# How to set up bill approval in Xero

In Xero, set up submit for approval: choose who can approve and their limits, then test it with a real bill before you rely on it.

Bill approval means a bill is checked and signed off by the right person before it is paid. A setup says who approves what.

## Before you start

- Edit users permission to set roles
- Roles: Draft sales and purchases (creates drafts and submits for approval); Administrator, Standard, Sales and purchases or Purchases (can approve)

## The Xero way

Where to find it: Organisation name > Settings > General > Users (set roles); then Purchases > Bills

1. Click the organisation name, select Settings, then under General click Users. Click a user and pick their role.
2. Give people who key in bills the Draft sales and purchases role. They can create drafts and submit them for approval, but cannot approve.
3. For Sales and purchases users you can remove the ability to approve transactions in their permissions.
4. A creator saves the bill and submits it for approval. The bill shows as Awaiting approval.
5. A user with approval rights opens the bill and approves it. It moves to Awaiting payment.

## Limits in Xero

- Native approval is one step. There is no routing by amount, supplier or account.
- Xero staff said on 22 Sep 2026 on Xero Product Ideas that a customisable approval workflow is in development. Xero Central has no page on it.

## Good to know in Xero

- Draft sales and purchases users see only the transactions they created.

## The Pulsify way

1. Connect Xero to Pulsify. We set up the connection for you where needed.
2. Open Approvals. Every company starts with a default rule: any Admin or Approver can approve.
3. Add steps for amounts, suppliers or accounts. Choose a person, a role or a team as approver at each step.
4. Add a review step if someone should check coding before approval.
5. Use Try an invoice to test the rule on a real bill.
6. Add auto-approve rules for small or trusted bills if you want.

Pulsify connects to Xero in one click. Approved bills are created in Xero with the source file attached.

What Pulsify does not do here:

- Pulsify does not reassign an approval to someone else.
- Pulsify does not send approval reminders.

## Example in Xero

Example Builders Pty Ltd has one person keying in bills and one approver.

- Bill from Example Electrical entered by a Draft sales and purchases user: $6,600.00 (Status: Draft)
- Same bill submitted for approval: $6,600.00 (Status: Awaiting approval)
- Approved by a user with approval rights: $6,600.00 (Status: Awaiting payment)

The same single approval step applies to a $660 bill and a $66,000 bill. Xero does not change the approver by amount.

## Common mistakes

- Giving the people who key in bills a role that can also approve them. The Draft sales and purchases role is built for entry only.
- Planning on approval limits by amount. Native approval is one step.

## Common questions

### Which Xero role can submit a bill but not approve it?

Draft sales and purchases. These users can create drafts and submit them for approval but cannot approve. They see only the transactions they created.

### Can Xero route a bill by amount or supplier?

Native approval is one step. There is no routing by amount, supplier or account. Xero staff said on 22 Sep 2026 on Xero Product Ideas that a customisable approval workflow is in development.

### Can I stop a Sales and purchases user approving bills?

Yes. For Sales and purchases users you can remove the ability to approve transactions in their permissions.

### Does Pulsify support multi-step approvals?

Yes. You can set steps by amount, supplier or account. Approvers can be people, roles or teams. A review step is available.

## Sources

- https://central.xero.com/0/article/Invoice-Only-user-role
- https://central.xero.com/0/article/User-role-access-to-purchases-in-Xero-US
- https://central.xero.com/0/article/Change-a-user-s-role-or-permissions
- https://central.xero.com/0/article/Edit-bills
- https://productideas.xero.com/forums/967139-purchase-orders-bills-inventory/suggestions/44960764-bills-ability-to-allow-multiple-users-in-xero-to

Source: https://www.pulsify.tech/how-to/set-up-bill-approval-in-xero/ (last checked 2026-10-19)