Invoices in DPO

With the invoice approval feature in DPO, you can ensure that all invoices are internally reviewed and approved before processing. Various approval levels and rules can be flexibly defined. In the Invoice section, you can create and edit the approval workflow for invoices as needed.

Approval levels are applied separately in the Admin settings for:

Approval Levels (P.O.s)

Invoices

Expenses

Before You Start

The invoice approval process in DPO allows you to review and approve invoices in a structured, transparent manner that aligns with your internal approval policies. Before the approval chain can be used, several basic settings must be configured in the Admin area. This includes defining whether invoices should enter the workflow automatically or be submitted manually, as well as activating additional options relevant to your process. Next, you define who is authorized to approve invoices at each level by creating multiple approval stages — for example, based on departments or amount thresholds — and assigning the appropriate authorized signers to each stage. Optionally, you can require department-based approval to ensure that only responsible users from the corresponding department are allowed to approve.

Basic Workflow Settings

Step 1: Activate Invoice Approval (Required)

Navigate to Administration → Invoices and enable Activate Invoice Approval.

This setting allows invoices to enter the approval workflow and is required for any approval process to function.

Step 2: Choose Manual or Automatic Submission

Next, decide how invoices should be submitted into the approval chain:

• Manual submission:

You choose when an invoice enters the approval workflow by clicking “Send Invoice to Approval.”

• Automatic submission:

Invoices are automatically submitted for approval as soon as they are fully matched to a purchase order (P.O.).

→ This behavior is controlled by enabling: “Automatically submit fully matched invoices to approval.”

Step 3: Enable Quick Approval (Optional)

If desired, you can activate the Quick Approval feature. This allows authorized users to approve or decline invoices with a single click using the thumbs-up or thumbs-down buttons — without needing to open the invoice.

Enable this by selecting:

• Allow Quick Approval
• Allow Quick Decline

How to Build an Approval Chain for Invoices 

1. Open Settings > Invoices
2. Choose the number of approval levels you need (e.g. 1, 2, 3)
3. Click “+ Add Approval Level” to add additional approval levels

4. Arrange approval levels using the up and down arrows to reorder them as needed
5. Click on the right side of a level to view the assigned approvers and see which users are included in the approval workflow

6. Search for the user’s name in the “Add New Approver” field on the right
7. Click the plus (+) icon to add the user to the approval level
8. If multiple users are assigned to the same approval level and department, the first available user will complete the approval

9. You can assign multiple approvers to the same approval level
10. Enable Approval by Department only if the user should only approve invoices within their assigned department

11. For each approval level, set conditions using the drop-down menu

• Applies to all Invoices
• If Invoice net total is equal to or greater than [amount]
• If Invoice Order net total is less than [amount]

12. Make sure every approval level has at least one user assigned.
13. Once all levels are assigned, the automated approval workflow will be activated.
14. Save your changes

Questions or need help?

Our customer support is always available to help with any questions or setup assistance

Contact us

Email: support@digitalpurchaseorder.com

Support: +1 888 DPO 7254

Support Int'l: +44 20 331 88 338

Berlin Office: +49 (0)30 55 572 5956

Or book a personalized support call

We look forward to hearing from you.

Updated on: 29/05/2026