Learn how Invoice Approval Workflows help your Organisation to achieve greater financial control and speedier approvals.
Jump To:
- What is an Invoice Approval Workflow?
- Who can Create and Manage Invoice Approval Workflows?
- Guide: Creating an Invoice Approval Workflow
- Guide: Updating Invoice Approval Workflows
- Guide: Approving (or Declining) an Invoice in an Approval Workflow
- Advanced: How do Invoice Approval Workflows in New P+ differ from Legacy P+?
- Troubleshooting & FAQ's
What is an Invoice Approval Workflow?
From the moment an Invoice is ingested by our system, PurchasePlus constantly analyses every document in the 'Open' and 'Flagged' state, and raises Header- or Line-Level Flags on the document, according to each Organisation's Flag Settings. These Flags tell us there is a problem with that document - for example, the quantity ordered (on the matched Purchase Order) is not the same as the quantity invoiced - and it needs to be reviewed by an appointed person.
Exactly who that person is may differ, depending on the Organisation Unit that received the Invoice, the value of the Invoice, or both. It may even need to be reviewed by multiple humans within an organisation. The logic regarding who needs to review a Flagged Invoice, as well as the automated notifications and tasks that enable the reviewer, is defined by an Invoice Approval Workflow.
Once an Invoice has been granted Final Approval, it will be automatically progressed to the Reconciled state, and is able to be Exported to your external AP System.
An Invoice Approval Workflow contains Ranks, Assignments, and is Executed when an eligible Invoice is coded to the assigned Organisation/Unit. Read on to learn more.
Workflow Ranks
Workflows have Ranks, which control the user(s) that can approve Invoices up to a nominated Value.
Workflow Ranks all have a Name (e.g. 'Rank 1', or 'Kitchen Hand'), and each Rank has three distinct components: Rank Order, Rank Maximum Value, and Rank Approvers.
Workflow Rank Order
An Invoice that enters a Workflow will require Approval in the defined Rank Order. That is, the document must first be Approved by Rank Order 1, before it can be Approved by Rank Order 2, and so on, until it is granted Final Approval. Please see section: Workflow Rank Maximum Value for more information about Final Approval.
A Workflow may contain up to 10 Ranks.
Workflow Rank Maximum Value
The Maximum Value of a Rank is important, as it tells us which Ranks can provide Final Approval for an Invoice, and which Ranks cannot.
If the Invoice value is less than or equal to the Rank Maximum Value, final approval will be granted by the Rank. If the Document value is greater than the Rank Maximum Value, Final Approval will not be granted by the Rank, and the document will continue to the next Rank.
For example, if Rank 1's Maximum Value is $500, and an Invoice with a value of $501 enters the Workflow, then Approvers in Rank 1 will not be able to provide Final Approval for the Invoice - Final Approval must be provided by someone in a Rank with a Rank Maximum Value of more than $500. However, if the Invoice's value was $499, then the Approver(s) in Rank 1 could provide Final Approval for the Invoice, without it having to be approved by a user in a higher Rank.
Please note: there is no 'Unlimited' Rank Value. The final Workflow Rank's Maximum Value should be the highest feasible Invoice value that you are likely to receive.
Workflow Approvers
Workflow Ranks can have one or more Approvers:
The Approvers belonging to each Rank will be notified by email when an Invoice enters the Rank and requires their Approval. Any User in the Rank can approve the Invoice, and the Rank Approval will be considered 'granted' by the first user that Approves within the Rank.
Workflow Assignments
Invoice Approval Workflows are assigned to one or more Organisations or Organisation Units. Any Invoice that is expensed (Coded) to an Organisation or Organisation Unit will be placed into the assigned Workflow for that Organisation.
Users with the 'Manage Organisations' permission can Assign a Workflow to their Organisation on the [System Settings] → [Organisation Settings] page.
