Invoice Approval, Purchase Approval and Payment Release: Three Separate Controls

How It Works

Purchase approval. A purchase order sent with Submit for approval waits on the In Approval tab of Drafts. Its Approvals section shows the group and stage, with Reject and Approve. Notifications include PO approval required, PO approval complete and PO approval declined (returned for changes).

Invoice approval. Approval policies in Settings > Approval Workflows route each submitted invoice to an approval group, and approvers decide in My tasks with Approve & next or Reject, which needs a reason.

Payment release. Approved invoices are built into a payment batch and sent for payment. Release happens outside the Finofo app, in Finofo Payments, which opens in a new tab from the Payments menu item or the batch's link. Finofo shows the batch's status but has no approve or release button.

See Each Control in Finofo

Each control below shows where it happens, followed by what it covers.

• Purchase approval: Drafts > In Approval.
  Purchase orders submitted for approval before they are sent.
• Invoice approval: My tasks; Settings > Approval Workflows.
  Submitted invoices, routed by policy to an approval group.
• Payment release: Finofo Payments.
  Payment batches sent for payment.

1. Open Drafts and select In Approval to see purchase orders waiting for approval.

2. Open My tasks to see invoices waiting for your approval.

3. Open Batch payments to see payment runs by status.

4. Click a batch's External link, or the Payments menu item, to open Finofo Payments in a new tab.

Separate the People

1. Open Settings > User Management.

2. Open the Roles box on a member's row, tick the roles they need and click Save.

3. In Settings > Approval Workflows, on the Groups tab, add approvers to the groups that approve invoices.

Tips

• Give approvers the Approver role and keep day-to-day AP work with Member, so the person entering a bill is not the one approving it.
• Keep PO approval required and Invoice approval required alerts on in Settings > Notifications for the people who approve.
• Keep Payment method approval required alerts on, so new vendor bank details get a second look.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do purchase orders and invoices use the same approval policies?

No. Settings > Approval Workflows has policies for Invoices and Expenses only.

Does approving an invoice pay it?

No. An approved invoice moves to Approved. It is paid only after it is sent for payment in a batch and released in Finofo Payments.

Where is payment released?

In Finofo Payments, which opens in a new tab from the Payments menu item or the batch's link.

What happens when an invoice is rejected?

The approver enters a Rejection reason, and the invoice moves back to In Progress for correction.