Invoice approval policy & approval matrix template
A copy-ready accounts-payable policy and approval-matrix starting point for authority bands, required evidence, delegation, escalation, exceptions, segregation of duties and audit records — with every threshold left for your organisation to set.
No email gate. Copy the draft and replace every bracketed field. The template deliberately contains no universal £/$ approval limits: authority bands belong to your organisation’s approved governance, not to an SEO template.
Copy-ready starting point
Write the authority before you automate the routing.
The policy should explain who may decide, what evidence they need, what happens when they are absent and how exceptions are preserved. Software can then enforce the approved rule instead of inventing one.
[COMPANY NAME] — INVOICE APPROVAL POLICY Effective date: [DATE] Policy owner: [ROLE] Review date / trigger: [DATE OR TRIGGER] 1. SCOPE Applies to: [ENTITIES / DEPARTMENTS / VENDOR INVOICES IN SCOPE] Excluded or separately governed payments: [PAYROLL / TAX / INTERCOMPANY / OTHER] 2. AUTHORITY SOURCE Approval authority follows: [DELEGATION-OF-AUTHORITY / BOARD POLICY / FINANCE POLICY / OTHER SOURCE] The approval matrix below must not grant more authority than that source. 3. APPROVAL MATRIX Band | Amount / risk condition | Required approver role(s) | Evidence required | Backup delegate | Escalation route A | [ORGANISATION-SET BAND] | [ROLE] | [PO / CONTRACT / RECEIPT / OTHER] | [ROLE] | [ROUTE] B | [ORGANISATION-SET BAND] | [ROLE(S)] | [REQUIRED EVIDENCE] | [ROLE] | [ROUTE] C | [ORGANISATION-SET BAND] | [ROLE(S)] | [REQUIRED EVIDENCE] | [ROLE] | [ROUTE] Exception | [NEW VENDOR / NON-PO / URGENT / OTHER CONDITION] | [ROLE(S)] | [JUSTIFICATION / EVIDENCE] | [ROLE] | [ROUTE] 4. REVIEW BEFORE APPROVAL The approver must be able to inspect the exact invoice and the supporting evidence required by the applicable band. Extracted or routed invoice fields are not treated as ground truth without source review where material. 5. DELEGATION AND ABSENCE A delegate may act only where [DELEGATION RULE / AUTHORITY SOURCE] permits it. Temporary cover is recorded with a start date, end date and authority limit. An unavailable approver must not create an informal bypass. 6. ESCALATION If an invoice has not been decided within [ORGANISATION-SET REVIEW WINDOW], route it to [ESCALATION OWNER / BACKUP]. Escalation changes who must act; it does not silently change the approval authority required. 7. SEGREGATION OF DUTIES The organisation records which roles may create or amend supplier data, enter invoices, approve invoices and release payments. Incompatible duties are separated according to the organisation's control design. 8. REJECTION, RETURN AND EXCEPTIONS A rejection or return records the reason and required next action. Emergency or policy-exception approvals require [NAMED AUTHORITY] and a written justification; they do not become a new default route. 9. AUDIT RECORD Retain the invoice reference, policy/matrix version, approver identity, decision, timestamp, evidence reference, delegation/exception state and payment-release authority record according to your retention policy. 10. CHANGE CONTROL Changes to approval bands, approvers or exceptions require [OWNER / APPROVER], an effective date and a recorded reason. The configured workflow and the approved policy should be reconciled after each material change.
Approval matrix
Make authority, evidence and backup ownership visible.
Band | Amount / risk condition | Required approver role(s) | Evidence required | Backup delegate | Escalation route
Tie every approval band to the organisation’s real delegation-of-authority or finance policy instead of copying somebody else’s monetary thresholds.
Define scope and exclusions so payroll, tax, intercompany or other separately governed payments do not fall into an accidental default.
Give the approver the exact invoice and the supporting evidence required by the applicable rule before they decide.
Keep invoice approval separate from payment release where your segregation-of-duties design requires different authority.
Record named backup delegates and the period and authority under which they may act instead of using informal holiday workarounds.
Define an escalation route for stalled invoices, but do not let elapsed time silently reduce the approval level required.
Make non-PO, new-vendor, unusual or emergency cases explicit exception states with a named owner and written justification.
Keep rejection, return-for-correction and approval as explicit states so a corrected invoice does not inherit an old decision invisibly.
Version the policy and approval matrix and reconcile the written rules with the workflow configured in the ERP or AP tool.
Retain the decision, actor, timestamp and evidence references needed to reproduce why the invoice moved forward.
Invoice review is not the same authority as payment release.
Source review: 2026-09-01.
HMRC’s electronic-invoicing guidance describes accounting, procedural and authorisation controls and allows businesses to use the reliable audit trail and internal controls that fit their circumstances. The exact approval structure therefore has to come from the business’s real control design.
Current AP systems likewise implement configurable approval amounts and levels. Those product examples show how rules can be operationalised; they are not authority for the thresholds your company should choose.
HMRC — Electronic invoicing (VAT Notice 700/63)Sage Intacct — AP purchase invoice approval setupInvoiceGuard can organise source-linked invoice review and an explicit reviewer decision. It does not create your delegation of authority, set approval limits, approve spend on behalf of the business or release a payment.