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Approval of invoices

Recently we introduced a feature that allows you to approve invoices with one click. While at this time the use case for this covers only the basic approval scenarios for a small busines, we are improving the feature based on customer feedback.

Approval of invoices

The invoice approval workflow in Datamolino gets used in a few different ways. It’s an optional add-on you switch on per folder. There are no special user roles and no complex rules to configure. Just three actions: Approve, Reject, Reset.

Client signoff between accountant and client

The simplest invoice approval workflow is a signoff between client and accountant. The client confirms documents are valid before they get imported into the accounting software. Once approval is enabled in the folder, documents land in an “Awaiting Approval” tab where the client (or whoever owns signoff) clears the queue before export.

Quality assurance for larger firms

Larger accounting firms tend to use the invoice approval workflow for QA. Junior staff code the invoices and prepare them for export. Senior staff review the coding and reject anything with mistakes. Junior staff then look at the rejected documents and learn from the corrections.

When you reject an invoice you can add a “rejection reason.” It shows up in the document detail and on hover over the rejection icon in the list, so the junior coder sees exactly what was wrong without needing a separate conversation about it.

Connecting approval to Xero

If the folder is connected to Xero, you can also turn on “Mandatory contact for approval.” That means a document has to be paired with a Xero contact before anyone can approve it. This catches missing supplier setup early, before the invoice gets to Xero where fixing it is a bigger job.

Approved invoices stay in the “Approved” tab until you export them, then move to “All files.” When you’re done exporting, the Approved tab should be empty. That’s how you know the batch is finished.

What are the 5 best Datamolino features?

  1. Automatic PDF splitting
  2. Better automation scenarios
  3. Detailed invoice data
  4. Baked in approval of invoice
  5. Datamolino is greater than the sum of its parts

Photo by Drahomír Posteby-Mach on Unsplash