Note on Organisation Hierarchies
Workflows are not 'inherited' from parent Organisations. If you wish for an Organisation Unit to have the same Invoice Approval Workflow as one of its Parent Organisations, it must be applied at both the parent and child levels in the Organisation Hierarchy.
Workflow Executions
Workflows are 'Executed' when an Invoice is coded to an Organisation where a Workflow is Assigned.
There is an [Executions] tab within a Workflow that lists all of the times a particular Workflow has been invoked, detailing the Invoices that were involved:
To view a detailed Information Panel (i.e. an Audit Log) regarding a specific Workflow Execution and all of the Execution Events, click the button in the [Info] column.
Cancelling, Parking or Deleting an Invoice at any time during an Active Execution will cancel the Workflow Execution.
Who can Create and Manage Invoice Approval Workflows
A User must have the 'Can Manage Approval Workflows' permission enabled to be able to Create or Manage Invoice Approval Workflows.
Users with this Permission will be able to Manage the Workflows in any Organisation of which they are a member.
To Assign a Workflow to an Organisation, a user must have the 'Manage Organisations' permission.
Creating an Invoice Approval Workflow
Users with the 'Can Manage Approval Workflows' can create a new Invoice Approval Workflow by following these steps.
Step 1. Navigate to [System Settings] → [Approval Workflows] in the Side Navigation Bar, and then click the [Create a New Approval Workflow] button:
Step 2. Select [Invoice] as the Workflow Type, and then give the Workflow a Name and Description, before clicking [Create Workflow]:
Step 3. You will arrive at the newly-created Workflow, which has one default Rank. You can edit the default Rank by clicking [Update Rank] in the [More] menu, if you wish to change the Name or the Maximum Value of the Rank:
Step 4. Click [Create New Rank] to add more Ranks as you require. It is strongly recommended that the Ranks should be Ordered according to the Maximum Values of the Ranks, in ascending order. You can edit the Ranks and the Rank Order by selecting the relevant option(s) in the [More] Menu:
Step 5. Add Approvers to each Rank by clicking the button in the [Approvers] column. You will only be able to add Approvers that (a) are existing PurchasePlus users, and (b) are members of the Organisation in which you are creating the Workflow:
Step 6. The Workflow becomes 'Active' as soon as it is Assigned to one or more Organisations or Organisation Units.
Updating an Invoice Approval Workflow
You can update the Name and the Description of a Workflow by visiting the [Settings] tab:
Updating Workflow Ranks
By clicking the [More] menu on a Workflow Rank, you will be presented with a list of options for updating a Workflow Rank:
- [Move Rank Up] and [Move Rank Down] can be used to modify the order of the Ranks in the Workflow.
- [Update Rank] can be used to change the Name or the Maximum Value of the Rank.
- [Delete Rank] will completely remove the Rank from the Workflow.
Adding or Removing Approvers
To manage the Approvers in a Workflow Rank, first click the button in the [Approvers] column:
To Add a new Approver, click the [Add Approver] button and search for the user in question. You will only be able to add Approvers that (a) are existing PurchasePlus users, and (b) are members of the Organisation in which you are creating the Workflow.
To Remove an Approver, click [Remove] in the [More] menu:
Updating a Workflow's Assignment(s)
The ability to Assign a Workflow can be found in the [System Settings] → [Organisation Settings] page:
Please note: Users must have the 'Manage Organisations' permission to assign an Invoice Approval Workflow to an Organisation or Organisation Unit.
Deleting a Workflow
Workflows must be deleted by a PurchasePlus Configuration Team member. Please get in touch with us to arrange the Deletion of a Workflow to an Organisation Unit
Approving or Declining an Invoice in a Approval Workflow
Users have the ability to Approve or Decline an Invoice that has been coded to an Organisation Unit where (a) there is a Workflow Assigned, and (b) they are an Approver in one of its Workflow Ranks.
