Payment Approvals (Business Central)
The Payment Approvals feature implements a multi-tiered approval workflow for payments made with the plugin, integrating the approval step directly into the ERP. This guide will walk you through setting up your approval workflows, ensuring that your payments are secure and properly authorized.
Accessing Payment Approvals
NOTE: To enable Payment Approvals, first update your plugin by following the guide on Updating the Plugin.
Once updated, follow these steps to access the Payment Approvals feature.
Log In to the Portal
To begin, an ERP administrator or consultant with access to the portal needs to log in at sys.fispan.live.
Select Workflow
Once logged in, select the Payment Approvals tile. You'll then be prompted to start creating your workflows.
There are two main types of approval workflows you can set up:
- Global Workflow: This is your default workflow. It applies to all payment types and bank accounts.
- Dedicated Workflow: This workflow is more specific. It applies to a particular bank account and selected payment types. Dedicated workflows always take priority over Global Workflows.
Setting Up Your Global Workflow
To set up a global workflow, please follow these steps.
Create Global Workflow
First, give your workflow a descriptive name. This will help you easily identify it later.
Here, you have the option to set thresholds. A threshold is the minimum payment amount required to trigger a specific approval tier. If a payment is less than the threshold amount, that approval tier will be skipped.
IMPORTANT: Each threshold amount must be equal to or greater than the previous tier's threshold.
NOTE: If your system supports multiple currencies for payments, you must first define a base currency for your workflow.
Thresholds are only applied to payments in this base currency. Any payment submitted in a different currency will bypass the thresholds and automatically require approval from all tiers, as the system does not currently perform automatic currency conversion for this process.
TIP: Best Practice for Multiple Currencies
If you make payments from bank accounts with different base currencies, we highly recommend creating dedicated workflows for those accounts. This ensures that your thresholds are properly applied to payments in those specific currencies.
Add Approvers to Workflow
You'll need to add approvers for your workflow. Enter the user's ERP email address exactly as it appears in their ERP user record. Approvers will receive an email notification when a payment meets the required threshold.
The approver email must exactly match the email in the user’s ERP record.
Do not use an alternate or alias emails. Any mismatch may delay approvals and payment processing.
IMPORTANT: To approve payments, users in an approval workflow need both an ERP license and the necessary plugin permissions.
Add Multiple Tiers
Add another Tier 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 tier. eg. Tier 1 requires 2 approvals, Tier 2 requires 3 approvals, Tier 3 requires 1 approval.
NOTE: Important Considerations
- No Self-Approval. You cannot approve your own payments. Keep this in mind if a single user frequently acts as both the payment creator and an approver.
- Best Practice for Approvers. To avoid delays, we suggest:
- Avoid having a single approver in a tier.
- Adding more approvers than the required approvals (e.g., include 4 approvers in a tier that requires 2 approvals). This ensures the process can continue even if someone is unavailable.
Complete Workflow
Once you're satisfied with your settings, click Confirm Selection.
You can now review your workflow. Click Create Workflow to confirm creation.
Your Global Workflow is now active! All payments made through the plugin will now follow this approval process.
Creating a Dedicated Workflow
If you have specific bank accounts that need different approval workflows, you can create a Dedicated Workflow.
IMPORTANT: Setting up a dedicated workflow means it will take precedence over the global workflow for this specific bank account and the chosen payment rail(s), affecting all future payments.
Create Dedicated Workflow
From the Payment Approvals page, select click here to create a dedicated workflow.
First, enter a descriptive name for the workflow.
Add Source Account
You'll then choose the bank account for which these approval workflows will apply. Click Confirm Selection.
Add Payment Methods
Next, select the payment rail(s) that will be part of this workflow. Payments not selected here will still be routed through your Global Workflow.
NOTE: This list displays all payment methods enabled for your entire account, not specific to individual bank accounts.
Add Approvers and Tiers
You can then set up the approval tiers, including thresholds, approvers, and the number of approvals required, just like with a Global Workflow.
When you're finished, click Confirm Selection.
Complete Workflow
Next, you will see an overview of your workflow. To enable the workflow, click Create Workflow.
Your Dedicated Workflow is now active! Payments made with the selected combination of payment rails and bank accounts will now be routed through this workflow going forward.
Editing or Deleting Workflows
You can edit or delete a workflow, but only if there are no pending approvals for that workflow. This prevents any confusion or errors with payments currently going through the approval process. In the event you need to edit a workflow with associated open payments, process or cancel any outstanding payments associated with the workflow.
Editing a Workflow
Select a Workflow to Edit
Click on the workflow you want to edit in the table.
An overview of the workflow will appear. Next, click Edit Workflow.
Edit Workflow
Make your desired changes to the workflow.
Verify your changes and then click Save.
Confirm Changes
You will then see a confirmation of the changes. The updated workflow will now apply to all new payments.
Deleting a Workflow
Select a Workflow to Delete
Click on the workflow you want to delete.
Click Delete Workflow.
Confirm Deletion
Next, confirm you would like to proceed with the deletion.
Payments will no longer use this Workflow. If you still have a Global Workflow active, these payments will now be routed through your Global Workflow instead.
You will then see a confirmation that the workflow was successfully deleted.
ERP Required Permissions
To get access to the Payment Approvals page, please have your ERP Administrator navigate to your user and add permissions for MyBank Payment Approvals.
Users with Full Access or Super permissions do not need any additional permissions.
Payment Approval Request Page
After creating Vendor Bill Payment Approval workflows, once you initiate a payment from within your plugin, its status transitions to Waiting for Approval. If the payment amount falls within a specific approval threshold, the designated approvers will receive an email notification with the subject: "Action Required: Payments Requiring Approval"
Approvers can review these payments from the Payment Approval Request page, which serves as the central hub for all payments initiated for your company that are awaiting approval.
