How to Use Approval Workflows in Bill.com: Enhancing Financial Controls

Financial leaders would likely agree that a key challenge is:

Maintaining strong financial controls and governance while also enabling business agility.

Luckily, Bill.com offers a robust approval workflow feature that helps organizations to:

Streamline approvals while also strengthening financial oversight.

In this post, we'll explore how Bill.com's flexible approval workflows can help you:

Configure rules-based approvals to match your policies
Automate multi-tier processes for better control
Monitor transactions proactively

Enabling you to enhance governance while accelerating your financial operations.

Introduction to Approval Workflows in Bill.com

Approval workflows in Bill.com provide automated review and approval processes for financial transactions before they are finalized. They enhance oversight and control over spending to ensure proper budgeting and compliance with financial policies.

What are approval workflows?

Approval workflows are configurable rules within Bill.com that route invoices and bills through designated reviewers and approvers. They allow businesses to:

Set up sequential chains of approval before payments get made
Establish spending thresholds that trigger higher up approval
Route invoices to approvers based on vendor, amount, account codes, and other criteria
Automate approval requests via email with built-in audit trails

By automating the review process, approval workflows save time and provide transparency into spending.

Why are approval workflows valuable?

Approval workflows bring several key benefits:

Enforce financial controls - Ensure spending aligns to budgets and policies by requiring manager sign-off on large expenditures.
Improve oversight - Give executives visibility into spending across business units, with automated email alerts about pending approvals.
Streamline auditing - Maintain digital audit trails of all approvals, simplifying compliance reporting.
Prevent fraud - Reduce unauthorized and fraudulent transactions by requiring multi-person review.

Approval workflows increase accountability into spending and help businesses scale their processes as they grow.

How approval workflows fit into the broader Bill.com system

Approval workflows integrate tightly with Bill.com's accounts payable automation capabilities:

Invoice workflows route bills through approvers after they get processed in Bill.com.
Expense workflows allow managers to review employee spend requests submitted through Bill.com's expense management features.
After approval, transactions seamlessly post to Bill.com's general ledger for reporting and sync to appropriate accounting systems.

This end-to-end integration provides control over spending while streamlining back-office financial operations.

How do approvals work in Bill com?

Approval workflows in Bill.com allow businesses to set up automated approval chains to control spending and enforce financial controls.

When setting up an approval workflow, you can:

Create approval groups consisting of multiple approvers. For example, you may have an "Accounting Approvers" group with your Controller and AP manager as members.
Assign single-user approvers for more targeted oversight. For example, you may want all marketing expenses approved by the CMO before payment.
Set up sequential or parallel approval chains depending on your needs. For example, you may want both the Controller and CFO to approve invoices over $10,000.

Once the first assigned approver takes action - whether approving, rejecting, or asking a clarifying question on the bill - it automatically routes to the next approver(s) in the sequence or is marked as final-approved if the last approver has signed off.

Approval workflows add an extra control step before bills are paid so companies can enforce compliance and spending policies across the organization. The sequential review process also provides greater visibility and oversight for stakeholders. Overall, these automated approval chains help streamline accounting procedures and minimize financial risk.

What does a workflow approval process do?

An approval workflow routes a document or other item to one or more people for approval or rejection. The approval steps in the workflow establish standard automation that streamlines communication and reduces the backlog on needed approvals.

Specifically, a workflow approval process in Bill.com allows you to:

Set up automatic routing of invoices, bills, and other financial documents to the right people for review and approval based on customizable rules and thresholds. This eliminates manual sending of documents.
Establish multiple approval steps if needed based on the type or amount of the transaction. For example, bills over $5,000 might require Director-level approval after Manager approval.
Automate email notifications to approvers letting them know a document requires their review. This prompts timely approvals.
Prevent payment processing until all required approvals are completed. This enhances financial control.
Create audit trails showing who approved each document and when. This supports compliance.
Speed up the approval process by allowing approvers to instantly approve or request changes right from the email notification. No login required.

