Accounts Payable | Bill Approval Workflows

Approvals route themselves. The CFO doesn't approve a coffee bill at 11 PM.

Rules by amount, cost-centre, GL, vendor, project or entity. Slack, email and WhatsApp approvals. Out-of-office auto-escalation. Mobile approval. Full audit trail with reason capture and SLA tracking.

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How it works

From bill to approver, on the right rule, every time.

Step 01

Rules engine reads the bill

Amount, cost-centre, GL, vendor, project and entity all evaluate against your approval matrix at the moment the bill is captured. Multi-tier matrices (preparer, reviewer, L1, L2, CFO) are supported.

Step 02

Routed to the right approver, the right way

Slack DM for the procurement lead, email for the controller, WhatsApp for the CFO who's travelling. The approver decides without logging in.

Step 03

Out-of-office handled automatically

When an approver is on leave, the system auto-escalates to the delegate after the configured window. No bill sits in someone’s inbox while they’re on a flight.

Step 04

Captured for audit

Approval, rejection, comments and SLA timing captured per bill with timestamp, IP and approver identity. The trail is hash-chained for Rule 11(g) compliance.

What the system does

Capability, input, output.

Capability	Input	Output
Rules engine	Amount + cost-centre + GL + vendor + project + entity	Approver chain per bill
Channel routing	Approver preference per role	Slack, email or WhatsApp delivery
OOO auto-escalation	Approver leave calendar + escalation rule	Auto-route to delegate after the window
Bulk approval	Filtered bill set + approver action	Batch approve/reject with comment
Mobile approval	Push notification on iOS / Android	One-tap approve, swipe to comment
SLA tracking	Approval-stage timestamps	Aging dashboard + breach alerts

Rules engine

Input

Amount + cost-centre + GL + vendor + project + entity

Output

Approver chain per bill
Channel routing

Input

Approver preference per role

Output

Slack, email or WhatsApp delivery
OOO auto-escalation

Input

Approver leave calendar + escalation rule

Output

Auto-route to delegate after the window
Bulk approval

Input

Filtered bill set + approver action

Output

Batch approve/reject with comment
Mobile approval

Input

Push notification on iOS / Android

Output

One-tap approve, swipe to comment
SLA tracking

Input

Approval-stage timestamps

Output

Aging dashboard + breach alerts

Compliance + integrations

An approval trail your auditor can read like a transcript.

Every approval, rejection, comment and override is captured with the approver, timestamp and reason. The chain matches the matrix you signed off on. Auditors get read-only access to the workflow log without provisioning a regular user account.

Regulations we work within

Rule 11(g), Companies Act

Append-only edit trail across the approval workflow.
Section 134(5), Companies Act

Internal financial controls assertion supported with workflow evidence.
SOX 404 (for listed groups)

Segregation of duties enforced at the approver-chain level.

Connects to

Slack Approve from a DM
Microsoft Teams Approve from a card
WhatsApp Business Approve over a templated message
Email Approve from any inbox

Bill Approval Workflows FAQ

What buyers ask.

Our approval matrix is complex. Can it really be configured here?

Yes. Multi-tier matrices with conditional logic (e.g., "L1 + L2 if amount > ₹5L AND cost-centre = R&D") are supported. Most teams move from spreadsheet-based approval grids and find the rules engine handles every case the grid did, including the exceptions written in the margins.

What happens if the approver doesn't act?

Each rule has an SLA and an escalation policy. If the approver doesn’t act within the SLA, the bill auto-escalates to the configured delegate or to the next tier up. Aging is visible on the AP dashboard, and the CFO can see breaches at a glance.

Can we approve from Slack?

Yes. Approvals can fire to Slack DMs as actionable cards. The approver clicks Approve or Reject without leaving Slack. Identity is verified via Slack workspace SSO. Same for Microsoft Teams.

Is the approval trail auditor-accessible?

Yes. The CA and statutory auditor reviewer roles get read-only access to the approval workflow per period, with the chain, comments and timing. Big-4 audit packs export hash-verified.

Related features

Wire up your approval matrix in an hour.

Bring last week’s approval logs. We map them to a rules engine in front of you. The first bill routes itself the same day.