ApprovalMax
ApprovalMax adds structured approval workflows to Xero - bills, purchase orders, invoices, credit notes, and batch payments all go through the right people before they hit your accounts
Everything on this page comes from designing approval workflows and configuring ApprovalMax inside Xero - from simple two-step sign-offs to multi-level approval matrices across departments and entities. This is what we have learned
What ApprovalMax does
Features
Multi-level approval workflows for AP and AR. Bills, POs, invoices, credit notes, and batch payments each get their own workflow with conditional routing based on amount, supplier, or department Approvers see only what they need to approve - no Xero login required. Every decision is logged with a full audit trail
Approval workflows
Set up conditional routing based on amount, supplier, tracking category, or account code. Sequential or parallel approvers, delegation for leave cover, and escalation rules
Audit trail
Every approval, rejection, and edit is timestamped and logged. Audit reports generate automatically - your auditor gets a clean trail without chasing emails
Segregation of duties
Approvers see only the documents routed to them - no direct Xero access needed. The person raising a bill cannot be the same person approving it
Budget checking
Approvers see real-time budget impact before they approve. Import budgets from Xero and flag overspend before it happens, not after
PO matching
Match incoming bills against approved purchase orders. Flag variances on amount, quantity, or supplier before the bill is approved for payment
Capture and pay
ApprovalMax Capture scans documents and extracts data automatically. Airwallex batch payments (AU, NZ, UK) let you pay approved bills without sharing bank credentials
Best for
- businesses needing segregation of duties for bill payments
- organisations with multi-level approval thresholds (e.g. under k vs over k)
- not-for-profits and companies with audit requirements
- multi-entity businesses managing approvals across several Xero orgs
- accounting firms standardising AP processes across clients
Integration mapping
Shared data between Xero and ApprovalMax
Data flows both ways with a two-way sync. Xero provides the financial documents and reference data, ApprovalMax manages the approval process and pushes approved documents back to Xero with their status updated
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Reference Data
Getting started
How to connect ApprovalMax to Xero
Authorise ApprovalMax with your Xero organisation, configure your first approval workflow, and set up the users who will be approving
Before you start
- confirm you have Xero Advisor access - a Standard user cannot authorise the connection
- map out your approval rules on paper first - who approves what, at what thresholds, and who covers when someone is away. Setting this up in the tool is easy once the logic is clear
Create your account and connect Xero
- start a 14-day free trial at approvalmax.com - sign in with Xero SSO, Google, or email
- create an ApprovalMax Organisation from the main menu
- go to Approval Workflows under Workflows and Settings
- click Connect next to ApprovalMax Workflows for Xero
- select the correct Xero Organisation and authorise access
Build your first workflow
- start with Bills - this is the most common workflow and gives you immediate value
- add approval steps - set conditions for each step (e.g. bills under $5,000 go to manager, over $5,000 go to director)
- add approvers to each step - you can set up sequential (one after another) or parallel (any one of the group) approval
- enable auto-approve for low-value transactions if appropriate (e.g. bills under $100)
- activate the workflow
Invite your approvers
- add team members who will approve documents - they sign in via Xero SSO or email
- approvers do not need a Xero login - they only see what is routed to them in ApprovalMax
- set up delegation rules for leave cover - when an approver is away, their approval responsibilities transfer to a delegate automatically
- enable 2FA for all users - this is mandatory for Xero-connected organisations
Test with a real bill
- enter a bill in Xero (or use ApprovalMax Capture to scan one in)
- confirm it appears in ApprovalMax and is routed to the correct approver
- approve it - check that the bill status updates in Xero and the audit trail attaches
- if the routing is wrong, adjust your workflow conditions before rolling out to the team
Things to know
What to watch out for
ApprovalMax is well-built but there are design decisions and edge cases to plan for
Workflow complexity
Start simple. A common mistake is building elaborate multi-tier workflows on day one. Start with a single bill approval workflow, get the team comfortable, then add POs, invoices, and budget checking
Fields editable after approval
Xero allows editing of approved bills after ApprovalMax has signed them off. If someone changes an account code or amount in Xero after approval, the audit trail in ApprovalMax will not reflect that change
Approver bottlenecks
If one person is the approver for everything, you have created a single point of failure. Set up delegation rules and parallel approval groups so bills do not stall when someone is on leave
2FA is mandatory
Xero requires 2FA on connected apps. If your approvers are not set up with two-factor authentication, they will be blocked from accessing ApprovalMax until they enable it
Per-org pricing
Pricing is per Xero organisation, not per user. Good for businesses with many approvers, but multi-entity businesses pay for each connected org separately - factor this into the cost
Pricing
What ApprovalMax costs
Pricing model
Per Xero organisation - unlimited users and approvals on all plans
Free trial
14 days, no credit card required