Invoice approval workflows route expense invoices to designated approvers based on rules you define. They help ensure compliance, prevent unauthorised spending, and create audit trails. This feature is available on Pro and Enterprise plans. To upgrade, contact your Account Manager.
Note: Invoice approval workflows apply to expense invoices only. Income invoices and rent invoices are not included.
How Workflows Work
When an expense invoice is submitted for approval, the system evaluates it against all published workflows for that company. If it matches a workflow's conditions, it progresses through each step sequentially.
Example: A workflow has two steps — Step 1: Invoice total > $1 → Property Manager approves. Step 2: Invoice total > $5,000 → Senior Manager approves. A $6,000 invoice triggers both steps and requires approval from both, in order.
If an invoice doesn't match any conditions, it passes through automatically. To ensure all invoices flow through your workflow, create a Step 1 starting at $1.
Understanding the "Can Approve Invoices" Permission
Users with the Can approve invoices permission can approve expense invoices directly from Income & Expenses — bypassing your workflow entirely. To prevent this, remove the permission from roles that should only approve via workflow:
Navigate to Settings > Maintain User Roles.
Select the relevant role.
Under Income and Expense Permissions, deselect Can approve invoices.
Click Save.
Users without this permission will see a Submit for approval button instead of an Approve button. They can still approve invoices if assigned as approvers within a workflow step.
Note: Users with Administrator privileges can approve any expense invoice at any point in any workflow, regardless of step assignment. Reserve administrator override for genuine exceptions.
How to Build a Workflow
Navigate to Settings > Approval Workflows.
Click Create a new Workflow.
Enter a name and optional description.
Set Approval type to Invoice Approval.
Select one or more companies from the Assign to companies dropdown.
Click Create and save.
Adding Workflow Steps
Each step defines conditions that trigger approval and who must approve. Click Add a step to begin configuring.
Step Conditions
Invoice total — most common trigger.
Property fields — property tags, property type, usage type.
Tenancy fields — tenancy tags, tenancy type, tenancy industry.
Owner conditions - Owner Contact selection
Chart of Accounts fields - chart of account code selection.
Multiple conditions in a single step use AND logic — all must be true to trigger the step.
Approver Types
User — a specific individual. Only users with access to all companies in the workflow appear in the list.
Team — all members of a team receive the approval request.
Role — routes to the Property Manager or Facilities Manager assigned to the invoice's specific property.
Escalation and Reminders
Set a reminder timeframe (1–167 hours). If the approver hasn't acted by that time, a reminder is sent. At double the reminder interval, the approval escalates to your nominated backup approver. Example with a 24-hour reminder: email sent at 0 hours → reminder at 24 hours → escalation at 48 hours.
Click Save after configuring each step. Add further steps with Add a step.
Publishing the Workflow
Change the workflow status from Draft to Published.
Click Save Workflow.
The Approvals Hub
Navigate to Approvals from the menu to review and action all pending approvals across your companies.
Approval Statuses
Awaiting Approval — pending action from assigned approvers.
Rejected — declined by an approver.
Completed — approved through all steps.
Failed — error in workflow processing.
How to Approve an Invoice
Open the invoice in the Approvals Hub.
Review the invoice details, approver assignment, and any comments from previous steps.
Click Approve and optionally add a comment for the audit trail.
How to Reject an Invoice
Open the invoice and click Reject.
Select who the invoice should be returned to.
Add a comment explaining the rejection reason (required for audit purposes).
Click Send rejection.
Rejected invoices exit the workflow and return to the invoice creator for correction.
Bulk Approval
Tick the checkboxes on the invoices you want to approve.
Click Bulk Actions.
Select Approve.
Managing Email Notifications
Each approver receives an email for every approval request assigned to them. To reduce volume, enable a daily digest instead:
Go to Personal Profile Settings.
Update Notification Preferences.
Enable Daily To-Do List Digest.
Audit Trail
Every approval action is logged in the Comments and History section of the invoice — including who approved or rejected, timestamps, comments, and which workflow step triggered at each stage.
Best Practices
Start thresholds at $1 to ensure no invoice bypasses your process.
Remove bypass permissions from roles that should only approve via workflow.
Use teams over individuals for approver assignment to handle leave and coverage.
Add comments when rejecting — required for audit integrity.
Review workflows quarterly to update approver assignments and thresholds as your team evolves.
Reserve administrator override for genuine exceptions, not routine use.