Set up approval workflows to make sure every Costs and Sales transaction is reviewed against your own rules before it's published. This article covers creating, editing, and deleting workflows.
For information on who can create and manage workflows, go to How do approval permissions work in Dext?
To understand how Dext decides which workflow applies when multiple could match a document, go to How approval workflow priority works in Dext
Creating an approval workflow
To create an approval workflow, you need Admin-level access in the Dext account. All accountants and bookkeepers already have Admin-level access when working in a client account, regardless of their role in the practice.
Step 1: Go to Approvals
To open the workflow creator, go to Business settings > Approvals.
Choose the Costs or Sales tab, then select Create workflow.
Step 2: Name your workflow and define criteria
In the Approval workflow creator, enter a Workflow name and an optional description.
Under Apply approvals to, configure which documents the workflow covers:
Item type
Documents
Document owners
Suppliers
Categories
Projects (the label shown here reflects your connected accounting software — for example, Tracking Categories in Xero or Classes in QuickBooks Online)
All criteria are selected by default. Use Clear selection to deselect all and choose specific values.
Step 3: Add approval stages
To define who approves documents and when, use the Create approval flow section.
For each stage, set:
Approver type — choose Specific user(s) or Manager
Approver(s) — the person or people who need to approve
Condition — set to Always, or trigger only when an amount threshold is met
Amount threshold — the minimum amount that triggers this stage
Can edit — choose whether approvers can edit document fields during review
Select + Add stage to add up to 5 stages.
Note: If you select Manager as the approver type, the document is sent to the submitter's assigned manager. If no manager has been assigned to that user, the approval can't be requested. Admins can assign managers under Users > Manage > Edit user details.
If multiple approvers are assigned at a stage, only one needs to approve for the stage to pass.
Both Admin and Standard users can be approvers — approval permissions are independent of user role.
Step 4: Configure workflow behaviour
Before saving, set your workflow options:
Switch workflow on — activates the workflow immediately (recommended)
Auto-publish once approved — automatically publishes the document to your accounting software once all stages are complete
Allow self-approval — controls whether a user can approve their own documents
When you're ready, select Save.
Workflow limits
Approval workflows have the following limits:
Up to 5 approval stages per workflow
Up to 50 workflows in total across Costs, Sales, and Expense Claims
Workflows are linear — each workflow defines a single approval route
Tip: Create a catch-all workflow to cover any documents that don't match other workflow criteria. This handles new suppliers, categories, or projects automatically.
Editing an approval workflow
To edit an existing workflow, go to Business settings > Approvals and select the workflow you want to change. Update the criteria, stages, or toggle settings as needed, then select Save.
Deleting an approval workflow
To delete a workflow:
Go to Business settings > Approvals.
Open the workflow you want to delete.
Select Delete workflow.
Confirm the deletion.
When a workflow is deleted, any documents currently in the approval flow return to the Inbox. Previously approved documents aren't affected.
Tip: If you want to temporarily pause a workflow, switch it off instead of deleting it. Your configuration is preserved and you can turn it back on at any time.
Submit and approve items
Once your workflow is set up, users can submit items for approval and approvers can review them from the Approvals tab.
For step-by-step instructions on reviewing and acting on approval items, go to How to review and approve Costs and Sales items in Dext