Approval workflows let you route expense claims to managers or specific people for review before they're published. You can set up multiple stages, define conditions, and optionally auto-publish claims once approved.
Important: Only Admin users can create and manage approval workflows. This includes accountants and bookkeepers accessing a client account.
Enable the approval process
Before you can create a workflow, you need to enable the new approval process. To do this, go to Business settings > Approvals > Expense claims and set Enable new approval process to Yes.
Enabling this makes the new approval flow visible to all users on the account. Anyone who submits an expense claim will see a Request approval button on their expense claim.
Create an approval workflow
To create a workflow:
Go to Business settings > Approvals > Expense claims.
Select Create workflow.
Enter a Workflow name and an optional description.
Under Apply approvals to, set Item type to Expense claims and choose which Document owners the workflow applies to.
Under Create approval flow, configure your approval stages. For each stage, set:
Approver type - Specific user or Manager
Approver(s) - the person or people who need to approve
Condition - Always, or When amount is equal or greater than with a specified amount
If Can edit is set to No, item fields can only be edited before submission or after rejection. Rejected claims are returned to the inbox of the person who submitted them. If specific fields are selected, approvers can only edit those fields on the items within the claim during the approval flow.
Select + Add stage to add more stages if needed.
Set your workflow options:
Switch workflow on - applies the workflow to current and future expense claims immediately
Auto-publish once approved - automatically publishes claims to your accounting software when all stages are complete
Allow self-approval - controls whether approvers can approve their own claims
Select Save.
Keep in mind:
You can have up to 5 approval stages per workflow.
At each stage, if multiple approvers are selected, only one needs to approve for the stage to pass.
If Manager is selected as the approver type, the claim is sent to that person's manager. If no manager has been set up for that person, they won't be able to request approval. Admins can set a manager under Users > Edit user details.
Accountants and bookkeepers can't be set as approvers in a workflow, but as Admin users, they can still approve or reject claims from the Approvals tab.
Each workflow is linear - one approval route per workflow.
You can create up to 50 workflows across Costs, Sales, and Expense claims combined.
If Can edit is set to No, items in claims can only be edited before submission or after rejection. Rejected claims are returned to the Expense claims inbox.
Edit a workflow
To edit an existing workflow, go to Business settings > Approvals > Expense claims and select the workflow you want to change. Update the stages or settings as needed and select Save.
Delete a workflow
To delete a workflow:
Go to Business settings > Approvals > Expense claims.
Select the workflow you want to delete.
Select Delete workflow, then Confirm.
If you want to temporarily pause a workflow instead, set Switch workflow on to No.
When a workflow is deleted, any claims currently in the approval flow are returned to the Expense claims inbox. Already approved claims are not affected.
Request approval
When an approval workflow applies to your expense claim, you'll see a Request approval button in your Expense claims inbox. Select it to submit the claim for approval.
Review and approve claims
To review claims awaiting approval, go to Costs > Expense claims > Approvals.
By default, the Approvals tab shows claims Assigned to me. To see all claims pending approval across the account, select All items.
To approve a claim, select the dropdown arrow next to Approve and choose either:
Approve - approves without a comment
Approve with comment - approves and adds a note
To reject a claim, select Reject. The claim is returned to the Expense claims inbox.
Note: Admin users - including accountants and bookkeepers accessing a client account - can approve or reject any claim, even if they're not the assigned approver.
Manage notifications
To configure when you're notified about approvals, go to User settings > Email notifications > Approval email notifications.
Disable the approval process
To return to the previous approval process, go to Business settings > Approvals > Expense claims and set Enable new approval process to No.
Your workflows are saved when you opt out and will be available if you re-enable the new process. Any claims currently in an approval flow are returned to the Expense claims inbox and will need to be resubmitted.