What is this page about: Approval workflows in Light route bills, invoices, expenses, purchase requests, credit notes, journal entries, and vendor changes through defined approval stages before they post to your ledger. This page covers the built-in workflow types, how to build and publish a workflow in the visual editor, and the node types available.
On this page
- Why approval workflows matter
- Workflow types
- Building a workflow in the editor
- Node types
- Publishing a workflow
- Best practices
- Related articles
Why approval workflows matter
Approval workflows control how documents move through your organization before they post to the ledger. Each stage requires approval from one or more people, based on the document's amount, type, vendor, cost center, or other criteria you set.
An approval workflow, also called an approval chain or approval routing rule, stops unauthorized spending before it happens, catches coding errors early, and gives you an audit trail of who approved what and when. For teams working toward SOC 2 or similar controls, that audit trail is often the control itself.
Workflow types
Light includes 14 built-in workflow types: 8 approval workflows, plus 6 sync workflows for connected integrations. Each one runs automatically when its trigger event happens.
| Workflow type | What it controls | Runs when |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Approval | Vendor invoice (bill) approval before payment | Bill data changes |
| Invoice Dunning | Payment reminders and collection follow-up for AR invoices | An invoice is posted |
| Credit Note Approval | Customer credit note approval before posting | A credit note is submitted for posting |
| Purchase Request Approval | Purchase request approval before it becomes a purchase order or vendor card | A purchase request is created |
| Card Approval | Vendor card request review and approval | A card request is created |
| Expense Submission | Employee expense report review before reimbursement | An expense report is submitted |
| Journal Entry Approval | Journal entry approval before posting | A journal entry is submitted for posting |
| Vendor Approval | New or changed vendor master data approval | A vendor is created or its bank details change |
The remaining 6 are sync workflows, one per connected integration direction: Finch (HR data into Light), HubSpot (in and out), Salesforce (in and out), and Stripe (into Light). If you connect HubSpot, Salesforce, Stripe, or an HR system like Finch, Light adds the matching sync workflow automatically.
Building a workflow in the editor
Light uses a visual editor: you connect nodes on a canvas to define the path a document takes.
- Open Light and go to Settings (gear icon) → Workflows.
- Click a workflow to open its visual editor.
- Add nodes from the toolbar at the bottom of the canvas. The toolbar's Action button isn't itself a node type. It opens a drawer where you pick which node to add (Approval, Timer, Agent Review, or Custom).
- Connect the nodes to define the approval path, including any branches.
The editor shows the entire approval path on one screen, so you can check every branch before you publish.
Node types
- Trigger: the starting point of the workflow, where every workflow begins.
- Condition: routes the document down different paths based on a rule.
- Approval: stops the document until a named approver acts.
- Mapping: transforms or maps a field's data as the document moves through the workflow.
- Timer: pauses the workflow for a set period before moving on, useful for reminders or grace periods.
- Agent Review: has Light's AI check the document against your rules and route it "if compliant" or "if non-compliant."
- Custom: a catch-all node for domain-specific actions, like posting or resetting a journal entry, or approving, archiving, posting, or resetting a credit note.
Condition nodes route on amount thresholds, document type, vendor, cost center, or custom properties. Every condition includes an "else" path, so a document that matches no rule still has somewhere to go.
Approval nodes are stop points. A named approver must act before the workflow continues: if approved, the document moves to the next step; if rejected, it returns to the submitter or routes to an alternative path you define.
Good to know: Each approval slot in a node must resolve to at least one active, eligible approver. If a slot can't find one - for example, an approver group with no active members, or a required approval level nobody in the chain meets - submission is rejected right away with an error identifying the affected slot, rather than leaving the document stuck waiting indefinitely.
Publishing a workflow
A workflow is always Draft or Active. Draft means you can edit freely, but it doesn't apply to new documents yet. Active means it's live, and Light records the version number and who published it.
Editing an active workflow moves its status back to Draft. The last active version keeps running for new documents until you publish your edit, so live approvals are never interrupted mid-edit.
To publish:
- Open the workflow in the visual editor.
- Click Publish in the top right corner.
- Light activates the workflow immediately for new documents.
Your Workflows list shows the published date, who published it, and the current version number for every workflow.
Best practices
- Keep it simple. Every extra approval stage adds delay. Add one only if it changes the outcome.
- Use conditions deliberately. Route by risk and spend level, not by habit.
- Test before publishing. Run a test document through the draft before you publish it.
- Track versions. Know which version is live and what changed since the last one.
- Review quarterly. As your team and spend patterns change, revisit your approval rules to confirm they still fit.
Related articles
- Understanding and managing workflow automation
- User roles and permissions overview
- Inviting and removing users
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