Configuring Invoice Approvals

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to configure Invoice approvals and workflow preferences.

Invoice Approval Routing

The Invoice Approval Routing page allows you to select the approval process for Invoices.

You can choose between the following routing possibilities, depending on your company's needs:

  1. Route to processor (default)

    The invoice is sent directly from the employee to the processor for approval on the Process Invoices page. This option simplifies the approval workflow and streamlines initial user administration setup. Small businesses may prefer it because it eliminates a duplicate approval process.

  2. Route to the manager, then the processor

    The invoice is sent from the employee to their manager for approval before being forwarded to the processor on the Process Invoices page. Each employee must have a manager assigned to their profile.

  3. Route to the manager, then the authorized approver, and then the processor

    The approval limits you assign to each approver on the Users page are enforced during invoice routing from the submitter to their manager. If the manager's approval limit is insufficient, the system prompts them to choose another approver from a list of users with appropriate approval limits.

  4. Route to manager, then manager’s manager (up to five levels), and then processor

    The employee sends the invoice to their manager for approval. If the manager's approval limit is sufficient, the invoice is then forwarded to the processor for approval on the Process Invoices page, similar to the 'Route to the manager, then the processor' option.

    If the employee's manager lacks sufficient approval limit authority, the invoice will be sent to the manager's manager. If needed, this process will continue up to five managerial levels until a manager with the appropriate approval limit approves the invoice to move forward to the processor on the Process Invoices page.

  5. Route to the employee, and then the processor (Purchase Order-based invoices)

    For Purchase Order-based invoices, you can select whether you want invoices to go from employee submission to processor, or if you want to use one of the workflow options that are available for regular invoices (see above).

The image displays an Approval Routing setup screen where users select how invoices are routed for approval. There are five numbered options with radio buttons, including choices for routing payment requests to a processor, a manager, or other approval paths. The screen has a Save button at the top and includes links to show examples for each option.

Invoice Approvals Other Settings

Invoice Approval Routing

Sometimes, invoices need to be approved by a manager outside the regular approval route. You can choose whether employees, managers, or both are allowed to select additional approvers for the invoice.

You can also define when a pending approval invoice expires and reroutes to the approver's manager, assign the invoice to the Purchase Request Owner, or do all the above.

Steps

  1. Allow manager/employees to add another approver to the list

    This allows a manager or an employee to add an additional approver to the default approver list.

  2. Set Pending Approver expiration and route manager after (in days)

    You can configure the number of days after which an invoice waiting for approval is automatically routed to an approving manager. The default expiration interval is 10 days. After submitting an invoice, an approving manager receives a notification e-mail.

    If this manager does not approve the invoice, they will receive a reminder e-mail after three calendar days. Then they will receive daily reminders until the configured expiration interval has elapsed.

    The invoice is automatically rerouted to the approver’s manager if the expiration interval elapses. If the setting is cleared (disabled), the invoice will remain in the pending approver’s queue.

  3. Assign invoice to Purchase Request Owner

    AP users do not need to manually assign SAP Concur-created PO-based invoices to the correct purchase request owners. Instead, Concur Invoice handles this automatically.

    This means that Concur Invoice will try to find the purchase request owner of the PO associated with the invoice. When the PR owner is found, Concur Invoice will automatically assign the purchase request owner as the invoice owner.

  4. Allow Invoice Processors to Process Their Invoices

    This option allows processors to process their invoices. This benefits clients with only one processor in their company, who submit their invoices.

  5. Send vendor payment e-mail notifications for Check and ACH Concur Invoice Pay types

    Vendors can receive an e-mail when they are paid via ACH or Check with Invoice Pay, containing complete remittance information, including when, how, and for what they are paid. This applies to both partial and complete payments.

    The e-mail will contain the invoice date, amount, invoice number, payment date, payment method, and any notes on the payment submission. For payments involving checks, the check number will be included. The name of the paying company must be in the Subject field and the header line of the e-mail.

  6. Enable Create and Approval for Invoice Vendor

    This option allows the invoice vendor manager to add vendors manually; if this option is off, the vendor manager will need to add vendors via the vendor import tool.

  7. Allow employees to recall requests

    When an invoice is recalled, the following actions can be taken by the employee:

    • Edit and resubmit the invoice.
    • Delete the invoice.

    When an invoice is recalled, the following actions are taken by the system:

    • An entry is written to the audit trail showing the action on the invoice as Invoice Recall.
    • The name of the user recalling the invoice is displayed in the Status column of the Invoice List page.
    • The workflow is reset.
    The image displays an Approval Routing settings page for invoice workflow preferences. The page includes options to allow managers or employees to add approvers, set approval expiration and routing, assign invoices to the purchase request owner, let invoice processors handle their own invoices, send vendor payment email notifications, enable create and approval for invoice vendors, and allow employees to recall requests. Each option is accompanied by a checkbox, and some options have additional input fields or explanations.

Resources

SAP Help PortalLink
Concur Invoice Standard Edition Administration GuidesApproval Routing

Summary

  • Choose from five routing options, including direct to processor, manager approval, or multi-level manager approvals.
  • Set workflow preferences such as adding approvers, approval expiration rerouting, or processor handling of their own invoices.
  • Automatically assign invoices to purchase request owners for PO-based invoices, streamlining approval and reducing manual effort.
  • Enable vendor notifications for ACH/check payments, providing detailed remittance information and payment transparency to vendors.
  • Allow employees to recall invoices to edit, resubmit, or delete, with actions tracked in the Audit Trail.

Learning

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