Best Invoice Approval Software: Revenue 365

January 27, 2026

6 min read

The last step in any transaction is invoices, but most organizations continue to use slow and archaic ways of approving invoices.

While companies invest heavily in pricing strategies, currency planning, and financial forecasting, invoice approvals are often treated as a routine administrative task rather than a critical financial function.

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Quick Read

Summary generated by AI, reviewed for accuracy.

Invoice approval software is a tool that helps businesses manage and approve bills from suppliers quickly and accurately. It reduces manual errors, speeds up payment processes, and keeps all invoice records organized in one place. With features like automated workflows, real-time tracking, secure approvals and companies can save time.

On average, processing a single invoice manually takes 14.6 days, and almost half of finance teams globally spend more than five days every month only on invoice-related tasks.

This delay causes late payments, poor supplier relations, inadequate control over outbound cash and interdepartmental challenges.

How Does Invoice Approval Software Work?

The invoice approval software assists companies in the management of the invoice checking and approval process, until the final stage. It saves time and ensures that payments are made in time. The process generally works in the following way.

Step 1: Create or Upload an Invoice
The invoice may be generated within the system or uploaded when it is received by a vendor. The invoicing software records important information including invoice value, date of payment and supplier information.

Step 2: Based Assignment
After this, the invoice is posted to the appropriate individuals according to predetermined regulations. As an example it can pass through a team lead, to finance and then to senior management.

Step 3: Instant Review and Action
The invoice can be opened by approvers and they can accept it, make notes or request updates immediately.

Step 4: Records and Insights
All the invoices and approval activities are kept under a single place. This facilitates easy tracking of past payments, making of reports and facilitating audits.

Assume it as a digital system, which ensures invoices are arranged, and every step is monitored and assists teams to be on time.

Challenges Faced During Manual Process

To this day, several organisations still use manual systems to handle invoices. Although this might be a familiar feeling, it causes delays, introduces additional work, and restricts the effectiveness of the finance teams. The following are the key challenges that businesses experience when using manual invoice processing.

1. Slow Approval Cycles

Manual invoices are forwarded to the various desks to be reviewed and signed. In case any of the approvers is not available or is occupied, the invoice is pending.

This makes the payment cycles very long and in most cases results in multiple follow-ups by the vendors.

An average of 14.6 days is spent manually processing a single invoice, thus leading to unnecessary time spent and that would have been spent in planning, analysis or financial control.

2. High Administrative Effort

Approximately 37% of companies continue to make invoices on paper. This includes printing papers, filing and physical storage area.

Finance departments waste hours in paperwork and it can take a long time to find an old invoice.

These activities increase the workload daily and decrease the overall production.

3. Slow Processing and Manual Mistakes

There may be problems with typing in invoice details manually like typing in incorrect values, duplicate entries or missing approvals.

It has been found that 49% of professionals spend over five days a month just on invoice processing.

Even a small mistakes may affect the accuracy of payment, tax records, and relations with vendors.

4. Limited Visibility Across Teams

The status of invoices cannot be clearly seen with manual systems.

Finance managers usually must check emails, folders, or even talk to the team members to understand what invoices are pending or approved.

This absence of an overview complicates the monitoring of progress and postpones financial decisions.

5. Audit and Compliance Difficulties

In the case of audits, manual record teams usually have difficulties in finding previous invoices or approval information.

This puts an extra burden on the audit process and exposes the possibility of compliance-related queries.

Key Features of Invoice Approval Workflow Software

An effective invoice approval software is not a digital tool. It serves as a central control mechanism of invoice flow, approvals and financial records. Below are the key features that make such software valuable and how each one supports daily business operations.

1. Invoice Approval Workflow

The most important task of the system is invoice approval. Invoices can be provided in the digital form and forwarded to be reviewed without paper or physical signatures.

The approvers can access invoices at any point and act instantly. Each step is recorded with date and time information, and responsibilities.

This assists in the preservation of a consistent payment cycle and decreases delays between teams.

2. Centralised Dashboard

All invoices are displayed in one dashboard pending, approved, or completed.

