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Introducing new Batch Payment approval workflows for Xero

Alex Keselman
Alex Keselman
product updates
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At ApprovalMax we take pride in being able to save businesses time by providing them with easy-to-use approval software for their bills, purchase orders, expenses and credit notes.

We are very excited to announce that ApprovalMax now supports Batch Payment approval functionality. This allows businesses to create, authorise, and audit batch payments when using our tool with Xero. Batch payment approval workflows provide all the same benefits as regular approval automation in ApprovalMax, such as the ability to set up complex multi-role workflows, track changes with easy-to-refer-to audit logs, and one-tap approvals to your inbox when using a desktop, or via the ApprovalMax Mobile App.

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Why use Batch Payments?

Batch payments allow businesses to send multiple payments to different recipients at once. This flexibility is an essential part of spend control within Accounts Payable (AP) teams. Instead of processing singular payments, batch payments ensure priority is given to due invoices and bills, meaning all funds are not spent at once and healthy cash flow can be maintained within an organisation.

Even though regular approval workflows in ApprovalMax allow decision-makers to approve spending with purchase orders and invoices, documents in a batch aren’t yet approved for payment, as payments are decided on a different set of criteria.

When multiple invoices are collected to be paid as a payment run or batch payment, it’s important that the correct stakeholders review and approve the batch before processing. Once payment is made, it’s difficult to reverse this action. 

Until now, the solution has been for AP teams to use a mixture of manual tools (such as emails and spreadsheets) to manage payment authorisations. With Batch Payments in ApprovalMax, organisations that integrate ApprovalMax with Xero can create and automate multi-step approval workflows for batch payments. This dramatically improves the speed of processing, provides teams with more control over payments, and helps support healthy cash flow. 

Save precious time with automated batch payment approvals

When batch payment approvals are automated with ApprovalMax, all manual approval methods are no longer required.

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Once a batch of payments is submitted for approval in Xero, ApprovalMax ensures that the batch follows the set multi-step approval workflow.
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Decision makers are able to drill down into each invoice within the batch to ensure it is correct.When this is completed and the decision maker is satisfied, approval can be made in one click.
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As per usual ApprovalMax functionality, when there are multiple approvers within a particular workflow and the first decision maker has given their approval, the next decision maker is automatically notified.
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When all approvals are completed for the batch payment request, ApprovalMax automatically sends this information to Xero where payment can then be sent to the banking system.
Following this, all individual bills in Xero automatically update their status to ‘Paid’ and a detailed audit report, outlining every step of the batch payment approval, is generated in ApprovalMax.

Gain greater control over your payments

Automating batch payment approvals in ApprovalMax is a welcome time-saver and gives accounts payable teams greater control over their finances. Detailed workflows based on criteria such as ‘amount’, ‘supplier’, and ‘requestor’ allow teams to easily set-up unique approval workflows depending on the type of batch payment being submitted. This ‘set and forget’ functionality means accounts payable teams no longer need to think about who is required to approve specific payments each and every time, and they can get on with work that really matters.

Quickly prepare approvals for payment runs

When batch payments are managed by Xero and ApprovalMax, it transforms the way finance teams collect invoices for batch payments by ensuring they’re approved for payment. When Xero and ApprovalMax are used together, it completely streamlines this process with automation. Say goodbye to messy email chains and ad-hoc phone calls to confirm approval for payments. Let ApprovalMax handle it, and enjoy faster payments and happier suppliers in the long run.

Support healthy cash flow

Batch payments provide finance teams with more power to prioritise suppliers, and ensure urgent invoices are paid with priority and when cash levels are suitable. When approvals for batch payments are automated with ApprovalMax this entire process becomes faster, and invoices are paid more efficiently. Finance teams can avoid late fees, emailing back and forth, or playing phone tag with suppliers regarding overdue accounts.

Integrated seamlessly with Xero

Just like ApprovalMax’s core approval functionality, batch payment approval workflows  integrate seamlessly with Xero. This means decision makers are kept out of the accounting software, and finance teams can feel confident knowing Xero’s data reflects the work ApprovalMax has completed in the background for them. 

As a preferred Xero App Partner, ApprovalMax ensures all batch payment statuses automatically update in Xero when approval workflows are completed. When complete, the batch can then be exported from Xero and uploaded to the bank for payment. When payment is made, Xero imports the bank feed data and all transactions are automatically reconciled with the batch payment. This powerful combination of features provides accountants and bookkeepers with the tools to manage batch payments for their clients, without granting access to the banking application.

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ApprovalMax’s new batch payment approval functionality provides organisations with a more efficient and sophisticated way to manage the approvals of payment runs, saving accounts payable teams precious time.

Decision makers are provided with a powerful solution to make clear decisions on batch payments, where they can easily drill down on individual invoices. Also, ApprovalMax partners and accounting firms now have a batch payment approval solution without the need to log into clients banking applications.