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Invoice approvals don’t always fail because someone says no. More often, they fail because someone says nothing. A manager is traveling, a director is buried in email, an approver forgets the invoice is sitting in their queue. Meanwhile, your AP team is left chasing reminders while suppliers wait.
Centime’s new invoice escalation rules eliminate that dead time. Instead of relying on follow-ups, invoices can automatically move to the next level of approval once a set number of business days pass.
What Escalation Actually Looks Like
When setting up approval policies in Centime, users can now toggle Auto Escalate and define the threshold in days. The key detail: escalation is calculated in business days, not calendar days.
Here’s how that plays out:
- An invoice is sent for approval on a Friday with a 2-day escalation rule.
- Saturday and Sunday are ignored.
- Monday counts as Day 1.
- Tuesday counts as Day 2.
- By early Wednesday morning, the invoice is automatically sent to the next approver in line.
No reminders. No Slack nudges. No risk of invoices getting buried in inboxes.
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Why It Matters for Finance Teams
Approval delays don’t just slow down AP. They ripple into late fees, strained supplier relationships, and end-of-month crunches where invoices stack up all at once.
Escalation rules provide a safety net: if someone doesn’t act, the process keeps moving anyway. That means:
- High-volume workflows don’t stall.
- Suppliers are paid on time.
- Controllers aren’t stuck firefighting at month-end.
It’s one of those small workflow guardrails that prevents big headaches.
Flexibility Built In
Not every approval should move at the same pace — and Centime doesn’t force you into a one-size-fits-all rule. Escalation can be set at the policy level:
- Routine, low-risk invoices can escalate after just two days.
- Larger or more strategic invoices can carry longer thresholds.
This balance gives teams control while still guaranteeing progress.
A Practical Example
Imagine a $12,000 marketing invoice that requires three approvals. The first approver is on PTO and misses the notification. With escalation enabled, the invoice won’t stall — it moves to the second approver after the defined window, ensuring payment stays on schedule and your month-end close isn’t disrupted.
Escalation as a Quiet Efficiency Win
Some product updates grab attention with flashy dashboards. Others quietly make your day-to-day workflow less painful. Escalation rules fall firmly into that second category.
By embedding resilience into the approval process, Centime takes one more bottleneck off the AP team’s shoulders. It’s the kind of automation that doesn’t just save clicks — it protects your team’s time, your suppliers’ trust, and the accuracy of your books.
Ready to keep your AP automation moving without chasing?
See Centime in action
Our innovative AR, AP and business banking solutions are powerful alone, and even better together.
Schedule a tailored demo with a Centime expert.