Overall, automated approval workflows provide oversight, accountability, and controls over financial transactions while accelerating approvals through built-in rules and notifications. This balances proper oversight with business agility.

How do you configure the approval process?

To configure an approval process in Bill.com, follow these steps:

Access the Workflow Editor

From the Workflows tab, click "Create Workflow"
Select the "Approval" workflow element and add it to the workflow diagram
Right-click the Approval element and select "Properties" to open the configuration window

Name the Approval Process

In the Properties window, enter a name for the approval process that describes its purpose, like "Expense Report Approvals"

Set the Approval Rules

Specify if and when the system should automatically approve or reject based on certain rules
For example, set it to auto-approve expenses under $100

Configure the Notifications

Select when to notify the approver that a document requires their review
Common settings are to notify on document creation or if approaching expiration date

Assign the Approvers

Designate the appropriate people to approve expenses based on thresholds
Specify the order of approvers using parallel or serial configurations

Set an Expiration Timeframe

Indicate the number of days approvers have to process an approval before it automatically expires or escalates
This ensures documents keep moving through the workflow

Following these steps will properly configure an approval process that enhances financial controls in Bill.com. Make sure to set clear rules, choose relevant approvers, and set expirations to keep the process moving smoothly.

How do I add approval to workflow?

To add an approval workflow in Bill.com, follow these steps:

In your Bill.com account, go to Project settings > Workflows.
Select the workflow you want to edit and click Edit.
At the appropriate step in the workflow, click Add approval.
In the Configure approval window, give the approval a name and description.
Select the approvers, either individuals or groups. Consider selecting backup approvers in case the main approver is unavailable.
Choose whether approvals should happen in sequence or parallel. Sequential means each approver must approve before it goes to the next, while parallel allows approvers to approve simultaneously.
Set the length of time before the approval expires if no action is taken.
Click Add to insert the approval step in the workflow.

Adding an approval step enables checks and balances, ensuring spending aligns to budgets. It also provides visibility into pending transactions so approvers can review and approve/deny based on policies. Overall, approval workflows promote financial control and oversight.

Let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions!

Configuring Basic Approval Workflows

Enabling approval workflows in Bill.com can help businesses enhance financial controls and oversight. By setting up rules around who can approve certain transactions, companies can reduce risk and errors.

Enable approval workflows

The first step is turning on the approval workflow feature within your Bill.com account settings. You can then configure required approvers for different transaction types or amounts:

Require Manager approval for all vendor bills over $5,000
Require CFO approval for expense reimbursements over $500

This ensures the right people sign off on large or risky transactions before they are paid.

Configure rules-based workflows

For more advanced workflows, you can set up conditional routing rules. These rules route invoices to specific approvers based on criteria like:

Vendor name
Billing codes
Transaction amount
Transaction type

For example, you may route all bills from your IT vendor to your IT manager for approval. Or send high value invoices to executives.

Automate based on billing codes

Billing codes offer another way to streamline approvals. You can assign billing codes to departments, projects, etc.

Then auto-route transactions with those codes to the appropriate approvers:

Bills with Engineering codes -> Engineering Manager
Bills with HR codes -> Head of HR

This automates the approval process based on the departments/projects represented.

Configuring approval rules and workflows takes some initial setup but pays off through increased oversight and reduced bottlenecks. Reach out for help customizing an automated approval process that fits your business needs.

Advanced Approval Workflow Customizations

Tips for tailoring and enhancing approval workflows to match an organization's spending policies and processes.

Two-tier approval processes

Setting up sequential approval chains with two or more designated approvers enables extra oversight for sensitive or high-value transactions. This ensures no single person can unilaterally approve purchases above a predefined limit.

To configure:

Create separate approval rules for different spend amount tiers
Set the initial approver as the department manager
Set the secondary approver as the controller or CFO
Embed compliance checks between approver levels

Dual approvals force proper scrutiny for larger expenses. It also protects approvers from accusations of bias or misconduct.

