Payment Method Approvals (Intacct)
Before configuring Payment Method Approvals, please ensure you are on the latest version of the plugin. The instructions to update can be found here: Updating the Plugin (Intacct)
The Payment Method Approvals feature provides a robust and secure method for managing changes to payee bank account information within your ERP. This approval process ensures data accuracy, minimizes the risk of errors, and enhances security by requiring authorization for changes to your payee's banking data.
Enable Payment Method Approvals
Login to FISPAN Portal
An ERP administrator or ERP consultant must first access the FISPAN Portal by logging in at sys.fispan.live.
Enable Payment Method Approvals
Click on the Payment Method Approvals tile.
A summary pop-up will appear. Click Enable & Configure to complete the setup.
Once enabled, you will be prompted to begin creating your workflows.
Creating a Workflow
To create your Payment Method Approvals workflow for your ERP utilizing the plugin, please follow these steps.
Go to Payment Method Approvals
From the FISPAN Portal, click on the Payment Method Approvals tile. You'll then be prompted to start creating your workflows.
Create a Workflow
Once you are on the Payment Method Approvals page, click Let's Get Started.
Start by giving your workflow a clear, descriptive name for easy identification later. Next, select the entities you want the approval workflow to apply to:
- Addresses: Applies to addresses added via the Payment Methods page or changes made to the native ERP payee record address.
- Bank Accounts: Applies to bank accounts added via the Payment Methods page or changes made to the native ERP payee record bank account.
- Email Groups: Applies to email groups added via the Payment Methods page or changes made to the native ERP payee record emails.
NOTE: Payment Method Approvals captures all payee changes by default—both changes made in the Payment Methods page and automated updates synced from your NetSuite environment for the configured entities. To exclude ERP-synced changes and only require approval for updates made in the plugin, contact FISPAN Support.
Add Approvers to Workflow
Next, you need to define the approvers for your workflow.
In the first level, enter the approver's email address exactly as it appears on their user record in the ERP system.
Add another level for approval and additional approvers, if needed. You can set up to three levels of approval.
At each level, you can add up to five potential approvers. You can also decide how many individual approvals are required per level (e.g. Level 1 requires 2 approvals, Level 2 requires 3 approvals, Level 3 requires 1 approval).
NOTE: Important Considerations:
- No Self-Approval. You cannot approve your own payees. Keep this in mind if a single user frequently acts as both the payee creator and an approver.
- Best Practice for Approvers. To avoid delays, we suggest:
- Avoid having a single approver in a level.
- Adding more approvers than the required approvals (e.g., include 4 approvers in a level that requires 2 approvals). This ensures the process can continue even if someone is unavailable.
IMPORTANT: To approve changes, users in the workflow must have both an ERP license and the necessary plugin permissions to view Payment Method Approvals, outlined in the Required Permissions section of this page.
Save Workflow
Once you have configured your workflow, click Save New Workflow.
Your workflow is now active. All changes made to payees through the Columbia Sync will now follow this approval process.
Editing a Workflow
You can edit or delete a workflow, but only if there are no payee record changes pending approval for that workflow. This prevents any confusion or errors with changes currently going through the approval process. In the event you need to edit a workflow with associated open payee record changes, process or cancel any outstanding changes associated with the workflow.
Select Workflow
You can edit existing workflows to adjust them. Click on the workflow you would like to modify.
Edit Workflow
Make your desired modifications, and click Save Changes.
Editing Restrictions
Modifying the entities associated with a workflow will disable any other workflows that were previously applied to those entities. Similar to making edits to workflows, all future requests for these entities will go through the new workflow; existing requests will remain unaffected.
Deleting a Workflow
Workflows with pending approvals cannot be deleted until those approvals are resolved. Deleting an active workflow can be done following these simple steps.
Select Workflow
Select the workflow to delete. Then, click Delete Workflow.
Confirm Deletion
A pop-up will appear. Confirm deletion by clicking Yes, Delete Workflow.
Disabling a Workflow
To disable a workflow, toggle Enable Flow. Then click Save Changes.
Intacct Required Permissions
If you are unable to access the Payment Method Approvals page, you may be missing permissions.
