Set up bill payment approvals

Set up bill payment approvals by defining approval levels, specifying approval requirements and notifications, and determining whether manual payments follow the approval process.

Before you start

Determine:

Which payment amounts require approval
How many approval levels you need
How many approvals are required at each level
Which users will serve as approvers

Approval process setup example

Approval level	Minimum amount
Level 1	$100
Level 2	$2000
Level 3	$10,000

In this example:

Payments from $100 to $1,999.99 require Level 1 approval.
Payments from $2,000 to $9,999.99 require Level 2 approval.
Payments of $10,000 or more require Level 3 approval.
Amounts below the first approval level are automatically approved.

Step 1: Define approval levels and vendor notifications

Each approval level applies to payments from its minimum amount up to $0.01 less than the next approval level.

Payments below the first approval level do not require approval.

Go to Accounts Payable > Setup > Configuration.
Go to the Payment approval settings section.
Select Enable AP payments approval.
Define your approval process.
1. Enter the Minimum amount for each level.
2. Specify the number of Approvers required for each level.
To require approvals for manual payments, do not select Ignore manual payment approval limit.
Select who to send vendor payment notification emails from.
Choose one of the following options:
- Person who selects bills for payment.
  The notification email displays the contact information of the person who selected the bills for payment. Use this option when vendors should communicate directly with the individual processing payments.
- The following contact.
  The notification email always displays the same contact information, regardless of who processes the payment. Use this option when vendor payment inquiries should be directed to a shared contact or centralized accounts payable team.
Select Save.

Step 2: Assign users to approval levels

Assign users to one or more approval levels so they can approve bill payments. Then, have the approver enable approval notifications.

If an approval level requires multiple approvals, assign that approval level to enough users to meet the approval requirement. For example, if Level 3 requires three approvals, at least three users must have Level 3 approval permissions.

Depending on your permissions model, assign approval levels through roles or directly to users.

Subscription	Accounts Payable Administration
User type	Business user with admin privileges
Permissions	Users: List, View, and Edit

Go to Company > Admin > Users.
Open the user record.
Select the Subscriptions tab.
Open Permissions for Accounts Payable.
Locate the Approve payments permission.
Select List to allow the user to access pending payment requests.
Select one or more approval levels for the user.
A user can be assigned to more than one approval level.
Select Save.