Custom transaction approval limits

Tailor automated approval workflows based on:

Vendor category
Purchase types
Department or location
Individual employees

Set granular thresholds so certain transactions route to higher-level approvers. This prevents unauthorized or out-of-policy spending.

For example:

Purchases below $100 auto-approve
IT software expenses above $500 route to CTO
Individual employee travel expenses above $2000 must be approved by Controller
Payments to new vendors over $5000 go to CFO

Customized rules facilitate appropriate oversight per your organization's policies.

Automated policy compliance checks

Embed logic checks that verify all transactions against predefined business rules, such as:

Blacklisted vendors
Required PO numbers
Approved product categories
Spending caps
Unauthorized cost centers

Automated safeguards identify non-compliant purchases and route them for exception handling. This eliminates manual validation and provides consistent enforcement of approval policies.

Tailored automation frees approvers to focus on legitimate exceptions rather than checking for policy violations. It also reduces timeline delays by preventing non-compliant transactions from entering the workflow.

Proactive compliance checks bolster oversight while enabling faster processing for compliant purchases.

Monitoring Transactions and Approvals

Email alerts and reminders

Bill.com allows users to configure email alerts and reminders to notify approvers when transactions are awaiting their review. Users can customize the email frequency and content to suit their business needs.

For example, approvers can be notified daily or weekly with a summary of transactions requiring their attention. Emails contain key details like transaction dates, amounts, and descriptions to help approvers prioritize their reviews.

Bill.com also includes a messaging center where approvers can access real-time updates on approval requests. The centralized notification hub helps ensure reviewers never miss an important action item.

Approval audit trails

Bill.com maintains detailed audit trails recording every approval event, including:

Reviewer names
Specific actions taken (e.g. approve, reject, delegate)
Timestamps for all activity

Audit trail reports provide transparency into approval workflows. Users can inspect historical trails to understand when and by whom transactions were authorized.

Complete visibility enables businesses to comply with financial controls and auditing requirements. Historical approval data also aids internal process analyses.

Approval workflow analytics

Bill.com offers built-in analytics for approval workflows. Users can access reports to help optimize processes over time.

Key reports include:

Approver productivity - Track individual reviewer workload and performance
Bottleneck analysis - Identify steps causing delays
Average approval times - Measure end-to-end process speed
Outstanding approvals - List pending transactions awaiting review

Armed with approval analytics, businesses can fine-tune workflows to enhance financial governance and operational efficiency. Tighter controls and faster transaction times drive cost savings.

Key Benefits of Bill.com Approval Workflows

Approval workflows in Bill.com offer several key benefits for businesses looking to enhance financial controls and oversight over spending.

Improved financial governance

Implementing approval workflows ensures that all spending must go through mandatory reviews before transactions can proceed. This prevents unauthorized or fraudulent payments by requiring sign-off from the appropriate stakeholders.

Approvers can also check that spending aligns to budgets, preventing potential overages. With clearly defined approval chains specifying who must review what types of transactions, businesses gain improved governance over financial decisions.

Proactive compliance assurance

Bill.com enables configurable policy checks to take place during the approval process. These automated validations ensure spending complies with predefined rules and regulations in real-time, before transactions occur.

This proactive enforcement of spending policies enables preventative controls against non-compliant activities. Issues can be flagged early and directed to the right reviewers to resolve.

Process transparency and auditability

Comprehensive activity logs provide clear proof of the review and oversight applied to every approved transaction. Bill.com tracks each step of the approval chain, capturing details on who reviewed, when, and what decision was made.

These detailed audit trails create full transparency into approval processes for easier reporting and auditing. Businesses can clearly demonstrate proper governance over spending to stakeholders.

In summary, Bill.com approval workflows enhance critical financial controls through improved governance, automated compliance checks, and transparent audit trails. These benefits enable businesses to manage oversight more effectively as they scale.

How to Use Approval Workflows in Bill.com: Enhancing Financial Controls