The Approvals page table provides a comprehensive overview of each payment request, with the following key details:
- Request Date: The precise date when the payment was initiated within the plugin.
- User/Requested By: The name of the user who submitted the payment request.
- Payment Request ID: A unique internal identifier generated by the plugin for this payment. This ID is crucial for any troubleshooting or support inquiries.
- Payee: The name of the recipient (vendor or entity) to whom the payment is being sent.
- Amount: The total value of the payment, after any applicable discounts or credits have been subtracted.
- Number of Bills: The count of individual bills that are covered by this specific payment request.
- Payment Type: The chosen method for distributing the funds (e.g., ACH, Check).
- Source Account: The bank account from which the payment funds will be drawn.
- Expected Pay Date: The date on which the payment is projected to be sent out to the recipient, assuming it receives final approval.
- Approval Progress: A tracker that provides context for where a payment is within the approval process.
To help you quickly find specific payment requests, the Approvals page provides filtering capabilities. Click on the Filters button to open the filter panel on the right side of the screen. You can filter by Amount, Payment Request ID, Payment Type, Request Date, Source Account, or Vendor.
Individual Approvals or Rejections
For more granular control, or to provide unique rejection reasons, you can process payments individually.
To approve or reject individual payments, simply click on the specific payment row in the Approvals table.
This will open a detailed dialogue for that payment. You can navigate through other payments directly from this dialogue using the provided navigation arrows, without returning to the main table.
To Approve an Individual Payment
Approve Payment
Click the Approve button.
You will then see an approval confirmation screen. This screen includes a countdown timer that will automatically advance you to the next payment in your list (if any) or close the dialogue. You can also click the navigation arrow to move to the next payment more quickly.
Complete Approval
If your approval is part of a multi-tier workflow, the payment will proceed to the next required approver(s).
To Reject an Individual Payment
Reject Payment
Click the Reject button.
Provide Rejection Reason
You will be prompted to provide a rejection reason.
Once you have entered the reason, click Yes, Reject Payment.
Confirm Rejection
You will then see a rejection confirmation screen. Similar to the approval confirmation, this screen includes a countdown timer to automatically advance you or an arrow to move faster.
If a payment is rejected, it will be voided within your ERP system. The associated bills will then reopen, becoming eligible for future payment. The payment status on the Payment History page will change to Cancelled.
Bulk Approving or Rejecting
Streamline your process by using bulk approvals and rejections for vendor bill payments.
View Payments Awaiting Approval
To quickly focus on payments awaiting your direct action, click the Show Assigned To Me Only filter.
In this filtered view, you can efficiently manage multiple payments:
- Select up to 1,000 payments for processing at once.
- Your selections are saved across all pages of the table, letting you choose payments from your entire list without losing your place.
- To see the total amount of selected payments, grouped by currency, simply hover over the Selected counter.
Select Payments
Select payments with the checkboxes.
Once you have reviewed and selected the desired payments, you can choose to Approve or Reject them using the corresponding buttons.
Bulk Approve or Reject
After making your selection (Approve or Reject), you will be presented with a summary of your chosen payments for a final confirmation review.
If you selected Reject, you will be prompted to provide a mandatory rejection reason. Please note that this reason will apply to all selected payments. If you require different rejection reasons for individual payments, you must process them separately.
Once you confirm your selection, the system will begin processing your approvals or rejections.
If a payment is rejected, it will be voided within your ERP system. The associated bills will then reopen, becoming eligible for future payment. The payment status on the Payment History page will change to Cancelled.
If your approval is part of a multi-tier workflow, the payment will proceed to the next required approver(s). However, if your approval is the final one required, the payment will be sent for processing and will be transmitted to your bank.
Payment Approval History Page
The Approval History page provides a comprehensive record of all payments that have reached a definitive status: either rejected or approved. Payments still pending further approval will not appear here; they remain visible on the Approval Requests table.
This page offers a detailed overview of past payment activities, including:
- Status: The final outcome of the payment (e.g., Approved, Rejected, Paid).
- Payee: The name of the recipient of the payment.
- Payment Request ID: The unique internal plugin identifier for the payment, useful for reference.
- Number of Bills: The count of bills included in the payment.
- Payment Type: The method used for the payment (e.g., ACH, Wire).
- Amount: The total amount of the payment after any discounts or credits.
- Source Account: The bank account from which the payment originated.
- User/Requested By: The user who initially requested the payment.
- Request Date: The date the payment request was initiated.
- Total Approvers: The total number of users who took action (approved or rejected) on the payment.
- Decision Date: The date on which the final action (either final approval or rejection) for the payment was completed.
To view more details about a request, you can click View and see the following:
- 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.
Payment Approvals History Export
You can export the Approvals History for record-keeping or analysis. The export file includes:
- Date: The date the payment was processed.
- Vendor Name: The name of the recipient of the payment.
- Total Bills: The number of individual bills included in the payment.
- Amount: The total value of the payment.
- Currency: The currency in which the payment was made (e.g., USD, CAD).
- Payment Method: How the payment was made (e.g., ACH, Check, Wire).
- Submitted By: The user who initiated the payment request.
- Reviewed By: The email addresses of all users who participated in the approval or rejection process. This gives you a clear view of the approval chain.
- Approval/Rejection Time: The exact date and time when the final decision (either approval or rejection) was made by the last reviewer.
- Status: The final outcome of the payment request, clearly indicating whether it was Approved or Rejected.
- Reason for Rejection: If a payment request was rejected, this field will provide the specific reason. This field will be empty for approved payments.
To generate this export, click the Export button on the Approvals History page.
