bill approval workflow

Thanks for reaching out to us, karl23.

I know that having the option to send the approval request after saving the bill saves you a lot of time. I'll share additional information on how the approval workflow works.

Yes, that is correct. You must first save the bill and then click the Save & Close button again to send the request for approval. This is working as expected. I encourage you to submit your product suggestion to help improve the approval workflow feature. Our Product Development team will review your request. They can include it in future updates if it's approved.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Help menu.
2. Select Send Feedback Online, then choose Product Suggestion.
3. Enter your request.
4. Once done, click Send Feedback.

Additionally, you can read this article for a complete guide to processing bill payments: Pay bills in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you have further questions about managing bills, please let me know. I'll be around to help you.

I discovered the SAVE button, which then brings up the SAVE AND SEND FOR APPROVAL. All good! As mentioned it turned out to be user-error! Thanks for your reply. 

Hello,

I am trying to figure out how to set up a bill approval workflow. Need some help.

Thank you, T

@lcdexcavation 

Are you using QB Online or QB Desktop?

Let me help you with setting up a bill approval workflow in QuickBooks Desktop, lcdexcavation.

If you are using QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond or Platinum 2022 version, we can set up rules to check which purchase orders/bills need approval for entry and payment. Here's how: 

1. Go to Company and select Set Up Approval Processes.
2. Tap Get Started, then Set up in the purchase order/bill template card.
3. Sign in to your Intuit account as an admin if you haven't already. You’re taken to the approval process creation screen.
4. Enter the name and description of the process.
5. Enter the conditions for purchase orders/bills when you want to trigger the approval process. You can set up conditions on Amount, Vendor name, and Vendor type.
6. Choose the approver's name and enter the email address of the approver.
7. You can customize the email subject and message.
8. Press Save & Activate and the approval process will activate for all the newly created purchase orders/bills.

Then, proceed to the next steps in this article to finish the process: Set up a purchase order and bill approval in Enterprise 22.0. If not, then follow the workaround provided by my colleague  Giovann_G. To pay your bills in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows, check out this article for the steps and details: Pay bills in QuickBooks Desktop. 

Also, Accounts Payable is the record of outstanding bills for your business. The first time you enter a bill, QuickBooks will add Accounts Payable to your Chart of Accounts. Once you enter or pay a bill, QuickBooks records the transaction to your Accounts Payable account. Here's an article you can refer to for more insights about Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

Make the most of QuickBooks exploration. If you have any debrief about the process, feel free to share them with us in this post. I welcome the opportunity to respond immediately. You have a good one.

Hello,

Where is one going to "Company" from?  I am not seeing this in QBO.  I have no Bill account as I had to close it when I joined Bill on QBO.  I am so lost.

I'll share the details about the workflow feature in QuickBooks and guide you on how you can utilize it, suzanne.

The Company button mentioned by my peer above can be seen in the QuickBooks Desktop program.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can only set up and use bill approval workflows. However, it's exclusive to the QBO Advanced version only.

Follow these steps if you have the Advanced version or if you want to upgrade your subscription:

1. Log in to your QBO account.
2. From the left menu, tap Workflows.
3. To use our built-in styles, select the Set up bill approval tile under the Templates tab.
   
4. Enter a Workflow name, assign the task to your team, and then the Task name.
5. Enter the message you want to send to your approver and click the Send a company email box.
6. Fill out the necessary fields.
7. Enter the conditions, then Save and enable.
   

You can refer to this resource for more details about this process: How to set up and use bill approval workflows in QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Additionally, feel free to check out these articles to learn more about creating and managing custom workflows in QBO Advanced:

• Create custom workflows in QuickBooks Online Advanced
• Use workflows in QuickBooks Online Advanced to send reminders

I'll be around if you have any additional questions or concerns about the workflow feature in QBO. It's my priority that you find the success you need. Have a good one.

So now I am not sure this is what I am referring to.  I am using the free version of Bill that one can join through QB's.  It works but there was no approval process.  They just upgraded the account to allow for approval.  But I have no idea how that works.  I have QBO Plus so i do not have "Workflows".  Really confused.

This is no longer an option in QB Enterprise Desktop

Case:1595885652 Enterprise23 [ ref:_00Di0Xs0j._5003j298zXM:ref ]

There are no information for the QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions for Desktop 2023 that currently support the bill approval workflow. I apologize for the inconvenience. 

Hi there, @Suzanne.

I'd like to assist you further regarding your inquiry about using bill approval workflows. Before anything else, can you share a screenshot of which free bill you're referring to? Is it the bill you created when using QBO?

What account were you using before it was upgraded to QuickBooks Online Plus? Are you supposed to upgrade your account to QuickBooks Online Advanced? Please know that any additional information would help us determine the correct resolution.

You can always get back in this thread for more concerns aside from the bill. I'll be on the lookout for your response. Be safe.

@suzannek1 

Signup for a separate Melio account for free to integrate with QBO and use the approval feature.

https://affiliates.meliopayments.com/pricing

Does it work with Online Plus?  I know I have to sign up through Melio and then somehow connect it.

It supports QBO US Essentials, Plus and Advanced.

If you have set up a custom workflow are you able to then see an audit trail for that bill showing who has approved it for payment?

Thanks for joining in on this thread, @simrit. Let me impart knowledge about the Audit Trail in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

Yes, you're right. The Audit Trail keeps track of all the modifications made to a particular transaction. You can find the following information there:

• Who made the changes.
• When the changes were made.
• What the changes are.

To access it:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Click Accountant & Taxes.
3. Select Audit Trail.
   

Also, you may choose who can approve the bills when setting up the bill approval workflow in QBDT.

After you've recorded what you owe your vendors, you can settle your payables by going to the Pay Bills window. If you received a vendor discount or credit, you may apply it to your bill payment to reduce your balance.

Let me know whenever you have any clarifications about custom workflows in QBDT. I've got your back always. Keep safe, and have a nice day ahead!