Accounts Payable: Setting Up Approval Rules

Payables Approval Rules help you control how expense invoices move through the approval process by defining who needs to approve transactions based on their amount.

This is a one-time setup that establishes the default approval workflow for your account. Once configured, ManageCasa automatically applies the appropriate approval rules when payables are submitted for approval.

Before setting up your Payables Approval Rules, understand the difference between Account Settings and Association-level approval rules: 

Account (Global)Settings: 

• Approval Rules configured here serve as the global default for your account. They apply to transactions that are not tied to an association. 
• Only Account users can be selected as approvers. Make sure the appropriate team members are set up as account users so they appear in the approver dropdown. 

Association: 

• Approval Rules can be configured for an individual association to create a workflow specific to that association. 
• When a transaction is tied to an association, the association's approval rules take precedence over the global settings.
• Both Account users and Association’s Board Members can be selected as approvers, allowing you to assign association-specific approval workflows. 

Set Up Global Approval Rules in Account Settings

1. Open Payables Approval Rules

1. Log in to your ManageCasa account.
2. Click Settings in the upper-right corner.
   • Depending on your account, this may appear as your initials or profile picture.
3. Select Account Settings.
4. Click Payables Approval Rules.

2. Set Up Approval Thresholds

Set your approval thresholds based on the amount of the payable.

For each threshold, select the appropriate user or users who should be responsible for approving invoices within that range.

Example:

• Bills less than $1,000 need approval from one specific person
• Bills over $2,000 and $5,000 need two approvers
• Bills over $5,000 need a different pair of senior approvers

3. Add Additional Approval Rules

If you need to create additional approval thresholds, click Add Approval Limit.

Continue adding limits and assigning the appropriate approvers until your approval workflow is fully configured.

4. Save Your Approval Rules

Once you have finished configuring your approval rules, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Update to save your changes.

Your approval rules will now be applied to payables submitted for approval.

Set Up Association Approval Rules  

You can configure approval rules specifically for an association to override the global Payables Approval Rules.

1. Navigate to Properties > Associations.
2. Select the association you want to configure.
3. Open the Approval Rules tab.
4. Set the appropriate approval thresholds and assign the users or board members who should approve transactions within each threshold.
5. If additional approval limits are needed, click Add Approval Limit and configure the additional rule.
6. Review your settings and save the changes.

Once configured, these association-level approval rules will take precedence over the global approval rules for transactions associated with that association.

Important Notes

• Make sure the appropriate team members are set up as users before configuring your approval rules.
• Board members can be added as approvers at the association level even if they are not account users elsewhere in ManageCasa.
• When a transaction is associated with an association, that association's approval rules take precedence over the global approval settings.

• Transactions that are not tied to an association will follow the global approval rules configured in Account Settings

   

Need Help?

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to the ManageCasa Support Team or visit our Help Center for more guides and troubleshooting steps. We’re always here to help!