# Set up a workflow A workflow is the list of rules that decides who approves each bill, and you check it by reading the plain-words summary the screen writes for you. ## Before you start - Connect Xero first. See [Connect Xero](https://workapproved.app/help/connect-xero.md). - You need to be an administrator. Auditors can read workflows but not change them. - The people who will approve need to be listed first. See [Add approvers and people](https://workapproved.app/help/add-approvers-and-people.md). ## Turn on a type of document 1. Open your organisation, then **What gets approved**. 2. Each type of document is called a stream: Bills, Sales invoices or Purchase orders. Most people start with **Bills**. 3. Choose **Turn on**. If the stream has no workflow yet, WorkApproved asks you to confirm, because everything will go to you until you set one up. Choose **Turn on anyway**. 4. Choose **Set up a workflow** (or **Edit workflow**). Someone who can only read it sees **View workflow**. Turning a stream on or off only affects documents that arrive from then on. An approval already under way is not changed. Turning one off asks for a reason, which is kept in the audit log. ## Start from a template Pick the one closest to how you work. It fills in the steps, and you can change anything before you save. - **Everything to one person:** every bill goes to one person to approve. - **Small bills approved automatically:** bills under an amount you choose are approved automatically. The rest go to one person. - **Tiered by amount:** one person approves every bill. From an amount you choose, a second person approves as well. - **Repeating bills approved automatically:** bills made from the Xero repeating templates you pick are approved automatically. The rest go to one person. - **Line by line, by account or tracking category:** each line goes to the person responsible for its account or tracking category. Amounts exclude tax. Automatic approval waits for the risk checks. A bill with a high risk flag, or one whose attachment could not be read, goes to a person instead. See [What the risk flags mean](https://workapproved.app/help/what-the-risk-flags-mean.md). ## Check the "In plain words" summary The **In plain words** box always shows what your workflow will do. It updates as you change things, even before you save. For example: > Bills under $500 are approved automatically. Everything else goes to Matt. If nothing else applies, Matt gets it as an exception. Read it as if you were explaining it to the board. If it does not say what you mean, change the steps until it does. If nothing else applies, the bill goes to the person named under **If nothing else applies, send to**. That bill is called an **exception**. Nothing is ever approved by default: an exception waits for a person. ## Reminders In the workflow's settings you can choose **Nudge after (days)** and **Escalate after (days)**. A nudge reminds the approver. An escalation passes the bill to the administrators, and any one of them can then decide it. **Nudge an unanswered question after (days)** reminds the person who has not answered a question. ## Try it **Try it** runs your workflow, including changes you have not saved, against recent bills already in WorkApproved. Nothing is saved or approved, and Xero is not contacted. It shows what would happen to each, such as which would be approved automatically, who would get the rest, and why any would become exceptions. ## Save 1. Under **Why are you changing it?**, write a short reason. It is kept with this version, shown in the history, and printed on certificates of bills approved under it. 2. Choose **Save and activate**, or **Save as a draft**. 3. A **Before you save** box may list things to check, such as an approver who has not accepted their invitation. If bills are being approved now, choose **Keep them on the current version** or **Restart them on the new version**. A restart cancels the approvals so far, and the certificate records it as "workflow changed". The **Version history** link shows every version, who saved it and why. ## Two settings to confirm The setup checklist step **Check how approvals are decided** asks you to confirm two settings. They are also on the **Approval settings** page of your organisation. They control what an approver may do: - **The submitter may approve their own documents.** The bill still goes through the workflow. The certificate says when the person who submitted a bill also approved it. - **In new workflows, one decision covers all of a person's steps.** Someone who approves at one step also clears later steps where they are an approver. Each workflow can change this in its own settings. These are controls over your money, so choose them deliberately. Weakening one asks you for a reason, which is kept in the audit log. ## Add the people Everyone who takes part is listed under **People**. Someone without a login still approves from the emails sent to them. See [Add approvers and people](https://workapproved.app/help/add-approvers-and-people.md) and [Approve by email](https://workapproved.app/help/approve-by-email.md). ## Related - [Add approvers and people](https://workapproved.app/help/add-approvers-and-people.md) - [Approve a bill](https://workapproved.app/help/approve-a-bill.md) - [Approve by email](https://workapproved.app/help/approve-by-email.md) - [Standing approvals](https://workapproved.app/help/standing-approvals.md) - [Connect Xero](https://workapproved.app/help/connect-xero.md) Still stuck? Email hello@workapproved.app. This guide is also in the app at https://go.workapproved.app/help/set-up-a-workflow. ## Start your free trial 7 days free. A card is needed to start. From NZ$39 + GST per Xero organisation per month, unlimited users. [Start free trial](https://go.workapproved.app/register). --- Start a free trial: https://go.workapproved.app/register (7-day free trial, card needed) · Sign in: https://go.workapproved.app/login Contact: hello@workapproved.app (support) · security@workapproved.app (security reports) Legal: [Terms](https://workapproved.app/terms.md) · [Privacy](https://workapproved.app/privacy.md) · [Partner terms](https://workapproved.app/partner-terms.md) · [Subprocessors](https://workapproved.app/subprocessors.md) WorkApproved is a product of [Stone Pritchard Limited](https://stonepritchard.com), [NZBN 9429053953216](https://www.nzbn.govt.nz/mynzbn/nzbndetails/9429053953216/), New Zealand. © 2026 Stone Pritchard Limited. Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. WorkApproved is an independent product and is not endorsed by, or affiliated with, Xero.