Why approval workflows exist
On a construction project, not every invoice should be paid without review — but reviewing every invoice yourself doesn't scale either. Approval workflows let you define who needs to sign off on what, based on the dollar amount, the project, or the cost code.
Done right, a workflow means: the right person reviews every invoice, nothing slips through unpaid or unapproved, and you have a complete audit trail of every approval decision.
How Spandrel approval chains work
An approval chain is an ordered list of approvers. When a bill is submitted for approval, it moves through each step in sequence:
1. Step 1 (e.g., Project Manager) reviews and approves or rejects
2. If approved, Step 2 (e.g., Controller) gets their turn
3. Once all steps approve, the bill is cleared for payment scheduling
If any approver rejects, the bill is returned to the submitter with a rejection reason. It can be revised and resubmitted.
Setting up a workflow
Go to Settings → Approval Workflows and click New Workflow. Configure:
- **Name** — something descriptive ("Standard AP" or "Large Bills > $50K")
- **Threshold** — the minimum bill amount that triggers this workflow (e.g., all bills, or only bills over $10,000)
- **Project scope** — apply to all projects or specific projects
- **Steps** — add one or more approvers per step; any approver in a step can unblock it
You can create multiple workflows with different thresholds. For example:
- Bills under $5,000: auto-approve (no workflow required)
- $5,000–$50,000: PM review only
- Over $50,000: PM review, then Controller review
Approving from your phone
Each approval step triggers an email notification to the approver with a direct link to the bill. From their phone, approvers can:
- View the invoice PDF and all bill details
- Approve or reject with a single tap
- Add a note (optional but logged)
The mobile approval page requires no app installation — it works in any mobile browser. Approval actions are logged with a timestamp and the approver's identity.
What happens when an approver is unresponsive
You can configure an escalation rule per workflow step: if the assigned approver hasn't acted within N hours, send a reminder. After a second reminder, optionally escalate to a backup approver.
Escalation events are logged in the bill's audit trail — you can always see who was notified and when.
The approval audit trail
Every bill in Spandrel carries a complete history: submitted at, submitted by, each approval step (who, when, decision), any rejections and reasons, and the final approved-for-payment timestamp.
This trail is immutable and exportable. It's the backup documentation you need if a vendor ever disputes a payment decision.