Invoice Approvals Overview

Use Navigator Invoice Approvals to move invoices that were submitted in Vision through the approval process to produce final invoices.

Navigator and Vision work together to provide a seamless means for moving invoices through the approval process. After an invoice is submitted in Vision, you can use Navigator or Vision to approve (or reject) the invoice. You can also enter comments related to the invoice and they will update automatically in both applications.

Configuration

You can use Invoice Approvals in Navigator when the following is configured in Vision:

• You have the Invoices tab option selected on the Navigator tab of Vision Roles Security.
• You are using the Vision Accounting, Project Control, and Billing modules.
• The Enable Invoice Approvals option is selected for the project's company on the Miscellaneous tab in Configuration > Billing > General.
• You are assigned to approve or reject the project's invoices.
• An invoice has been submitted for the project.

The approval process settings that are configured in Vision are automatically applied to Navigator. For example, for a given project in Vision, you can select the appropriate approval process from a list of available processes. Each approval process includes who can approve and reject invoices (project managers or principals, for example), who receives alerts during the process, and the type and frequency of those alerts. See the Vision Billing online help for detailed configuration information.

Approval Process

The approval process includes the following stages between Vision and Navigator:

• Submittal: The person responsible for submitting invoices for the project uses either Vision Interactive Billing or Batch Billing to submit the invoice for approval. After it is submitted, the invoice is ready for approval and the following occurs:
  • If alerts are configured in Vision, an alert is sent to the person responsible for approving invoices for the project.
  • In Navigator, the Pending Invoice Approval alert button displays and lists the number of projects with draft invoices awaiting approval.
• Approval: The person responsible for approving invoices views the submitted invoice for approval in Navigator. After reviewing the invoice, the approver can choose to approve or reject the invoice, and add billing comments as needed. If approved, the invoice moves on for finalizing but if rejected, the invoice is returned to the biller for modification and then must be resubmitted for approval. All comments entered that are related to the approval or rejection are shared with Vision to ensure that all information related to the invoice is accessible.

Alerts

If you are the approver of a project's invoices and the invoice approval process alerts are configured, you will receive an email alert when the invoice is ready to approve. If a URL is entered in the Navigator URL field in Configuration > General > System Settings, the email will contain links to both Vision and Navigator so you can quickly get to the approval process in either system.