How can I automate invoice approval for my non-regulated invoices?

Automate the invoice approval process before scheduling payments with Auto-Approve.

What is Auto-Approve?

Currently, when you scan a non-regulated invoice into the Fintech Portal, the system verifies the invoice was processed accurately into the portal. The invoice then receives a Needs Review status (Invoices > Manage Invoices tab) indicating that a final review and approval is required before scheduling a payment.

With Auto-Approve, non-regulated invoices verified by Fintech are automatically marked as Approved, eliminating the need for manual review, allowing you to schedule and make payments faster.

⚠️ Enabling Auto-Approve for a vendor will apply this feature to all locations they serve.

⚠️ To activate Auto-Approve, you need to have at least one invoice that has been Approved or has already been paid through the portal to activate Auto-Approve. Click here for more information: Where do I upload and manage my invoices? and Where can I schedule and manage payments on invoices?

Enabling the Auto-Approve Feature

To start using Auto-Approve:

1. Go to Vendors > My Vendors.

2. Choose a vendor from the list that you upload non-regulated invoices for.

   ⚠️ If the chosen vendor sends regulated invoices only, you will not see the Auto-Approve feature in step 3.

3. Find the Automated Invoice Approval message, then click the Let’s Activate button:
   
4. Determine your Net Term, then click Activate:

   💡 If an invoice does not specify a due date, the platform will generate one by adding the Net Term value (i.e., the number of days specified) to the invoice creation date.

   For instance, an invoice created August 1st with a net term of 10 days will be due on August 11th. Please confirm that the net term value aligns with your agreed payment terms with the vendor.

5. After clicking Activate, you will be prompted to provide feedback on why you are using auto-approve. Feedback helps us to improve the feature, but it is not required.

Editing or Deactivating Auto-Approve

You can edit or deactivate your Auto-approve feature:

1. Go to Vendors > My Vendors.
2. Choose a vendor from the list.
3. To edit:
   1. Find the Automated Invoice Approval message, then click Edit Net Terms:
      
   2. Edit the Net Term value, then click Confirm.
      
4. To deactivate:

⚠️ Deactivating Auto-Approve will make invoices with a Processing status change to Needs Review. You will need to manually edit and approve the invoice. Manually schedule the payment if you do not have Auto-Pay active. 

1. 1. Find the Automated Invoice Approval message, then click Deactivate to begin the process:
      
   2. Provide feedback, then click Deactivate:
      

What if Auto-Approve Fails?

The portal verifies that the required details are present on an uploaded invoice before marking it as ready for Auto-Approval. If an uploaded invoice is unreadable or missing the below information, it will not pass through to the Auto-Approval stage:

To learn how to manually edit invoices, click here: How do I make changes to a vendor invoice?

Using Auto-Approve and Auto-Pay Together

You can utilize both the Auto-Approve and Auto-Pay features simultaneously. This eliminates the need for manual invoice approval and payment scheduling. When Auto-Pay is enabled, the portal will automatically set a payment date after an invoice has been approved. For more details, refer to the following article: How can I automate payment scheduling?