Payment Approvals let you create approval rules for outgoing payments in Relay, including ACH, domestic wire, international wire, check, and payments with or without bills attached. These rules help ensure the right team member can review a payment before money is sent.
As your team grows, payment responsibilities may be shared across bookkeepers, office managers, operators, or advisors. Payment Approvals help add structure to that delegation by requiring review for payments that match the rules you create.
Payment Approvals are the default approval workflow for outgoing payments in Relay. Some organizations that previously used Bill Approval Rules may also see Bill approvals in the Payments dashboard.
If your organization has both Bill approvals and Payment approvals, Bill approvals apply to bills uploaded, synced, or created in the Bills workflow. Payment approvals apply to standalone payments and bills uploaded while using Make a payment.
Payment Approvals are available on all Relay plans.
What are Payment Approvals?
Payment Approvals allow you to create rules that hold certain payments for review before they are sent. This helps your business keep oversight in place while still allowing team members to create and prepare payments.
Rules can be based on more than just dollar amount, so you can create approval workflows that match the way your business manages risk.
You can create approval rules based on:
Payment method
Payment initiator
Whether a bill is attached
Payment amount
Vendor
Source account
Supported payment methods include:
ACH
Domestic wire
International wire (SWIFT)
International wire (local rails)
Check
For example, you can require approval for wire payments over a certain amount, payments created by a specific team member, payments to a specific vendor, or payments made from a specific source account.
How Payment Approvals work
When a team member creates a payment that matches an active approval rule, Relay will let them complete the payment flow and submit the payment for approval.
The payment will not be sent until all required approvals are complete.
Once the payment is fully approved, Relay will automatically continue sending the payment. No additional manual payment step is required.
If a payment is rejected, the payment will not be sent. The payment initiator will be notified that it was rejected and will need to re-initiate the payment if they still want it to be sent.
How to create a Payment Approval rule
Sign in to your Relay account.
Navigate to Payments.
Select Payment Approvals.
Click Create Approval Rule.
Add a nickname for the rule.
Choose the condition that should trigger the rule, such as payment method, initiator, bill attachment, amount, vendor, or source account.
If needed, click Add condition to add more conditions to the rule.
Under Must be approved by, select the team member or team members required to approve the payment.
Choose whether approval is required from any selected approver or from every selected approver.
If needed, click Add approval step to require an additional approval step.
Click Create rule.
Once the rule is active, any matching payment will require approval before it is sent.
How to submit a payment for approval
Start creating a payment in Relay.
Enter the payment details.
If the payment matches an approval rule, Relay will show that approval is required before the payment can be sent.
Click Send for Approval.
Continue to the payment summary.
The payment will appear as pending approval. You will receive a confirmation once the payment has been approved and sent.
How to approve or reject a payment
Sign in to your Relay account.
Navigate to Payments.
Open the Needs Approval tab.
Select the payment you want to review.
Review the payment details and approval timeline.
Click Approve or Reject.
If you approve the payment, it will move to Recent while it is being sent and settled.
If you reject the payment, you may be asked to provide a reason. The payment will not be sent, and the payment initiator will be notified that it was rejected. If the initiator still wants the payment to be sent, they will need to re-initiate it. Rejected payments can be found in the Needs Approval tab by applying the Rejected status filter.
What changed from Bill Approval Rules?
Payment Approvals are the default approval workflow for outgoing payments in Relay. They can apply to ACH, domestic wire, international wire, check, and payments with or without bills attached.
Some organizations that previously used Bill Approval Rules may also have access to Bill approvals. If your organization has both Bill approvals and Payment approvals, the workflow depends on how the bill or payment is created.
Bills uploaded, synced, or created in the Bills workflow: Bill approvals apply first. The bill moves to Needs approval. Once approved, it moves to Ready for payment and can then be paid.
Payments without a bill: Payment approvals apply.
Bills uploaded while using Make a payment: Payment approvals apply.
For payments that require Payment Approval, approval happens as part of sending the payment. The payment will not be sent until all required approvals are complete.
Payment details are locked once submitted for approval. The approver sees the exact payment details that will be sent, including amount, vendor, payment method, and source account. These details cannot be changed while the payment is pending approval.
If a payment is rejected, the payment initiator will be notified and will need to re-initiate the payment if they still want it to be sent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Payment Approvals in Relay?
Payment Approvals are rules that require one or more team members to review an outgoing payment before it is sent. They can apply to ACH, domestic wire, international wire, check, and payments with or without bills attached.
Are Payment Approvals available on all Relay plans?
Yes. Payment Approvals are available on all Relay plans.
Do Payment Approvals replace Bill Approval Rules?
Payment Approvals are the default approval workflow for outgoing payments in Relay. Some organizations that previously used Bill Approval Rules may also see Bill approvals in the Payments dashboard.
Do Payment Approvals only apply to bill payments?
No. Payment Approvals can apply to outgoing payments in Relay, including ACH, domestic wire, international wire, check, and payments with or without bills attached.
Why do I see both Bill approvals and Payment approvals?
Some organizations that previously used Bill Approval Rules may have access to both workflows. Bill approvals apply to bills uploaded, synced, or created in the Bills workflow. Payment approvals apply to standalone payments and bills uploaded while using Make a payment.
When do Bill approvals apply?
Bill approvals apply only if your organization has access to Bill approvals and the bill was uploaded, synced, or created in the Bills workflow.
When do Payment approvals apply?
Payment approvals apply to standalone payments and bills uploaded while using Make a payment.
Will my existing Bill Approval Rules still work?
If your organization has access to Bill approvals, your Bill Approval Rules may still apply to bills uploaded, synced, or created in the Bills workflow. Payment Approval Rules apply to standalone payments and bills uploaded while using Make a payment.
Which payment methods can Payment Approvals apply to?
Payment Approvals can apply to ACH, domestic wire, international wire, and check payments. International wire options include SWIFT and local rails.
Can approval rules apply to payments that are not attached to a bill?
Yes. You can create approval rules for outgoing payments whether or not a bill is attached.
What happens if a payment does not match any approval rules?
If a payment does not match any active approval rules, it can be sent without additional approval.
What happens after a payment is approved?
Once all required approvals are complete, Relay will continue sending the payment automatically.
What happens if a payment is rejected?
The payment will not be sent, and the payment initiator will be notified that it was rejected. If the initiator still wants the payment to be sent, they will need to re-initiate it. Rejected payments can be found in the Needs Approval tab by applying the Rejected status filter.
Can I require more than one approver?
Yes. You can add multiple approvers or additional approval steps to an approval rule when your workflow requires more than one person to review a payment.
Can I choose whether one approver or all approvers are required?
Yes. When selecting approvers for a rule, you can choose whether approval is required from any selected approver or from every selected approver.
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