ApprovalMax replaces informal, email-based approval with a structured workflow that enforces your financial controls automatically — every time, with a full audit trail.
10k+
Businesses using ApprovalMax globally
£0
Fraudulent payments after PO matching — at one of our clients
100%
Of bills matched to an approved PO before payment
2–3wks
Typical implementation timeline for UK SMEs
What Is ApprovalMax
A financial controls layer that sits on top of Xero
ApprovalMax is not a replacement for your accounting software. It is the approval and controls layer that Xero does not have built in — the system that ensures nothing gets paid without following a defined, enforced process.
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Multi-level approval workflows
Route bills, purchase orders, expenses, and quotes through defined approval chains. Different amounts go to different approvers. Rules enforce themselves — no manual routing, no chasing.
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Native Xero and QuickBooks integration
ApprovalMax connects directly to Xero and QuickBooks Online. Bills flow in for approval and return approved. Purchase orders sync automatically. No manual data transfer between systems.
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Purchase Order creation and matching
Raise POs inside ApprovalMax with full approval routing. Incoming bills are matched against approved POs before payment. No PO — no payment. The single most effective fraud prevention control available to an SME.
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Permanent audit trail
Every approval decision — who approved, when, what they saw, what comments they made — is recorded permanently. Exportable for audit. Accessible to your accountant. Defensible to HMRC or any external party.
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Budget checking before approval
ApprovalMax checks available budget at the point of approval — not after the invoice arrives. Approvers see the budget impact before they decide. Overspend is flagged before the commitment is made.
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Mobile and Slack approvals
Approvers get notified by email, Slack, or push notification. They can approve, reject, or comment from their phone. Decisions are logged in real time. Approval backlogs become a thing of the past.
Why ApprovalMax
What makes it the right choice for UK SMEs
ApprovalMax has become the standard approval workflow tool for Xero users in the UK for good reason. Here is what sets it apart.
Why it wins against alternatives: Most approval tools either require you to leave your accounting software or only add a single-step approval. ApprovalMax is the only tool that adds genuine multi-level workflows, PO matching, and budget controls as a native layer inside Xero — without replacing or duplicating your accounting data.
What You Can Do With It
Every approval scenario ApprovalMax handles
ApprovalMax covers the full range of financial approval needs for a UK SME — from simple bill approvals through to complex multi-entity, multi-currency workflows.
1
Bill and invoice approval workflows
Every incoming bill routes through a defined approval chain before it can be marked as approved in Xero. Route by amount, by supplier, by cost centre, or by a combination. Under £500 goes to the finance manager. Over £500 goes to the FD. Over £2,000 goes to the MD. Rules enforce themselves — no exceptions, no workarounds.
Raise purchase orders inside ApprovalMax before any spend is committed. Each PO goes through your defined approval workflow. When the supplier invoice arrives, it is matched against the approved PO — amount, supplier, and line items verified. Only matched bills proceed to payment. This is the most effective fraud prevention control available to an SME and the one thing email approval can never replicate.
PO CreationPO MatchingFraud PreventionPre-commitment control
3
Expense claim approval
Employee expense claims route through ApprovalMax for line manager and finance approval before being processed. Each claim can be checked against policy — amount limits, category rules, receipt requirements. Approved claims sync directly to Xero for payment processing. No spreadsheet submissions, no email chains, no lost receipts.
For businesses where quotes or proposals need internal sign-off before being sent to clients, ApprovalMax can route sales quotes from Xero through a defined approval process. Useful for professional services firms, agencies, and any business where pricing or scope needs partner or director sign-off before going to the client.
ApprovalMax integrates with Airwallex to bring approval controls to the payment stage itself. Before a batch of supplier payments is released, it goes through an approval workflow in ApprovalMax. The person who approves the bills is different from the person who releases the payments — full segregation of duties, enforced by the system.
AirwallexPayment ApprovalSegregation of DutiesInternational Payments
6
Auto-approval rules for low-value items
Not everything needs a human approval. Recurring bills from known suppliers under a defined threshold can be set to auto-approve — they pass through the workflow, get logged in the audit trail, and are approved automatically. This keeps the approval process clean and fast without creating bottlenecks for routine, low-risk spend.
ApprovalMax can also be used for approvals that are not accounting-related — HR requests, IT procurement, facilities spend, or any internal process that currently relies on email sign-off. Standalone workflows do not require Xero integration and can be configured for any business process that needs a defined, auditable approval route.
StandaloneHR RequestsIT ProcurementAny Workflow
8
Budget overspend control
Configure cost centre and departmental budgets in ApprovalMax. When a bill or PO would take a cost centre over its budget, the approver is shown that information before approving. Escalation rules can be set so that over-budget items automatically route to a more senior approver. Overspend becomes a decision, not an accident.
What ApprovalMax can do when combined with other tools
ApprovalMax is most powerful as part of a connected finance stack. Here is what becomes possible when it works alongside other tools Fintelwise implements.
ApprovalMax+Xero+Dext
Fully automated bill processing
Dext captures supplier invoices via OCR, codes them automatically, and pushes them into Xero. ApprovalMax routes them for approval before they can be paid. From supplier email to approved bill in Xero — with no manual data entry and no approval gaps.
