How to customize approval workflows for transfer, reimbursement, and supplier invoice payment requests?

To maintain control while delegating team expenses and invoice payments, you can use multi-layer approval workflows and a 4-eyes dual approval policy to keep control over big amounts to reimburse or pay with configurable approvals.

This feature will be useful to you if you need to delegate tasks like reimbursement requests and paying invoices, ensuring your company can scale without the risk of overspending and apply your expense policy.

This feature is available through Account Payable and Expense & Spend Management add-ons.

Which roles can set it up?

Owner and Admin roles can customize a workflow approval on the web app only.

The Employee, Accountant and Manager (without transfer and/or reimbursement permissions) roles can make transfer requests for approval.

Managers with transfer permission or/and reimbursement can send requests for approval.

How to customize an approval workflow?

Follow the steps below to effectively manage and control your company's expenses and payments through a structured approval workflow, ensuring that big expenses are properly overseen.

• From your computer, go to Settings: navigate to the Tools customization section and click on Approval workflows.
• Select and edit workflow: choose the approval workflow you want to edit, either transfer request, reimbursement or supplier invoices, then click Edit workflow.
• Set workflow rules: define the rules of the workflow by first defining the trigger (requester, amount, or supplier), then by specifying the roles/person(s) who can review and approve the request (business validation), and finally who can execute the payment (transfer authorization).
  • These two steps can be configured independently and, if the 4-eyes policy is enabled, must be performed by different people.
• Assign workflow: the workflow will be assigned to all users who submitted a request (Employees, Managers, and Accountants without transfer or reimbursement permissions).
• Define an amount range for supplier invoices payment: set up two rules for the start and end amount. These rules are not allowed to contradict each other. Example: To set up an amount range between 0€ and 500€, you can first create an approval rule by a specific member or role for all supplier invoices greater than 0€ followed by a second rule for all invoices greater than 500€.

💡 For French-based companies, approval rules will apply to Mileage too.

How to set up the 4-eyes dual approval policy?

The 4-eyes dual approval policy adds a mandatory second sign-off before any payment goes out. It works on top of your approval workflow and ensures that the person who prepares a payment can never be the one to execute it.

To enable it:

• From your computer, go to Settings, navigate to Tools customization and click on Approval workflows.
• Select the workflow you want to apply the policy to (transfer request, reimbursement, or supplier invoice).
• In the workflow rules, assign a person or role to the Approval step.
• When defining the Execution step, the same person or role will not be available for selection — this is the 4-eyes policy in action.

Once active, this rule applies to all users — including Owners and Admins. No one can bypass it.

💡 This policy is available for transfers, supplier invoices, and expense reports.

💡 For more details on the 4-eyes policy, check out our dedicated FAQ.