Appearance
Workflow & Approvals
Every important document in PayInvoice Next — Purchase Requests, Purchase Orders, Invoices, Budget Entries, and more — goes through an approval workflow before it takes effect. Workflows ensure that the right people review and authorize transactions at the right time, with a complete audit trail of who approved what and when.
What Would You Like to Do?
| Task | Description |
|---|---|
| How Approvals Work | Understand the step-by-step approval process |
| Delegation & Escalation | Handle approver absences and set up auto-escalation |
| SLA Tracking | Monitor turnaround times and SLA compliance |
| Understanding SLA Breaches | What happens when an approval exceeds its time limit |
| SLA Dashboard & Reports | View SLA metrics and daily summaries |
| Workflow FAQ | Common questions about approvals and SLA |
How Workflows Fit Into the P2P Cycle
Approval workflows are embedded at every critical step of the procurement process:
| Document | What Gets Approved | Typical Approvers |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase Request | Need for procurement | Department Head, Budget Owner |
| Purchase Order | Commitment to spend | Procurement Manager, Finance, Budget Authority |
| Purchase Receipt (GRN) | Goods received | Store Manager, Quality Inspector |
| Purchase Invoice | Payment authorization | Accounts Payable, Finance Controller |
| Budget Entry | Budget allocation | Budget Manager, CFO |
| Budget Amendment | Budget changes | Budget Owner, Finance Head |
Each workflow defines the states (e.g., Draft → Pending Approval → Approved → Submitted), the transitions (what action moves a document from one state to the next), and the roles authorized to perform each transition.
Key Concepts
Workflow State — The current stage of the document in its approval journey. Every document displays its workflow state prominently at the top of the form (e.g., "Pending L1 Approval", "Approved", "Rejected").
Turnaround Time (TAT) — The time a document spends in each workflow state. PayInvoice Next automatically tracks TAT for every state transition, giving you visibility into where bottlenecks occur.
SLA (Service Level Agreement) — A target time defined for each workflow state. For example, "L1 Approval must happen within 24 working hours." When a document exceeds its SLA, it is flagged as a breach and escalation actions kick in.
Delegation — When an approver is away (on leave, in meetings, or travelling), they can delegate their approval authority to another user for a defined period. Delegations expire automatically.
Related Pages
- Budget Enforcement — How budget validation interacts with workflow
- PO Approval Workflow — Purchase Order specific workflow
- PI Approval Workflow — Purchase Invoice specific workflow