→ End-to-end AP automation with controls
ApprovalMax+Airwallex
Approval-to-payment with segregation of duties
ApprovalMax approves the bills. Airwallex releases the payments. Different people at different stages — full segregation of duties enforced by the system, not by trust. International supplier payments covered in 40+ currencies.
→ No single person controls the full payment cycle
ApprovalMax+Fathom
Controlled spend feeding clean reports
When every bill goes through ApprovalMax before entering Xero as approved, the data in Xero is clean and categorised correctly. Fathom's management reports and KPI dashboards are only as good as the underlying data — ApprovalMax makes sure the underlying data is right.
→ Accurate management reporting from clean data
ApprovalMax+Xero+Stripe
Full AP and AR control in one environment
ApprovalMax controls what goes out (AP — bills, POs, payments). Stripe controls what comes in (AR — payment links on every invoice). Together they give a business complete control over both sides of the cash flow equation inside a single Xero environment.
→ Complete financial control: inflows and outflows
Who Benefits Most
Industries where ApprovalMax delivers the most value
ApprovalMax is relevant for any business that currently approves spend informally. These are the industries where the impact is most significant.
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Professional Services
Consultancies, legal firms, and agencies with multiple partners or directors each committing spend independently. ApprovalMax brings structure to a historically informal approval culture.
Spend committed without formal sign-off
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Construction & Trades
High material spend, multiple subcontractors, site managers committing spend away from the office. PO matching and mobile approvals are transformative for construction businesses.
No PO system — materials ordered informally
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IT & Technology Services
Fast-growing tech businesses where the MD approves everything informally. As headcount grows, informal approval becomes unsustainable. ApprovalMax scales with the business.
Approval process not keeping pace with growth
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Property Management
Multiple properties as cost centres, maintenance spend to approve, service charge payments to process. ApprovalMax handles multi-entity workflows with cost-centre routing natively.
Multiple locations with no central approval layer
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Healthcare & Care
Regulated environments where financial controls are not optional. Multiple sites, consumable spend, equipment procurement — all requiring documented approval before commitment.
High-volume supplier invoices, job board spend, contractor costs — all needing approval before payment. ApprovalMax handles volume efficiently with auto-approval for recurring low-value items.
High invoice volume with no structured approval process
How Fintelwise implements ApprovalMax
ApprovalMax is a powerful tool that is also easy to configure incorrectly. A poorly designed workflow — wrong thresholds, missing escalation rules, no PO matching — gives the appearance of control without the substance. We have seen businesses go live with ApprovalMax and still process fraudulent payments because the PO matching was not configured properly.
Every Fintelwise ApprovalMax implementation starts with a Finance Systems Audit — a structured session that maps your current approval process, identifies the specific gaps, designs the right workflow for your business, and produces a written specification before any configuration begins. We then configure, test, and train before handing over a system that actually enforces what you need it to enforce.
The result is not just ApprovalMax installed. It is ApprovalMax configured correctly for your specific hierarchy, your budget structure, your cost centres, and your risk appetite.
Frequently Asked Questions
ApprovalMax — common questions answered
ApprovalMax is a cloud-based approval workflow platform that integrates natively with Xero and QuickBooks Online. It allows businesses to build multi-level approval workflows for bills, purchase orders, expenses, sales quotes, and payments — replacing email-based approvals with a structured, auditable process.
ApprovalMax connects directly to Xero via a native integration. Bills raised in Xero flow into ApprovalMax for approval before being marked as approved and returned to Xero. Purchase orders created in ApprovalMax are synced to Xero automatically. The two systems stay in sync in real time.
Yes. ApprovalMax's PO matching feature requires every incoming bill to be matched against an approved purchase order before payment can proceed. This eliminates the most common invoice fraud vector — fraudulent payment requests submitted by email — because no bill can be paid without a corresponding approved PO.
ApprovalMax delivers the most value in industries with high transaction volumes, multiple approvers, or significant fraud risk: professional services, construction, property management, IT services, healthcare, and recruitment. Any business where spend is currently committed informally or approved over email is a strong candidate.
For most UK SMEs, a properly configured ApprovalMax workflow inside Xero takes two to three weeks from start to go-live. The timeline depends on the number of approval levels, cost centres, and whether a purchase order system needs to be designed from scratch. Our process starts with a Finance Systems Audit that produces a written specification before any configuration begins.
Yes. ApprovalMax has a fully functional mobile app for iOS and Android. Approvers can review, approve, reject, and comment on requests from their phone. This is particularly useful for business owners and directors who need to approve spend while away from the office.
Xero's built-in approval is a simple single-step process with no routing logic, no budget checks, no PO matching, and a limited audit trail. ApprovalMax adds multi-level routing based on amount and category, mandatory budget checks before approval, purchase order creation and matching, auto-approval rules for low-value items, full audit trail with comments, and Slack, email, and mobile notifications. It is significantly more capable for any business with more than one approver or meaningful spend controls requirements.
Ready to implement ApprovalMax properly?
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. We will map your current approval process, identify the gaps, and show you what a correctly configured ApprovalMax workflow looks like for your specific business.
