Use Approval Workflows to control who reviews and approves a payment run before it’s submitted.
Workflows help you enforce spending thresholds, keep payments secure, and maintain strong internal controls. You can configure one or more approvers, add staged approvals, and apply rules by amount or currency.
Important: Dext Payments is only available for Xero-integrated UK clients.
Who can do what
Access approvals settings: Payment Owners, Admins, and Standard Users with Payments access can open the Approvals settings.
Create or edit workflows: Only Payment Admins and Standard Users with Payments access can create or modify approval workflows (as defined in Payment Permissions). This ensures that only authorised users control who approves payment runs.
Important: Changes to workflows apply to future payment runs only. Existing runs continue under their original configuration.
Where to manage payment run approvals
Payment Owners, Admins, and Standard Users with Payments access can set up and manage approval workflows directly from:
Business settings > Approvals > Payment runs
Business settings > Payments > Permissions > Approvals
Create a payment approval workflow
Open Approvals from Business settings.
Create a new workflow for Payment runs.
Choose your approval logic (see options below).
Add approvers and any conditions (amount, currency, sequence).
Click Save.
The workflow automatically applies to new payment runs that meet your conditions.
Approval options you can combine
Single or multi‑approver: Require one approver or several.
Multi‑tier (staged) approvals: Collect approvals in sequence (e.g., Tier 1 then Tier 2).
Conditional thresholds: Trigger extra approval only when a payment run is ≥ a set amount (e.g., £1,000).
Parallel vs. sequential: Have all approvers act at the same time (parallel) or in a defined order (sequential).
Currency filters: Apply the workflow to all currencies or only specific ones (e.g, GBP, EUR, USD).
Managing payment approval workflows
After creation, workflows can be:
Enabled or disabled as needed.
Edited to change approvers, thresholds, or conditions.
Only Payment Admins and Standard Users with Payments access (as defined in Payment Permissions) can create or modify workflows. This ensures only authorised users can control who approves payment runs.
Important: Any changes to workflows apply to future payment runs only. Existing payment runs will continue under their original workflow configuration.
How approvals and notifications work
When a payment run needs approval:
Assigned approvers receive an email and an in‑app notification.
If an approver misses the approval request notification, they can access it in the Dext mobile app under More > Pending Payments, sign in to their Dext account on the web, or use the link provided in the email notification.
Approvers can:
View payment run details and supporting info
Edit the run by removing invoices (with a reason)
Modify payment reference
Approve or reject (with a reason)
Approval vs. submission (funds and queueing)
Approval doesn’t depend on wallet balance. Approvers can review and approve even if the wallet doesn’t yet have enough funds.
Submission is blocked until sufficient funds are available. You’ll see a clear warning if funds are insufficient.
An authorised user can submit the payment run for processing once it has been approved and sufficient funds are available in the wallet.
Submit an approved payment run
When your wallet is funded:
An authorised user submits the payment run to the payment provider (AWX).
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) is required at submission. Follow the on‑screen prompts to complete SCA.
After SCA succeeds, the payment run is sent for processing.
Tip: If submission is blocked, check wallet balance first, then complete SCA.
Best practices
Review workflows regularly to keep the right approvers in place.
Use thresholds to fast‑track smaller payments while adding checks for larger ones.
Audit permissions so approvers have the correct access under Roles and permissions.
FAQs
Do I need funds to approve a payment run?
Do I need funds to approve a payment run?
No. Approval can happen without available funds. Funds are only required to submit the run for processing.
Why can’t I submit an approved run?
Why can’t I submit an approved run?
Most often, it’s an insufficient wallet balance or SCA not completed. Fund the wallet and finish SCA, then try again.
Can I change a workflow for a run that’s already in progress?
Can I change a workflow for a run that’s already in progress?
No. Workflow changes only apply to future payment runs.
Who gets approval notifications?
Who gets approval notifications?
The designated approvers on the defined approval workflow.
Payments videos
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Payments in Dext: Onboarding and regulatory verification | |
Payments in Dext: Managing roles and permissions | |
Payments in Dext: Building approval workflows | |
Payments in Dext: Making your first payment | |
Payments in Dext: Funding your wallet | |
Payments in Dext: Registering a device for payments authentication | |
Payments in Dext: End-to-End setup: Payment runs for accounting teams |