Invoice Approvals route expense invoices to designated approvers based on rules you define — ensuring compliance, preventing unauthorised spending, and creating a full audit trail before money leaves your organisation.
This feature is available on Pro and Enterprise plans. To upgrade, Get in touch.
Note: Invoice approval workflows apply to expense invoices only. Income invoices and rent invoices are not included.
When an Invoice Needs Approval
An invoice enters the approval workflow when it is submitted. At that point, its status changes to Submitted and it appears in the Approvals Hub under the Invoice approvals tab.
An invoice that is still in Draft status does not trigger an approval workflow — it only starts when the invoice is submitted.
Invoice Approval Statuses
Draft — invoice is being prepared; no approval required yet.
Submitted / Awaiting Approval — submitted and awaiting a decision from assigned approvers.
Authorised / Completed — approved through all steps; ready for payment.
Rejected — declined by an approver; returns to the submitter for correction.
Failed — error in workflow processing; can be restarted.
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.
Invoice Number vs Reference: The Invoice Number (shown in the page header) is the number from your accounting system (e.g. Xero). The Reference field (in the details section) is a separate field used for purchase orders, contracts, or other tracking purposes. These are two different fields.
Submitting an Invoice for Approval
Open the invoice you want to submit.
Complete all required fields — supplier, amount, line items, etc.
Click Submit (or Submit for Approval).
The invoice status changes to Submitted and the approval workflow begins automatically.
The designated approvers receive an email notification with a link to review.
If you have the Can Approve Invoices permission, you may see an Authorise button instead, allowing you to approve the invoice directly without going through the workflow.
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.
What the Approver Sees
Approvers receive an email notification and can also find pending invoices in the Approvals Hub.
Go to Approvals in the main navigation, or click the link in the notification email.
Select the Invoice approvals tab.
The list shows all invoices awaiting approval with these columns:
Status — Awaiting Approval, Approved, Rejected, or Failed.
Description — the invoice description.
Reference — the invoice reference number (separate from the invoice number).
From — the supplier/contact name.
Amount — the invoice total.
Approvers — the people assigned to approve this invoice.
Requested At — when the approval was requested.
Click any row to open the full approval detail — including supplier, invoice number, reference, property (if assigned), amount, and line items.
How to Approve an Invoice
Open the invoice in the Approvals Hub.
Review the invoice details, line items, approver assignment, and any comments from previous steps.
Click Approve.
Optionally add a comment for the audit trail, then confirm.
The invoice status changes to Authorised — it is now ready for payment.
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. The submitter receives an email with your comment and can correct the invoice and resubmit — the approval process starts again.
Bulk Approval
In the Invoice approvals tab, tick the checkboxes on the invoices you want to approve.
Click Bulk Actions.
Select Approve.
Optionally add a comment that will apply to all selected invoices, then confirm.
What Happens If an Authorised Invoice Is Changed?
If an invoice is edited after it has been authorised and returns to Submitted status, the approval workflow restarts automatically. The invoice must go through the approval process again before it can be re-authorised.
How to Build a Workflow
Navigate to Settings > Automation > 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.
Filtering Invoice Approvals
Use the filter bar in the Invoice approvals tab to narrow down the list:
Approvers — show only invoices assigned to a specific approver.
Companies — filter by organisation.
Properties — filter by property (includes an option for invoices with no property assigned).
Property Groups — filter by group of properties.
Month — for completed or rejected items, filter by time period.
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.