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.
Submit a claim for approval
Once your workflow is set up, users can submit claims for approval directly from the Expense claims list or from inside a claim. For step-by-step instructions, see How to submit an expense claim for approval.
Approve or reject a claim
Approvers can review and act on submitted claims from the Approvals tab in Costs > Expense claims. For step-by-step instructions, see How to approve an expense claim.
Manage notifications
To configure when you're notified about approvals, go to User settings > Email notifications > Approval email notifications. You can find more details on setting up reminder notifications in Set up approval reminders in Dext.
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.