Automated Weekly Project Cost Reports with MySQL and Outlook HTML Emails

Description

Automated Weekly Project Cost Reports with MySQL and Outlook HTML Emails

🧠 Use Case

Need to keep your finance or operations team updated on missing project costs?
This practical automated report workflow does the job without AI — and saves hours weekly.

Runs on a weekly schedule
Queries your MySQL database for projects missing cost data
Filters by budgeted_project_cost IS NULL
Generates a clean HTML email report
Sends it through Microsoft Outlook to relevant teams

🚀 How It Works

Schedule Trigger – Runs every Monday at 8 AM
MySQL Node – Connects and runs SQL to fetch project data missing budgeted_project_cost
Switch Node – Routes logic based on cost_center (e.g., Retail, Service, Projects)
Outlook Nodes – Sends formatted HTML emails; each node handles a specific group
Dynamic Content – Inject values using mustache tags like {{ $json.project_name }}

🔧 Setup Instructions

MySQL Setup:
Ensure the MySQL node is connected using a valid credential set:
Hostname/IP
Port (default: 3306)
Database name
Username with SELECT permissions
Password
Query Example:
SELECT project_name, cost_center FROM tabProject
WHERE status = 'Open' AND project_type = 'External' AND budgeted_project_cost IS NULL;

Outlook Configuration:
Connect your Microsoft Outlook node using OAuth2 credentials.
Rename each Outlook node clearly (e.g., Send Email - Retail, Send Email - Service).

Switch Node:
Modify cost center values as needed to match your organization (e.g., 'Retail', 'Service', 'Projects').

HTML Email Formatting:
Customize the HTML message body using inline styles and mustache syntax.
Sample:
Missing Budgeted Cost Report

Project: {{ $json.project_name }}
Cost Center: {{ $json.cost_center }}


Recipients:
Replace [email protected] with the actual email addresses of the concerned teams.

📘 Read More

👉 Why Simple Workflows Work

📺 Demo & Tutorial

🎥 Watch the video walkthrough:
https://youtube.com/@syncbricks

👤 About the Creator

Amjid Ali
🌐 amjidali.com
📘 n8n Book
🎓 Learn n8n

> “Start simple, scale smart. Even basic workflows like this can save your team hours!” — Amjid Ali