Does QuickBooks Online Have an Approval Process? (And How to Add One That Works)

If you’re using QuickBooks Online and wondering how to build an approval process for vendor bills, the short answer is: not directly.

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QuickBooks is great for accounting. But for growing companies that need structured AP controls like multi-step invoice approvals, role-based routing, and audit trails — the built-in capabilities fall short.

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Even in QuickBooks Online Advanced, workflow tools are geared more toward sales forms than vendor bill approvals. There’s no logic for dollar thresholds, no native routing rules, and no enforcement mechanism that stops a bill from being paid before it's reviewed.

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Where Things Start to Break Down

At low volume, many teams get by with email approvals and a shared inbox. But once invoice counts start to climb, the cracks appear:

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Approvals go missing or get buried
The same bill gets entered twice
Payments happen without visibility

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The reality is, QuickBooks just wasn’t built to manage the full lifecycle of accounts payable. And that’s okay. It’s a powerful accounting system, but when it comes to AP, most teams eventually need something more.

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What Teams Add When They’re Ready to Scale

Rather than switching accounting systems, finance leaders are layering purpose-built AP automation onto QuickBooks: systems that handle invoice capture, enforce approval rules, and only pass finalized bills back to the GL.

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With Centime:

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Invoices are auto-captured from email and scanned files
Approval rules route bills by amount, vendor, or department
Approvers are notified and tracked
Only approved, fully coded bills sync into QuickBooks
Audit trails stay intact, and payment can't happen early

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It’s designed to work with QuickBooks, not around it, so your team gets enterprise-grade AP control without a major software overhaul.

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Built for Finance Teams That Are Outgrowing Email and Gut Checks

What you get with Centime is structure, speed, and visibility without leaving QuickBooks behind. Instead of jumping systems, you’re simply filling the gap between receiving an invoice and recording it.

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That’s why teams using QuickBooks choose to stay with it and scale on top of it.

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Ready to add real approvals to QuickBooks?

Centime integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online and Desktop to bring structure and control to your AP process. No disruption. Just the visibility and workflows you’ve been missing.

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Book a demo today.

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**Deposit placement through ICS is subject to the terms, conditions, and disclosures in the applicable agreements. Although deposits are placed in increments that do not exceed the FDIC standard maximum deposit insurance amount (“SMDIA”) at any one destination bank, a depositor’s balances at the institution that places deposits may exceed the SMDIA (e.g., before settlement for deposits or after settlement for withdrawals) or be uninsured (if the placing institution is not an insured bank). The depositor must make any necessary arrangements to protect such balances consistent with applicable law and must determine whether placement through ICS satisfies any restrictions on its deposits. A list identifying IntraFi network banks appears at https://www.intrafi.com/network-banks. The depositor may exclude banks from eligibility to receive its funds. IntraFi and ICS are registered service marks, and IntraFi Cash Service is a service mark, of IntraFi Network LLC.

^††2.75% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as of 09/24/25. Deposit rate may adjust to current market rate and may change daily. Fees may reduce earnings.

*Centime is not a bank and is not authorized by any federal or state agency to engage directly in core banking activities.
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*All banking products and services available through Centime are provided by FNBO and are governed by the applicable agreements and related disclosures provided to you by FNBO. Member FDIC.
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‍*While Centime facilitates traditional banking activities (such as the acceptance of deposits or extensions of credit), these services are actually provided by our banking partner, FNBO.
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*Centime may provide support services to FNBO, as permitted by applicable law, to facilitate the delivery of its bank products and services.

**Deposit placement through ICS is subject to the terms, conditions, and disclosures in the applicable agreements. Although deposits are placed in increments that do not exceed the FDIC standard maximum deposit insurance amount (“SMDIA”) at any one destination bank, a depositor’s balances at the institution that places deposits may exceed the SMDIA (e.g., before settlement for deposits or after settlement for withdrawals) or be uninsured (if the placing institution is not an insured bank). The depositor must make any necessary arrangements to protect such balances consistent with applicable law and must determine whether placement through ICS satisfies any restrictions on its deposits. A list identifying IntraFi network bank

Does QuickBooks Online Have an Approval Process? (And How to Add One That Works)

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