Approvals
Route documents for sign-off through chains you define, approve from one inbox, and keep a record of every decision.
Approvals let more people do the work while the right people keep the say. Documents route through chains you define, approvers act from one inbox, and every decision is recorded — who approved what, and when.
Approvals is available to every organization, with or without the Finance module. Finance documents are what most organizations route through it first, which is why the examples below are invoices and bills — but the same chains cover anything that asks for sign-off.
Define Who Approves What
Approval chain templates (under Workspace › Setup & Configuration) describe the route a document takes: which documents need approval, and who signs off at each step. Set them up once to match how your business actually decides — a manager for expense reports, the controller for large bills — and every matching document follows the route automatically.
Two companions sit alongside them:
- Delegation Rules — hand your approvals to someone else while you’re away, without handing over your account.
- Escalation Rules — move a request on when it has been sitting too long.
With no chain template configured, nothing routes. Approvals are opt-in: until your organization authors a template that matches a document, that document posts directly. Setting up the first template is what turns the gate on.
Submit a Document for Approval
On a document that a chain covers, select Submit for approval. It routes to the first approver.
The document waits — it cannot post until the chain signs off.
Watch its progress from the document itself, or in Approval Requests, which lists every approval in flight and its history.
This applies across finance documents: bills, invoices, credit memos, bill credits and vendor payments all pass the same gate.
Approve from One Inbox
Open the Approval Inbox for everything waiting on you, across all document types. Review the document behind each request, then approve or reject it. Decisions take effect immediately, and the requester can see the outcome.
Separation of Duties
Horizon can stop the person who submitted a document from also approving it.
This is off unless you turn it on. Separation of duties is an organization-wide approval setting that defaults to off, and an organization that has never configured its approval settings is not enforcing it either. Turn it on deliberately if you need it — a one-person business may well not.
Individual chain templates can also require it at a particular step, independently of the org-wide setting.
Every Decision Is on the Record
An approval action cannot be written without an identified actor, so the approval trail always answers who decided. Each action carries its timestamp and, where the chain requires one, a reason.
Screens in This Area
Under Workspace › Approvals:
| Screen | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Approval Inbox | Everything waiting on you, across document types |
| Approval Requests | Every approval in flight, plus history |
Under Workspace › Setup & Configuration:
| Screen | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Approval Chain Templates | The routes documents take |
| Delegation Rules | Hand your approvals to a stand-in |
| Escalation Rules | Move a stalled request along |