Invoice Approval Process

Owned by Laura Morse
Last updated: Jun 28, 2024 by Laura Hartnett
6 min read

General Background

In order to approve invoices in Alma you must have the “Invoice Manager” role authorized for a specific Technical Services Unit. Invoice approval assignment is based on the owner of the Purchase Order (PO) and invoice. Each Technical Services Unit has a distinct set of budgets they are allowed to access based on the tub/org they service.

Invoices are approved on the Waiting for approval screen. Each invoice has an row action item list icon (an ellipsis) that allows you to:

  • Edit: Make changes to and/or approve the invoice
  • Assign To: Send the invoice to the approval queue of a specific person
  • Set Back to Review: Send the invoice back to the processor for correction 

Under the exclamation point “!” you can see any alerts that have been generated for the invoice. Some examples are:

  • Invoice contains vendor account which differs from one or more linked PO Lines
  • Some Invoice Lines differ in price from their linked PO Line
  • Some Invoice lines are not linked to PO lines

Alerts should be reviewed for items that need to be corrected:

  • If there are items to be corrected the invoice should be set back to review
  • If the alerts do not need to be addressed, the invoices can be audited and approved


Invoice Life Cycle

  1. In Review
    • This is the first status and invoice receives after it is created (import via EDI, generated from a Purchase order, manually keyed).  
    • Invoices retain this status will they are processed by units. An invoice may be returned to this status for correction when reviewed by financial approvers.
      • The system checks to ensure all required data is present. An alert will pop up if not all data has been entered.
      • Note that the Reporting Code does not generate an alert so it is important that this is manually checked before proceeding.
    • After Technical Services units have completed processing the invoice, they will use the Save and continue function to move the invoice to the tasks lists of financial approvers.
  2. Waiting for Approval
    • Financial approvers review all invoices waiting for approval. Invoices are either sent back to In Review or approved.  
  3. Ready to Be Paid
    • Regular approved invoices stay at this status until the batch process to submit invoices to Accounts Payable runs (Monday - Friday at 6:00 pm, Eastern time).
  4. Closed
    • Adjustment invoices reach this final status immediately after approval.
    • Regular invoices reach this final status after the batch file is sent to Accounts Payable. Once the invoice is sent to Oracle AP, the payment is made and all information related to the payment resides in Oracle. You must continue to use “AP Views” in Oracle to see payment information.


Waiting for Approval Invoices

  •  To see invoices waiting for approval, go to Acquisitions >> Receiving and Invoicing >> Approve. Additional options are available to search for specific invoices or all invoices for a vendor from the persistent search bar, if preferred.

  • Waiting for Approval invoices are separated into three tabs:
  • Assigned to Me: Invoices you have already viewed or that have been assigned to you.
  • Unassigned: Invoices that have not yet been assigned.
  • Assigned to Others: Invoices that other staff have viewed are reviewing.



  • Use the on-page search menu to find a specific invoice that is waiting for approval.


  • Click on the invoice number to pull up the invoice detail.



Auditing Invoice Data

  1. Confirm that the vendor record associated with the invoice is correct. Click on the Vendor Name for the invoice on the Waiting For Approval screen to open the vendor record.
    • Name on the summary tab should match the name on the vendor's invoice.



    • Payment Address on the Contact Information tab should match the remit address on the vendor's invoice. 



  2. Use the back arrow next to the Vendor Details screen to return to the Waiting for Approvals invoice list. If needed, click on the Assigned to Me tab.

  3. Select Edit from the row action item list icon. This opens the invoice for review.

  4. Review the summary screen. Note that the invoice is in Pending Status. Confirm that the data on the summary tab matches the invoice, checking:
    • Total amount matches Total invoice lines amount
    • Invoice number matches invoice number on the vendor's invoice
    • Invoice date matches invoice date on the vendor's invoice
    • Vendor account selected is correct
    • Payment method is correct.
      • Invoices that will be sent to AP for payment should be marked Accounting Department.
      • Invoices that were pre-paid or paid outside of AP (deposit account, P-card, etc) should be marked Adjustment.
      • Invoices that require wire transfer should be marked Wire Transfer. These are entered in Buy2Pay for payment.



  5. Review the Alerts tab (if the tab has a "dog ear," there are alerts) to confirm if any of the alerts require action.

  6. Review the invoice lines by clicking the Invoice Lines tab. The display includes the line #, type, price, total price, status of each line, purchase description, fund which lists the fund codes, and PO line #. These should match the vendor's invoice.



  7. For each invoice line, click on line number to confirm the reporting code is accurate. When this data is verified, click on the back arrow next to Invoice Line Details to return to the Invoices Lines tab.



  8. After all of the invoice lines are confirmed, click on the Notes tab (if the tab has a "dog ear," there are notes) to see if any additional action is needed.

  9. The invoice is now verified. Click Approve.
    • Data for Accounting Department invoices will be sent to AP during the next export. At that time, they will be marked as closed.
    • Adjustment and Wire Transfer invoices will immediately be marked as closed on approval.


Invoices with Errors

Workflows for resolving keying errors will vary by unit. Invoices can be sent back to units for error resolution, or local workflow may be to resolve issues directly and approve. We are outlining common error conditions and possible resolution paths below. 

If you find incomplete or incorrect invoice information during the audit process that needs to be resolved by the department that created the invoice, you can send the invoice back to the submitter using the Need Additional Review button in the Edit Invoice screen:

  1. Click on the Need Additional Review button at the top of the Invoice Details screen
  2. Choose Disapproval Reason and enter a Disapproval Note
  3. Click Confirm
  4. Assign this to an operator to review
    • Search for this invoice in the invoice lines
    • Select the Assign to Contact from the list of operators
    • Select Send as e-mail
    • Click Assign To
  5. The invoice will appear in the task list for the operator selected


Alternative Auditing Workflows

Units may prefer to audit invoice data from an analytics report, rather than online. If your unit would like to do this, please submit an LTS Alma Support Ticket and LTS will created a canned report for your Technical Services Department.