Abstra
    Talk to an expert

    By process · Approval workflows

    Every expense needs approval. Not every approval needs an email.

    Abstra turns approval into a flow: the expense reaches the right approver by authority tier, with context, a deadline, a defined delegate and a record of every decision.

    Organize my approvalsSee how it works
    01

    Receive the classified expense

    02

    Identify the applicable tier

    03

    Route to the approver

    04

    Track deadline and escalation

    05

    Record the decision

    06

    Return to the pipeline

    Email approval feels fast until someone has to prove what was approved

    Without a flow, approval depends on memory, manual chasing and the availability of whoever is traveling, on vacation or changed teams.

    The approval lives in an email thread nobody can find later.
    The finance analyst spends the day chasing managers on chat.
    Nobody knows which authority tier applies to that specific amount.
    An approver on vacation blocks the queue because there is no formal delegate.
    An expense is approved without the manager seeing the order, the contract or the discrepancy.
    The payment is late and the penalty arrives before the approval.

    What approval automation solves

    Authority applied by rule

    Amount, category, cost center, entity and supplier define who approves, with no policy spreadsheet lookup.

    Approval with context

    The approver sees the invoice, the order, the matching result and the supplier history on one screen.

    Deadlines and automatic chasing

    Each step has an SLA, a reminder and escalation, so the queue does not rely on manual chasing.

    Delegates and substitution

    Planned or unplanned absence has a defined alternative path, recording who decided on whose behalf.

    Batch approval when it makes sense

    Recurring, verified expenses can be approved in bulk, while exceptions go one by one.

    Trail for audit

    Who approved, when, under which tier, with which justification and on which document version.

    Process flow

    From an expense ready for decision to a recorded approval

    Approval comes after matching and before payment. The flow makes sure the decision reaches the right owner and returns to the pipeline with no manual stops.

    01

    Receive the classified expense

    An invoice, reimbursement or request arrives with supplier, amount, cost center, project and matching result already defined.

    Supplier invoiceReimbursementRecurring expense
    02

    Identify the applicable tier

    Policy rules determine how many approval levels are required and who owns each level.

    Amount rangeCost centerEntity
    03

    Route to the approver

    The approver receives the request on the channel they already use, with a direct link to the decision page and all context attached.

    Email and chatApproval pageMobile approval
    04

    Track deadline and escalation

    As the SLA nears its end, the flow reminds the approver, activates the delegate and escalates to the next level as configured.

    Automatic reminderDelegateEscalation
    05

    Record the decision

    Approval, rejection, change request and justification are stored with date, time, user and the document version reviewed.

    JustificationDocument versionFull log
    06

    Return to the pipeline

    Approved items move on to posting and payment scheduling. Rejected items go back to the requester or supplier with the reason.

    ERP postingSchedulingReturn to requester

    Routing criteria

    • Amount range and tier by level
    • Cost center and budget owner
    • Expense category and nature
    • Entity, branch and country
    • New or already approved supplier
    • Existence of a purchase order or contract
    • Project, site or client contract
    • Matching result and discrepancy type

    Situations that need attention

    • Approver absent, on vacation or offboarded
    • Approval SLA overdue
    • Amount above the approver authority
    • Expense with no cost center defined
    • Approval requested from the requester
    • Document changed after approval
    • Expense outside the current policy
    • Urgent item due on the same day

    Illustrative approvals operations panel

    38

    Approvals pending now

    6 h

    Average approval time

    94%

    Approved within SLA

    11

    Escalated this month

    100%

    Decisions with justification

    Connect automation to the stack you already use

    ERPs and management systems
    SAPTOTVS/ProtheusNetSuiteOmie
    Banks and payments
    ItaúSantanderBradescoBanco do Brasil
    Portals, documents and tax
    Qive/ArquiveieNotasADN NFS-eNota Paulistana
    Communication and collaboration
    GmailOutlookSlackMicrosoft Teams
    See all integrations

    Where the approval flow tends to pay off fastest

    Supplier invoice approvalExpenses without a purchase orderTeam reimbursementsContracts and recurring expensesUrgent purchases and exceptionsOperations with multiple entitiesApproval by cost centerExecutive and board authority tiers

    Automation patterns that show up in real operations

    Industry

    Fiscal document capture and validation, purchase-order matching and ERP posting preparation.

    Services

    Recurring billing, expense approval and receivables follow-up.

    Distribution

    Document checks, slips, suppliers and payments by due date.

    Multi-unit operations

    Different rules by entity, cost center, branch and approval tier.

    Growing companies

    Document intake automation without growing the ops team at the same pace.

    Automation with control, not a black box

    Every step can have rules, owners, approvals and evidence. The team tracks what came in, what was extracted, which rule ran, who reviewed, who approved and what the outcome was.

    Access control

    Each user only sees and approves what matches their role.

    Audit trail

    Decisions, changes and evidence stay recorded.

    Human exception

    Ambiguous cases go to review without stopping the whole queue.

    Idempotency

    The flow prevents duplicates in postings, payments and reprocessing.

    Which step of your finance process still depends on a spreadsheet?

    Bring an inbox, an approval flow, a matching routine or a remittance. Abstra helps turn the process into an automated, auditable pipeline.

    Organize my approvals

    Frequently asked questions

    How are approval tiers configured?+

    Tiers are built from your current policy: amount ranges, categories, cost centers, entities and approver levels. You can have different rules per branch or expense type, and adjust them without rewriting the whole process.

    Does the approver need to log into a new system?+

    Not necessarily. The request can arrive by email or chat with a direct link to an approval page that works on mobile. The approver sees the context and decides without navigating the ERP.

    What happens when the approver does not respond?+

    The flow sends reminders according to the SLA, activates the registered delegate and escalates to the next level when the rule allows. Nothing sits idle unnoticed, and the history shows where the queue stalled.

    Is it possible to approve several expenses at once?+

    Yes. Verified expenses within policy can be approved in bulk, with an individual record for each item. Exceptions and discrepancies still leave the queue as individual decisions, so traceability is preserved.

    Start with the process that slows your operation the most

    Invoice capture and extraction

    Turn documents into structured data.

    See process

    Validation and matching

    Compare invoice, PO, receipt and contract.

    See process

    Payment scheduling and execution

    Organize due dates, remittances and confirmations.

    See process

    Supplier management

    Control onboarding, compliance and bank data.

    See process

    Reimbursements and expenses

    Automate expense reports and payouts.

    See process

    Automate the finance routine that consumes the most team time.

    From document intake to payment or collection, connect people, rules and systems in one process.

    Organize my approvals