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Configure custom approval rules when invoice authority should depend on the reviewer, Invoice Type, and amount. A role defines the limits; an approver assignment gives one person that role. With custom rules off, every user can approve every invoice. Turning them on changes the default to no authority: only listed approvers can approve. Review Approvals for the relationship between approval and payment before restricting a live company.

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Design the Authority Model

List the approval levels your company needs before editing. For each level, decide the maximum invoice total it may approve for every active Invoice Type. The built-in Financial Administrator role always has unlimited authority for every type, including Invoice Types created later. Use a custom role when authority needs any narrower scope.
Enabling custom rules takes effect immediately. Prepare at least one approver assignment, including an administrator when appropriate, so invoices do not become unintentionally unapprovable.

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Enable Custom Rules

  1. Open Admin → Financials → Approvals.
  2. Turn on Use custom approval rules.
  3. Confirm that the Roles and Approvers sections appear.
The switch saves immediately; there is no page-level Save or Cancel. Turning custom rules off later immediately returns authority to every user without deleting the saved roles and approvers.

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Create a Role

  1. Under Roles, select Create Role.
  2. Enter a unique Role name.
  3. Review every active Invoice Type in Approval limits.
  4. For each row, keep No limit, choose Not allowed, or choose Specific amount and enter the ceiling.
  5. Select Create.
Every row starts at No limit. Leaving all rows unchanged creates the fully-open Financial Administrator kind; change at least one row when the role is intended to be scoped.
Create Role dialog with Claims Reviewer as the role name and an Approval limits table: Outside Counsel Fees has a specific $2,500 amount, Vendor Credits is not allowed, and the other visible Invoice Types have no limit.

Create Role dialog for Claims Reviewer, with Outside Counsel Fees limited to $2,500, Vendor Credits set to Not allowed, and the remaining visible Invoice Types set to No limit.

A custom role has no authority over an Invoice Type added after the role was created until that role is edited to include the new type. The built-in Financial Administrator remains unlimited.
The new role appears as its own table under Roles. Review the displayed limit for each Invoice Type. Select its edit control to change the name or limits; each saved edit replaces that role’s authority immediately.

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Assign an Approver

Approvers are selected from people in your company’s user directory. The person must have an email address and cannot already be listed.
  1. Under Approvers, select Add Approver.
  2. Choose the User.
  3. Choose the Role that should apply to that person.
  4. Select Add.
Add Approver dialog showing Morgan Lee selected as User, Claims Reviewer selected as Role, and an enabled Add button.

Add Approver dialog with Morgan Lee and the Claims Reviewer role selected, ready to add.

The assignment saves immediately. The Approvers table resolves the role into its summarized amount limit and Invoice Type scope.
Approvals configuration with Outside Counsel Fees limited to $2,500, Vendor Credits not allowed, and an approver row for morgan.lee@northstarinsurance.com with the Claims Reviewer role, a Varies amount limit, and the allowed Invoice Types.

Saved approval rules showing Outside Counsel Fees limited to $2,500, Vendor Credits set to Not allowed, and Morgan Lee assigned the Claims Reviewer role.

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Validate the Rules

Use invoices created specifically for this check so a test approval does not affect production work.
  1. Sign in as the assigned approver.
  2. Open an unpaid invoice whose Type is allowed and whose total is at or below the role’s ceiling.
  3. Confirm Actions → Approve is available, then approve it if the test is intended to change the invoice.
  4. Open an invoice above the ceiling or on a Not allowed type.
  5. Confirm the approval action is unavailable and explains the missing authority.
The limit applies to the invoice’s total, not its remaining balance. Recording a payment also requires approval authority and approves the invoice as part of the same action when the user is authorized.

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Maintain Access Safely

  • Change a role: edit its limits and select Save.
  • Remove an approver: select the delete control on the approver row. Their authority ends immediately.
  • Delete a role: first remove or reassign every approver using it. The app blocks deletion while assignments still depend on the role.
  • Return to open approval: turn off Use custom approval rules. Everyone can approve again.
API callers do not match these email-based roles. Their approval authority comes from the API key’s permissions, as described in API and Integration Callers. See the Approvals configuration page for a compact reference to every control.