The finance and leadership teams can monitor the progress of invoice without using emails or spreadsheets.

Having a clear dashboard of what is going on, it becomes easier to identify delays and approvals are quicker, enhancing the day-to-day invoice management.

3. Custom Invoice

The invoice approval software enables businesses to design invoices that are in line with their brand.

Additional logos, colour styles, tax fields, and currency details can be added by users depending on the business requirements. A common format among the departments and vendors is useful in keeping things straight.

In the case of companies that deal with foreign vendors, this feature helps to use custom invoice formats and work with currency and makes an impression of a professional company.

4. Proforma Invoice Creation

The proforma invoices enable the user to distribute cost estimates prior to a final invoice.

It is good in exports, advance orders and big projects where the cost visibility is important.

Clients are provided with a transparent estimate in advance, which facilitates the acceleration of discussions and billing and enhances communication in general.

5. Real-Time Team Collaboration

Invoices may be reviewed, commented on, and acted on by multiple users simultaneously. Remote teams do not have to wait on physical files to keep in contact with one another.

All the actions are documented, and the responsibilities can be seen, and teams make approvals more quickly and more coordinated.

This facilitates a smooth working process, keeps all people updated, and assists invoices to flow through a good approval process.

6. Advanced Reporting and Insights

The in-built reports offer handy information like the approval time, payment schedule, and the activity of the vendor.

Patterns can be reviewed, delays identified and budgets planned more effectively by managers. Such insights will promote improved SaaS revenue forecasting and continuous improvement of the process.

They also assist teams to identify recurring issues and performance comparison over time.

7. Integration with Business Tools

The invoice approval software is integrated with SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Power BI, and Power Automate.

Data moves easily across systems, eliminating manual input and maintaining records across platforms. This enhances the accuracy of reporting and facilitates the preparation of audits with good access to reliable data.

It also enables teams to work on the same tools without having to switch to various system.

8. Secure and Scalable Apps

Financial data is secured using strong security measures that include encryption, access permissions and secure backups

The invoice approval software can help in increasing invoice volumes without any performance problems and thus it can be used by growing businesses.

It is also flexible to meet the changing operational requirements without the need to make significant changes to the system.

Benefits of Invoice Approval Software

Invoice approval software assists companies to handle invoices in an orderly and trustworthy manner. Here are some benefits to consider.

1) Accurate Invoices for Clients

Invoices are prepared using correct values, dates, client information and description of service or product. The work done or goods supplied are well reflected in each invoice.

Clearly written invoices assist organizations in monitoring payments with ease and maintaining records in a well-organized manner.

Businesses can also quickly identify completed work and transactions, making accounting simpler and more reliable.

2) Cost Savings

The invoice is tailored to the company branding, logos, colors, and client-specific information. This gives a professional look to all invoices.

Branded invoices are easily identified by the clients and associated with the business.

Individualized invoices are also more readable, and billing information is easier to read and this assists in brand themes maintenance.

3) Custom Invoices

Invoices can be designed to match company branding, including logos, colors, and client-specific details. This creates a consistent and professional appearance across all invoices.

Clients easily recognize branded invoices and connect them with the business.

Personalized invoices also improve readability, making billing details easier to review and this helps maintain brand themes.

4) Simple Work Process

The process of invoice creation, review and approval is clear and organized.

Invoice automation minimizes human errors Manual systems are prone to errors, and automated systems can minimize them to approximately 0.8 per year.

There are clear steps that facilitate the cooperation between finance, managers, and approvers.

5) Better Data Accuracy

Invoice details such as amounts, dates, client information, and service descriptions remain consistent and reliable. This supports clean financial records and easier account matching.

Reliable records help teams make informed financial decision and accurate data reduces the need for corrections later.

It also supports better reporting and day-to-day bookkeeping tasks.

6) Stronger Vendor Partnerships

Invoices and contract details sent to the vendors are precise, comprehensive and simple to read.

On time billing helps in creating good vendor contracts, enhance communication and minimizes misunderstandings.

Good relations facilitate cooperation over the long term and easier operations.

