It’s the end of the month, and the atmosphere in the finance department is tense. An invoice has been circulating for approval for three weeks—one manager was on vacation, another couldn’t find the corresponding contract, and the payment deadline expired yesterday. The approval process for incoming invoices looks like this at most companies: email, printed copies, and reminder calls. BürOffice eliminates this back-and-forth: the approval process for incoming invoices runs as a regulated, logged workflow with automatic routing and escalation.
We’ll show you step by step how it works—and what the CFO sees throughout the process.
Typically, there are four weak points. Invoices arrive through multiple channels—email, mail, and online portals—and there is no single place where they can all be viewed. The approver is selected mentally: Who is the project manager? Who is the authorizing officer? The approval process takes place via email, so the status of the case is not visible. Finally, there is a lack of traceability: six months later, it’s hard to say who approved the payment and when.
The result: missed deadlines, interest rate risk, and unnecessary tension between finance and the line organizations.
The BürOffice Input subsystem immediately attaches paper invoices to the system after they are scanned, and automatically registers those received via email, the customer portal, or other systems. Each invoice is assigned a unique identifier, and the receipt details are recorded. There are no more disputes of the “we never received it” variety.
Predefined rules route the invoice to the appropriate workflow—based on project, organizational unit, or amount threshold. The approver sees the task awaiting them in their inbox, along with the related contract and the full history. Intelligent routing can reduce processing time by up to 70% because no one has to forward documents manually.
Approval levels can be freely configured: they can be linked to spending limits, invoice types, or organizations. Supervisory policies define who can approve what—the system enforces these permissions, not custom practices. Managers can also approve requests from their mobile devices, so the process doesn’t come to a halt even when they’re on the go.
If the approver does not respond in time, the system escalates the task to the deputy or the approver’s supervisor. The payment deadline is not protected by a reminder email, but by a built-in automated process. The excuse “I was on vacation” no longer halts the process.
The documents associated with an approved invoice—the invoice itself, the related contract, and the approvals—remain in one place, attached to the case. Thanks to comprehensive logging, it’s possible to determine at any time who approved what and when. In the event of an audit or a dispute, the answer is just a query away.
Invoice approval doesn't happen in a vacuum. The BürOffice data source connector links to the company’s specialized systems via REST APIs, web services, AI interfaces, SQL queries, and other connectors, allowing the approver to view all the data needed to make a decision—such as contracts, budget limits, and previous invoices—on a single interface. This eliminates the need to search through multiple systems, thereby reducing the majority of potential errors.
The dashboard displays in real time how many invoices are in process, which phase they are in, and where they are stuck. The workflow dashboard shows which approver is experiencing a backlog—and the workload can be immediately redistributed. KPI reports reveal turnaround times and their trends, making it possible to take action during the month rather than having to put out fires at the end of the month.
This is the difference between “let’s hope all the invoices are in order” and “I know exactly where everything stands.” Month-end closing is also more relaxed: the list of pending items isn’t a circulated Excel spreadsheet, but a live query.
At first, managers are skeptical: “Yet another system we have to log into.” Then it turns out that it works exactly the opposite way. The work inbox displays only the items awaiting their decision, with all the information needed to make that decision—contract, budget, background—on a single screen. No more searching for attachments, no more reminder calls. Approval takes just two minutes on a mobile device.
“Our invoicing process is too unique.” That’s exactly what the workflow engine’s rules are for: you can define different workflows based on amount thresholds, invoice types, projects, and organizations—including exceptions. “Our managers won’t use the system.” In our experience, mobile approval is faster than sifting through emails—managers quickly realize this. “We still have a lot of paper invoices.” Scanned invoices enter the same approval process for incoming invoices as electronic ones—paper isn’t an obstacle, just another channel.
Because the approval process for incoming invoices runs every month, involving a large volume of invoices and many participants—meaning the savings are immediate and recurring. Moreover, the process is easy to regulate: amount limits, responsible parties, and deadlines can be clearly defined. The proven workflow here then serves as a model for digitizing other processes—such as contracts, complaints, and procurement.
Streamlining invoice approval also improves supplier relationships: a company that pays on time negotiates from a stronger position and avoids paying late payment interest.
Yes. The scanned invoice goes through the same process as the electronic one—with a unique identifier, complete receipt data, and a record of where the physical copy is stored.
Yes. The rules of the workflow engine can be flexibly configured: different approval paths can be defined based on spending limits, invoice types, organizational units, or projects, with multi-step approval.
Yes. The data source connector connects to line-of-business systems via REST APIs, web services, AI interfaces, SQL queries, and other connectors, so the data from approved invoices is transferred not through manual entry but via a structured connection.
The entire process is logged: every step is recorded, including who did what and when. In the event of an audit or a disputed payment, the evidence can be retrieved in a matter of seconds.
The implementation can be phased in here as well: you can start with the accounts of a single organizational unit, and after a few weeks, the proven procedures can be extended to the entire company.
Request a live demo: We’ll use a real-life example to show you how the approval process for incoming invoices works in BürOffice—from receipt to logged closure. By the end of next month, you’ll no longer be chasing down invoices.
Lower costs.
Transparent operation.
Excellent CX.