1. Order Management
  2. Billing and Invoices
  3. Invoices
  4. Custom Workflow Based Invoice Approval

Custom Workflow Based Invoice Approval

You can create a custom workflow or use the standard workflow for invoice approvals. A custom workflow gives you the most flexibility for processing approvals. For more information, read Using Custom SuiteFlow Workflows for Approval Routing.

You can use SuiteFlow to create your own custom workflow to process invoice approvals.

For workflow based invoice approvals, you can create a custom workflow.

Consider adding these options in your custom invoice approval workflow:

To complete a basic invoice approvals workflow:

  1. Go to Customization > Scripting > Workflows > New (Administrator).

  2. Under Basic Information:

    • In the Name field, enter Invoice Approval

    • In the Record Type field, select Transaction

    • In the Sub-Types field, select Invoice

    • In the Release Status field, select Released

  3. Under Event Definition:

    • Check the On Create box

    • In the Context field, select CSV Import and use Ctrl+click to also select User Interface

  4. Click Save.

  5. Double-click State 1 to open the Workflow State page.

  6. In the Name field, enter Pending Approval, and then click Save.

  7. In the bottom, right side of the page, click New Action.

  8. Click Set Field Value.

  9. On the Workflow Action page:

    • Under Parameters, in the Field field, select Approval Status

    • Under Value, select Static Value

    • In the Selection field, click the double arrows, select List, and then select Pending Approval

    • Click Save

  10. Click New Action.

  11. Click Add Button.

  12. In the Event Type field, select View.

  13. In the Parameters section, enter Approve in the Label field.

  14. Click Save.

  15. In the Workspace, click New State.

  16. Double-click New State to open the Workflow State page.

  17. In the Name field, enter Approved, and then click Save.

  18. In the Diagram frame, click Approved.

  19. Click the Actions subtab, and then click New Action.

  20. Click Set Field Value.

  21. Under Parameters, select Approval Status in the Field field.

  22. Under Value:

    • Select Static Value

    • In the Selection field, click the double arrows, select List, and then select Approved

  23. Click Save.

  24. Click the icon at the bottom of the Pending Approval state then drag the arrow to create a transition to the Approved state.

  25. Double-click the arrow to open the Transition window and edit the workflow transition properties as needed.

Note:

If you use SuiteFlow for invoice approval, all invoices start with Pending Approval status by default.

You can always manually set an invoice to Approved for basic approvals.

Note:

The SuiteFlow conditions used for Bulk Approvals for records using custom approvals have been updated for the invoice record. Prior to 2016.2, both the workflow button’s condition and the Next Approver condition filtered invoice records for bulk approvals. The Next Approver condition checks that the Next Approver field on the record has the current logged-in user. Beginning in 2016.2, the Next Approver condition is no longer used to filter records for bulk approvals for this record. Records are now filtered for bulk approvals using only the workflow button’s condition. If you want to continue filtering records based on the Next Approver field, add the condition to the workflow button. If you need help, contact Customer Support.

Related Topics

Transactional Impact for Workflow Based Invoice Approvals

Sales Orders – When you create an invoice from a sales order, the sales order status changes from Pending Billing to Fully Billed.

Payments – If an invoice isn't approved, it won't show up in the customer payment queue. When it's approved, the invoice appears in the customer payment queue.

Inventory-standalone invoices – When pending approval invoices are created, there's no inventory impact. When the approval status changes to approved, quantity on-hand and quantity available are both decremented.

Inventory-Advanced Shipping – When Advanced Shipping is on, pending approval invoices created against sales orders don't affect inventory. When Advanced Shipping is on and when the approval status of an invoice changes from pending approval to approved, quantity on-hand decreases in these areas:

Quantity available is decreased at the inventory numbers level if you didn't enter inventory numbers on the sales order.

Accounting – Transaction are non-posting until their state changes from pending approval to approved.

Revenue recognition – When invoices require approval, related revenue recognition schedules aren't created until they're approved.

Related Topics

General Notices