Invoice Approval Workflow States
The Invoice Approval Workflow is initiated on creation of an invoice record. It verifies that the account of the invoice creator has a designated supervisor before the invoice can proceed to the initial state. After the invoice has entered the workflow, it is further validated and processed, depending on the conditions that are set for each state.
Invoices without an identified approver are automatically approved because they cannot be routed for approval.
Approval Routing Feature Check
In the Approval Routing Feature Check state, the workflow verifies that the Approval Routing feature is enabled in the account used to submit the request. If the feature is enabled, the invoice is processed for validation using the exception criteria.
For more information about the required features and preferences, see Setting Up the Invoice Approval Workflow.
Invoice Validation
In the Invoice Validation state, the approval status of the invoice is set to Pending Approval. The invoice is verified against the exceptions. If one or more exceptions are identified, the invoice is routed for approval. The corresponding message for each exception is added to the transaction, which can be reviewed by the approver. Transactions with no exception are automatically approved.
For more information about the exceptions, see Invoice Approval Workflow Exception Criteria.
Pending Approval
When it has been determined that an invoice requires approval, it is transferred to the Pending Approval state. The supervisor of the invoice creator is notified through email of the request to be approved.
Both the Approve and Reject buttons are enabled for the approver. The Show Exceptions button is also enabled to display the list of identified exceptions. The invoice is transferred to another state depending on the action of the approver. The record is locked for editing while the invoice is on Pending Approval status. At this point, only the administrator can make changes to the record.
Rejected
Requests that are not approved by the supervisor are sent to this Rejected state. The invoice creator is sent an email to be notified of the status of the request.
A rejected invoice can be updated by another user with access to the record, besides the invoice creator. The Resubmit button is enabled for these users. When resubmitted, the invoice goes through the Approval Routing Feature Check state again to start the validation.
Approved
Requests are transferred to this state when any of the following conditions have been met:
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The invoice has been approved by the supervisor.
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When no exceptions have been identified on the invoice.
The invoice creator is notified of the approval through email.
Show Exceptions
From the Pending Approval state, the invoice can transition to the Show Exceptions state to allow the approver to view the list of identified exceptions. The Show Exceptions button is enabled on the specific invoice record, at the Pending Approval state. After an invoice goes through the Show Exceptions state, it is returned to the Pending Approval state.