QuickBooks Work From Home: Speed Up Team Approvals Without Losing Control

1. QuickBooks Work From Home: Speed Up Team Approvals Without Losing Control • Your team recently submitted five urgent invoices for approval, but they're currently sitting in your manager's inbox. A vendor payment, for example, is delayed because someone changed the bank details without informing you. If you're running a finance team or a small business, delayed • approvals and untracked changes aren't just annoying—they're a threat to cash flow and compliance. • This guide fixes that. You'll find out how to configure approval workflows that keep pace with your business, automatically track edits, and use advanced tools like the QuickBooks Review List Changestool to spot unauthorized tweaks. Let's replace bottlenecks for approvals with highways for approvals. • Why You Should Care about Approval Workflows (Other than "Needing to Get Sign-Off") • Approvals are not about red tape—they are the financial guardrails you need. Solid workflows: • Avoid mistakes: Another set of eyes identifies errors • Combating fraud: These will prevent single approvals on large payments, adding an extra layer of protection • Clean audits: Approvals show logged evidence of compliance on regulations like SOX When workflows are clunky, teams ignore workflows. Let's fix that. • Configure Approval Workflows in QuickBooks • Customize User Roles

2. Open Settings > Manage Users • Give roles such as "Approver," "Time Tracker" or "View Only" • That might be "Approvers" only who can OK bills over $5,000 • Make Rules for Particular Transactions • Enable "Billable Expenses Approval" in Account and Settings > Expenses • Define threshold (auto-flag bills > $2K for review) • Use Memos for Context • Ask employees to leave a note when submitting for approval (e.g., "Client payment. Urgent") • Change Logs: Because "Who Edited That?" Shouldn't Be a Mystery • If QuickBooks logs changes, finding them is like searching for needles. Here's how to simplify: • Audit Trail Reports • Step 1: Navigate to Reports > Accountant & Taxes > Audit Trail • Sort by date, user or transaction type (e.g., "Checks") • Alert for Critical Edits • Set up third-party tools like Transaction Proofer to be notified via email if high-risk entities (such as bank accounts) are modified. • Changes to QuickBooks Review List Tool • This built-in option allows you to view when a list (vendors, accounts, items) is altered, and who altered it. To use it: • Navigate to Lists > Review List Changes • Select a date range and user • You'll need to export the report into CSV for more analysis No more guessing who entered that duplicate vendor last Tuesday. • Common Approval Bottlenecks (and How to Fix Them) • "Too Many" Approvers: Making all invoices require 3+ sign offs? Cut it to 2 • Shallow Rules: "Approve large payments" isn't specific enough. Define "large" (1K? 10K?) • Mobile Bypass: When managers are away from the office? QuickBooks Mobile: Mobile Approvals • A McKinsey research found that obtaining streamlined approval processes cut processing time by 65%. • Approval Automation Without Losing Control • Auto-Reminders: Keep your approvers on task by having QuickBooks email them daily until they approve/reject

3. Template Responses: Give approvers drop-down, pre-written reasons for their rejections (i.e., "Did not find PO#") • Integrate with Slack/MS Teams: Approval requests in channels, not lost in email • QuickBooks Approval Workflows FAQs • Q: Can I authorize transactions from my phone? • A: Yes — the QuickBooks Online mobile app allows you to approve bills, invoices, and payments. • Q: How can I reverse an approved transaction? • A: You must unapprove it before it's paid. For checks, void; for bills, edit status. • Q: What happens if an approver is on vacation? • A: In Manage Users, assign a backup approver or use "Delegate Access" temporarily.