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How Approvals Work

Mod AI's approval system ensures that invoices, vendor credits, and actions are reviewed by the right people before being finalized. Instead of chasing down approvers manually, the system routes documents to the correct approvers automatically based on the policies you define.

Building Blocks of Approvals​

The approval system is built from five components that work together:

Policies​

A policy is a named approval rule that defines when and how approvals happen. For example, you might have a policy called "High Value Invoice Approval" that requires manager sign-off on any invoice over $5,000. You can create as many policies as your organization needs.

Conditions​

Conditions are the criteria that determine which documents trigger a policy. A condition might be "invoice amount is greater than $5,000" or "vendor is Acme Corp." When a document matches a policy's conditions, it enters the approval process defined by that policy. Conditions are optional -- a policy with no conditions applies to all documents of its type.

Chains​

A chain is the sequence of approval steps that gets created when a document matches a policy. Think of it as the approval path that a specific document follows from submission to final approval. Each document gets its own chain.

Steps​

Steps are the individual stages within a chain. A policy can define one step (single approval) or multiple sequential steps (e.g., Step 1: Manager, Step 2: VP). Each step must be completed before the next one begins.

Approvers​

Approvers are the users or groups assigned to each step. You assign approver groups when building your policy. Within a group, you choose whether any one approver can complete the step, or whether all approvers must approve.

Priority Ordering​

Policies are evaluated in priority order. Each policy has a priority number, and lower numbers mean higher priority. When a document is submitted for approval, Mod AI checks policies from highest priority to lowest and applies the first matching policy.

For example, if Policy 1 (priority 1) matches invoices over $25,000 and Policy 2 (priority 2) matches invoices over $5,000, a $30,000 invoice triggers Policy 1 because it is checked first.

To learn how to set and change policy priority, see Editing & Reordering Policies.

What Goes Through Approval​

Not everything in Mod AI requires approval. Here is what does and does not:

Document TypeRequires Approval
InvoicesYes -- routed through approval policies before ERP sync
Vendor CreditsYes -- treated like invoices for approval purposes
ActionsYes -- certain actions require approval before they are executed
Purchase OrdersNo -- POs are read-only data synced from your ERP
ReceiptsNo -- receipts are read-only data synced from your ERP

Approval Modes​

Mod AI supports two approval modes for each entity:

  • Automatic -- The system automatically routes documents to the correct approvers based on your policies. This is the recommended mode for most organizations.
  • Manual -- Users manually submit documents for approval. The system still uses your policies to determine the approval chain, but documents are not routed until someone explicitly submits them.
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Approval mode is configurable per entity in your entity feature settings. Talk to your admin if you need to change your entity's approval mode.

The Approval Flow​

Here is how a typical automatic approval works, end to end:

  1. An invoice is processed and ready for approval.
  2. Mod AI evaluates the invoice against your policies (in priority order).
  3. The first matching policy is applied, and an approval chain is created.
  4. The document is routed to the approvers in Step 1.
  5. Approvers are notified and can approve or reject from the approval list.
  6. Once Step 1 is complete, the document moves to Step 2 (if one exists).
  7. After all steps are complete, the document is fully approved and proceeds to ERP sync.

If a document is rejected at any step, it goes back to the submitter for correction and can be resubmitted.

Learn More​

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