-powered agent to generate a meaningful Slack message.
      • Send message and wait for approval from the finance contact (e.g., within 8 hours).
      • Upon approval, generate a formal HTML email to the vendor.
      • Send the email to initiate the contract extension process.
  4. πŸ“Š (Optional) Logging

    • Can be extended to log all actions (Slack messages, emails, approvals) to Google Sheets or other databases.

πŸ› οΈ How to set up

  1. Prepare your Google Sheet

  2. Configure Integrations

    • 🟒 Google Sheets API: To read contract data.
    • πŸ”΅ Slack API: To notify and wait for approval.
    • 🧠 OpenAI API (GPT-4): To generate personalized reminders.
    • βœ‰οΈ Email (SMTP/Gmail): To send emails to vendors.
  3. Set the Daily Scheduler

    • Use a Cron node to trigger the workflow at 6:00 AM daily.

βœ… Requirements

Component Required
Google Sheets API βœ…
Slack API βœ…
OpenAI API (GPT-4) βœ…
Email (SMTP/Gmail) βœ…
n8n (Self-hosted or Cloud) βœ…
Contract Sheet with proper schema βœ…

🧩 How to customize the workflow

  • Adjust Reminder Period: Modify the logic in the Find Expiring Vendors node (based on Contract End Date and Notice Period).
  • Change Message Tone or Format: Customize the OpenAI agent's prompt or switch from plain text to branded HTML email.
  • Add Logging or Tracking: Add a node to append logs to a Google Sheet, Notion, or database.
  • Replace Data Source: Swap out Google Sheets for Airtable, PostgreSQL, or other CRM/database systems.
  • Adjust Wait/Approval Duration: Modify the sendAndWait Slack node timeout (e.g., from 8 hours to 2 hours).

πŸ“¦ Optional Extensions

  • 🧾 Add PDF contract preview via Drive link
  • 🧠 Use GPT to summarize renewal terms
  • πŸ›  Auto-create Jira task for contract review