7) Full Activity History

All the actions related to invoices such as approvals, edits, and submissions are logged in an elaborate activity log.

This gives complete insight into invoice management and teams can promptly review previous activities and know the direction of decisions.
The historical records assist in answering questions without having to

search manually and this aids in planning and tracking finances in a better manner

8) Rule-Based Invoice Handling

Invoices are prepared according to the necessary financial and regulatory standards, which assist companies to keep good records.

This contributes to the sound financial management throughout the organization and the records that are properly kept make auditing and reviewing easier.

They also portray an orderly and disciplined method of financial activities.

Steps to Consider Before Implementing Invoice Approval Workflow Software

Before selecting invoice approval workflow software, it is important to understand your business needs clearly. Proper planning helps you choose a solution that supports your operations over the long term.

1) Understand Your Approval Process

Start by reviewing how invoices are currently approved in your company. Not all invoices follow the same approval path, especially when values or categories differ.

Identify all invoice types your business receives
Decide who should approve the invoices
Write down each approval steps

2) Check System Compatibility

Invoice approval software should work well with the tools your business already uses. Connecting systems reduces repeated data entry and keeps records aligned.

List the accounting system used in your company
Confirm whether the invoice software can connect with these tools
Check if invoice data such as amounts, vendor names, and dates move automatically

3) Review Data Protection Measures

Financial data must be always protected. It is important to understand how the software keeps your information safe and controls access.

Ask about the type of data protection methods used by the software
Check whether regular backups are in place to protect records
Decide which users can view, edit, or approve invoices and set access

4) Plan for Business Growth

Your invoice approval software should support future business needs as your operations expand. It should handle increased workloads without slowing performance.

Ask how many invoices the system can process each month
Check if new users can be added easily as teams grow
Confirm whether the system can support new departments or office locations

5) Check User Simplicity

The invoice approval software should be easy to use for all team members, including those with limited technical knowledge. A clear interface helps users’ complete tasks quickly.

Users should approve or send invoices with minimal steps
A simple layout helps reduce mistakes during daily tasks
Teams can start using the system quickly without long learning periods

How Revenue 365 Supports the Invoice Approval Workflow

Revenue 365 assists companies in the administration of invoice approvals through the introduction of visibility, structure, and control in a single system. It assists in funding teams to pay invoices in a transparent manner and maintain all the steps in order.

Smart Approval Routing: Approval routes can be configured in such a way that invoices are directed to the appropriate people before being forwarded to the clients. This will prevent approvals being missed and will ensure that billing is in line with internal rules.
Live Invoice Dashboard: Invoices that are pending, approved or paid can be accessed on one dashboard. The status of every invoice can be checked by teams within a short time without having to search in files.
Custom Invoice Templates: It is possible to create invoices with logos of the brand, favorite layouts, and the choice of currencies. This makes each invoice look professional and uniform. Invoice details are also easier to read because of clear layouts.
Team-Based Approval Flow: Invoices can be reviewed and approved by the finance and procurement teams using the same system. Notes and updates remain attached to the invoice so that they can be easily referred to.
Integration with Existing System: Revenue 365 is integrated with Microsoft 365 applications and other business applications. There is no duplication of invoice data between systems. This helps in the management of records and time saved in day-to-day activities.
Strong Data Protection: Data security is ensured using sophisticated security controls and user access controls. Invoice information can only be updated or viewed by authorized users.
Useful Reports and Insights: Revenue 365 provides reports on approval timeframes, vendor spending, and invoice activity. Teams can review patterns and identify areas that need improvement.

With Revenue 365, finance teams gain better visibility and control over invoices, helping businesses manage payments clearly and maintain healthy financial operations.

Conclusion

Every decision in business, from choosing the currency you invoice in to how quickly invoices are approved, directly impacts your revenue and overall efficiency.

A well-designed invoice approval system helps teams save time, avoid delays, and maintain clear financial records.

The Revenue 365 helps businesses manage invoice approvals with better visibility and control. Start your 14-day free trial today to experience quicker approvals, clearer tracking, and more organized financial management.