Approval Workflows define the steps and users that must review and approve a receipt before it syncs to QuickBooks and is added to the budget in Adaptive. Without an Approval Workflow, receipts are auto-approved and synced automatically.
1. Understanding the Receipts Page Tabs
The Receipts page contains three tabs:
Draft - Where receipts land by default after creation
Waiting for Approval - Where receipts go while working through Approval Workflows
All - Shows all receipts, including those that have been approved and synced to QuickBooks
2. Adding Approvers to Individual Receipts
To add an approver to a specific receipt without a workflow:
Open the receipt from the Draft tab
Click to add a specific person or role as an approver
Click Send for Approval
The receipt moves to the Waiting for Approval tab until the designated person approves it.
Note: If no approver is assigned and no Approval Workflow applies, the receipt auto-approves and syncs to QuickBooks immediately when sent for approval.
3. Accessing Approval Workflow Settings
To set up Approval Workflows:
Click the lightning bolt icon (Automations) next to the search bar
Select the Approvals tab
Filter by job if needed to view or manage workflows for specific jobs
4. Creating an Approval Workflow
To add a new workflow:
Click Add Workflow
Enter a name for the workflow
Select a trigger to define when the workflow applies (e.g., if the job matches a specific job)
Choose who should approve:
Require All - Every selected person must approve
Require Either - Only one of the selected people needs to approve
Auto Approve - Automatically approves receipts matching the trigger conditions
Add additional approval steps if needed (e.g., first one person approves, then a second person or role)
Select what the workflow applies to: Bills or Receipts
Click Save
When saving, choose whether to apply the workflow to:
Existing drafts - Applies to receipts already created
New transactions only - Applies only to receipts created going forward
5. Stacking Multiple Approval Workflows
You can create multiple Approval Workflows that work together. For example:
One workflow requires a specific person to approve all receipts for a particular job
A second workflow auto-approves receipts under a certain dollar amount
If both conditions are true for a receipt, the more specific workflow (like the auto-approve for small amounts) can supersede the general workflow.
6. Setting Up a Fallback Workflow
The Fallback Workflow ensures no receipt is ever auto-approved without review. This workflow applies when no other Approval Workflows match a receipt.
To configure:
Scroll to the Fallback Workflow section in the Approvals tab
Select a person or role (e.g., Boss) who must review and approve
Important: Setting a fallback workflow prevents receipts from accidentally syncing to QuickBooks without any approval.
7. Approving Receipts
To approve receipts:
Go to the Waiting for Approval tab
Open a receipt to view its approval status
Click Approve to complete your approval step
If the workflow has multiple steps, the receipt remains in Waiting for Approval until all required approvers have approved.
8. Bypassing Approvals
Users with Boss permissions can bypass the approval process:
Open the receipt in the Waiting for Approval tab
Select the option to bypass approvals
Confirm the bypass when prompted
The receipt syncs to QuickBooks immediately, and the Activity Log records that the approval was bypassed.
9. Bulk Approving Receipts
To approve multiple receipts at once:
Go to the Waiting for Approval tab
Filter for receipts that require your approval
Select the receipts using the checkboxes
Click Actions and select Approve