Intuit recently added an Invoice Approval workflow capability to QuickBooks Online Advance, a functionality that should further expand its appeal to mid-market users. This is one of the features that larger companies typically look for, and in many cases require of their accounting system since they normally have layers of operational staff that must approve invoices prior to sending them to customers.
"Hey Fred, don't send that Invoice over to 'the Chester Group' until both James Fleming, their Sales Agent, and Donald Dickerson, the VP of West Coast Sales, has had an opportunity to review it... (email from Edward Smith, Sr. VP of Sales)... sure would be nice if our accounting system had built-in controls to manage this! (his afterthought)"
For example, while an A/R Clerk might prepare an invoice initially based upon time and material costs generated by the accounting system, that individual may not be aware of some specific level of discounting or other special billing arrangement that either sales or management has made with the customer. The invoice therefore needs to be passed to the appropriate sales person or sales manager for review prior to being sent to the customer and will likely get adjusted. It may then still get forwarded to mid or top level management in some companies for final review prior to actual distribution to the customer.
QBO-Adv_Invoice-approval_templates-setup
QuickBooks Online Advanced has a new template that lets you automate how invoices are routed for approval before they are sent to customers. With the 'Approve invoices' templates you can set up notifications for invoices that need to be approved by yourself or other team members. This gives you more control, insures faster invoice approval, and saves valuable time in the invoice approval process.
To access this feature, select workflows from the left-hand navigation, then choose 'Approve invoices'.
QBO-Adv_Invoice-approval_process-access
This is exactly the type of feature that mid-market companies are looking for in a software alternative, or that smaller companies who are outgrowing traditional 'QuickBooks' have been needing.
You can find out more about QuickBooks Online Advanced Workflows customized to fit your business at this webpage. You can also get details about QBO Advanced including signing up for a Product Tour, a 30-day Free Trial, or just find out more at the website.