# Invoice approvals for Sage 50

Sage 50 has no built-in invoice approvals. Pulsify adds approval steps by supplier, amount, account or project, with approve, reject or send back from a phone.

Invoice approval is the check that the right person agrees a supplier bill is correct before it is paid.

## What Sage 50 does on its own

Sage 50 Accounts has no approval route for supplier invoices or purchase orders. Sage staff on the community hub say order authorisation is not available. Control comes from user access rights and from add-ons that add a routing step.

- Add-ons such as PaperLess or Compleat add approval.
- UK: separate New/Edit and Place Order rights for basic control.
- Sage 50 Accounts UK has no invoice or order approval route in its help.

## What you need in Sage 50

- An add-on such as PaperLess or Compleat for a real approval route

## Setting it up in Sage 50

1. Decide who may create or edit purchase orders and who may place them.
2. Set the user access rights so that the New/Edit right and the Place Order right sit with different people.
3. Ask the approver to check the order before the second person places it.
4. For invoices, have the approver sign the paper or PDF before it is keyed on Batch invoice.
5. Keep the signed copy with the supplier record so an auditor can find it.

## Good to know in Sage 50

- A forum comment on AccountingWeb says Sage 50 has no draft or awaiting approval status for purchase invoices.
- On the US side, a certified consultant on the Sage community says no Sage 50 US product has approvals.
- The separate New/Edit and Place Order rights are a community tip for basic control, not a workflow.

## What Pulsify adds

1. Every company starts with a default rule: any Admin or Approver can approve.
2. With the Approval Workflows Add-on, add ordered steps that route by supplier, amount, account and tracking such as job.
3. Each step asks a role, a person or a team. A step can need any one of them or everyone.
4. Add a review step before approval if someone should check coding first.
5. Use Try an invoice to see which path a sample bill would take.
6. Approvers approve, reject or send back from a phone or laptop, one bill or many at once.

Pulsify connects to Sage 50. We set up the connection for you.

What Pulsify does not do:

- Pulsify does not reassign an approval to someone else.
- Pulsify does not send approval reminders.
- Pulsify never moves money. Payment runs stay in Sage 50 or your bank.

## Common questions

### Does Sage 50 Accounts have purchase order authorisation?

Sage UK staff replying on the community hub say authorisation is not available. A tip from users is to give the New/Edit right and the Place Order right to different people. That gives basic control only.

### Can Sage 50 route a supplier invoice to a manager to approve?

No routing rule was found in Sage 50 Accounts UK or Sage 50 US. Teams sign invoices outside the software or add PaperLess or Compleat from the Sage Marketplace.

### Is there an invoice status such as awaiting approval in Sage 50?

A comment on AccountingWeb says there is no draft or awaiting approval status for purchase invoices. Entries post to the ledger when you save the batch.

### Is every approval recorded?

Yes. Every approve, reject and send back is recorded in the bill's activity with who did it and any reason.

## Sources

- https://communityhub.sage.com/gb/sage-50-accounts/f/general-discussion-uk/226518/purchase-order-authorisation
- https://communityhub.sage.com/us/sage50_us/f/general-discussion/256484/purchase-workflow-inaccuracies/615009
- https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/node/228737

Source: https://www.pulsify.tech/invoice-approvals-for-sage-50/ (last checked 2026-10-19)