Your ERP Administrator will need to navigate to the role associated with your bank's plugin and add permissions for Payment Method Approvals.
Accessing Pending Approvals
Navigate to the Payment Method Approvals page within the Intacct plugin. By default, you will see all pending approval requests for your organization.
The Approvals page table provides a comprehensive overview of every payment request, including the following key details:
- Request Date: The exact date when the payment was initiated within the plugin.
- Payee: The name of the payee whose record was modified.
- Entity: The type of data that has been changed. It will be either an address, bank account, or email group.
- User/Requested By: The name of the user who submitted the payment request.
- Source: Where the change was made. It will be either Plugin UI or ERP.
- Approval Progress: A tracker that provides context for where a payment is within the approval process.
To view only the requests assigned to you, click the Show Assigned To Me Only filter.
To review a specific request, click View. This will display key information such as:
- Type of Change: This indicates whether it is an update to existing details, a new payee bank detail, or the deletion of a vendor bank detail.
- Requested Date: The date and time the change was submitted.
- Requester: The user who initiated the change.
- Detailed Breakdown: A comprehensive overview of the proposed changes, additions, or deletions to the payee's bank details.
Approve a Request
Approve Request
After accessing your pending approvals, click into the request you would like to approve.
Click Approve to authorize the proposed changes.
Complete Approval
The request will either advance to the next level in the approval workflow (if multiple tiers are configured) or, if you are the final approver, the payee's bank details will be updated accordingly on the Payment Methods page.
Reject a Request
Reject Request
After accessing your pending approvals, click into the request you would like to approve.
Click Reject to deny the proposed changes.
IMPORTANT: Rejection is a terminal action. If a change is rejected in error, the initiating user will need to resubmit the request.
Provide Rejection Reason
You will be required to provide a Rejection Reason.
Since rejections are final, the request will not be routed to any other approvers, and the proposed changes will be reverted.
ERP Synced Changes
For changes originating directly from your ERP system (ERP-synced changes), the system restricts action to ensure data integrity by disabling the "Reject" button.
This restriction prevents accidental overwrites or conflicts with your core ERP data.
If an ERP-synced change needs reversal or modification, the initiating user must make the necessary adjustments directly within the ERP system.
Email Notifications
All users within a tier will receive an email when the approval request has been created.
The email has a limit of 100 payees at a time and will be sent every 30 minutes if there are approval requests being created.
Impact of Pending Approvals
When an approval request is created by modifying a payee's bank details, your plugin updates its interface as follows:
Pay Bills Page
When a payee has a pending change, payments cannot be processed for that payee. This restriction ensures you have the most up-to-date information before any payment is initiated.
A warning icon and a greyed-out checkbox prevent these payess from being selected for payment.
Payment Methods Page
On the Payment Methods page, the payee entry will display an icon identifying the pending changes.
If you click on the payee, the specific record that has been changed is highlighted.
If you open the record, you'll find all fields are greyed out and cannot be edited while the approval is pending.
Approvals History
The Approvals History page maintains a comprehensive log of all approval requests, including both those that have been approved and those that have been rejected.
To view more details about a request, you can click View and see the following fields:
- Date and Time: When the approval or rejection occurred.
- User: The individual who approved or rejected the request.
- Reason: Any comments or explanations provided for the decision.
- Source: The origin of the change request (e.g., manual update, import).
Approvals History Export
You can export the Approvals History for record-keeping or analysis. The exported file includes the following columns:
- Modified On: The date the change was made
- Payee: Payee Name
- Type of Change: Updated, Added, Deleted
- User Email: The user who initiated the change
- Reviewed By: User emails who have approved or rejected the change
- Approval/Rejection Time: The time when the final approving user reviewed the change or when the rejection was sent.
- Status: Approved or Rejected
- Previous Entry: This entry reflects its state before it was changed. It will be empty if the history log item pertains to the creation of a new record.
- Proposed Entry: This entry reflects the adjustments made after a change was initiated or rejected. If the entry was rejected, it reflects the proposed change. If the entry was approved, it represents the accepted change.
- Reason for Rejection: The reason for rejection provided by the rejecting user. This will be empty if the record is an approved item.
To generate this export, click the Export button on the Approvals History page.