Approvers can either Approve or Decline an Invoice from the [Invoices] → [Awaiting My Approval] page. Please note, Approvers in the second (and subsequent) Ranks of the Workflow will only see Invoices in this list after they have been granted Approval by the earlier Rank(s):
Additionally, Approvers can click into an Invoice and use the [Approve] or [Decline] buttons in the header of the Invoice:
What happens when an Invoice is Approved?
- If the Invoice Value is greater than the Approver's Rank Maximum Value, the Invoice will be progressed to the next Approval Rank. Users in the next Approval Rank will be notified by email.
- If the Invoice Value is less than the Approver's Rank Maximum Value, the Workflow considers this 'Final Approval', and the Invoice is automatically moved to the state of Reconciled. It can be exported to your external AP system for payment.
What happens when an Invoice is Declined?
- Approvers will be prompted to add a Comment, and the Invoice is automatically transitioned to a Cancelled state.
Advanced: How do Invoice Approval Workflows in New P+ differ from Legacy P+?
For historical users of PurchasePlus, you may be familiar with the way that Workflows worked in our Legacy platform. Here is how 'New' Invoice Approval Workflows differ from Legacy Workflows:
- Unlike in Legacy Invoice Approvers, New Workflow Approvers (and the Approval Order) are defined by Ranks, as opposed to the Operational or Financial Approver Role approving the Invoice at any time.
- Invoice Approval Workflows need to be enabled for the Purchaser Organisation, as well as the individual Organisation Units.
- Unlike Legacy Approval Workflows, there is no 'Unlimited' Rank that can be applied, and the final Rank should have the highest value required to be approved.
- In New P+ Workflows, users can view the Executions of the Workflow upon the implicated Invoices. Within an Execution, users can view the Execution Events - providing an effective Audit Log for an Invoice within a Workflow.
Finally, it is important to note that 'New' Invoice Approval Workflows are mutually exclusive with Legacy Invoice Approval Workflows. As soon as New Invoice Approval Workflows are enabled for an Organisation, users at that Organisation can no longer Approve Invoices according to the Legacy Operational and Financial Approval Workflows.
Troubleshooting & FAQ's
- I've just enabled New Workflows for my Organisation, but none of my Flagged Invoices have been placed in the relevant Workflow.
Invoices that were Flagged when New Workflows was enabled need to be re-Opened and then Marked as Flagged again for the Invoice Approval Workflow to take affect. - What if the Invoice is coded to a different Organisation Unit during the Workflow Execution?
The Workflow Execution status is updated to Cancelled, and Invoice enters a new Workflow Execution. - What if an Invoice is mid-Workflow Execution, and all of the Flags get resolved?
The Execution is cancelled, and the Invoice is automatically updated to Reconciled. - What if no Invoice Approval Workflow can be found for the Organisation Unit that an Invoice is coded to?
The Invoice stays in the Flagged state. - What if there is an Invoice Approval Workflow enabled for an Organisation, but no Approvers are added to any Workflow Ranks?
The Invoice will remain in the Approval Workflow until an Approver is added to the relevant Rank. - I want to replicate the Legacy 'Operational and Financial Approval Workflows'. How can I do this?
You can create two Workflow Ranks with a $0 Maximum Value each, and add Operational Approvers to one of the Ranks, and Financial Approvers to the other Rank. - I'm being prevented from editing a Workflow, even though I have the correct permission.
Our system prevents a Workflow from being edited if there are any active Executions in the Workflow. First, Approve or Decline the Invoices in the Active Execution, and then you will be able to edit the Workflow. - I'm getting two 'Invoices Awaiting My Approval' emails.
You must be removed as an Approver from the Legacy Invoice Approval Workflow. - Can I 'Skip' Approval Ranks if I am a member of a Workflow Rank with a higher Maximum Value than the Invoice Value?
No, the Invoice will still require Approval from the defined users in the Rank Order that has been configured for the Workflow. For example, if the Invoice Value is $1000, Rank 1 can approve up to $500 and Rank 2 can approve up to $2000, Rank 2 members must still await Rank 1's Approval before they can provide Final Approval for the Flagged Invoice.