Approval workflow

Every invoice reaches the right approver.

Cortena reads your approval matrix, routes each invoice by amount and cost centre, and asks the right people to sign off. No spreadsheets chased over email. No invoice stuck for a week.

The approval matrix

Your rules, kept in one managed sheet.

Cortena imports your approval matrix from a managed sheet and normalises it into amount tiers. Every invoice is matched to a tier the moment it is coded.

Finance owns the sheet. Cortena reads it. When you change an approver or a threshold, the routing changes with it. No developer, no ticket.

  • Amount tiersUnder 10k, 10-25k, 25-100k and 100k and above, each with its own chain of approvers.
  • Wildcard matchingRules can match by cost centre, supplier or GL account, with wildcards for the long tail.
  • AI row matchingWhen a row is ambiguous, Cortena proposes the best match with a confidence score and a plain reason.
Approval matrix · importedSynced from sheet
T1< 10.000Team lead1
T210k-25kTeam lead → Head of Finance2
T325k-100kHead of Finance → MD2
T4≥ 100kHead of Finance → MD → Board3
Row 47 · KST 1200 · * AI match96%
Why this tier

KST 1200 (Facilities) at €1.547,36 falls in the 10k-25k band. The wildcard supplier rule applies, so the Team lead → Head of Finance chain is used.

The matrix is a sheet your finance team owns. Cortena reads it on every invoice.
Agentic approval routing

From your rules to fully automated.

There is no single way to approve an invoice: turn it off, keep one sign-off, or layer rules by cost centre, value, business unit, entity and line item. Cortena triggers the flow and chases every sign-off, so even complex organisations run with almost no manual handling.

No approval

Send invoices straight to your accounting software, with no sign-off in between.

One sign-off

A single approval from your finance manager, and it is done.

Cost & threshold

Trigger the right approver by cost centre and value threshold.

Entity & unit

Add rules by entity, subsidiary or business line.

Per-line routing

Send each line to the person who owns its cost centre.

And more

Combine any of these into an approval matrix that fits how you work.

The approver's screen

Approve in seconds, with the context you need.

Approvers see a clean invoice, the lines they own highlighted, and the numbers that let them decide. Approve with one click. Reject with a reason.

Elektro Bergmann GmbHRE-2026-4471 · due 26.03.2026
Step 1 of 2Awaiting your approval
Server room wiring63351200892,30
Cabling & switchgear68451300248,00Your line
Lift hire · 2 days68351200160,00
Reason (required to reject)Add a note the requester will see…Reject Approve
The approver sees only what they need to decide. Every field traces back to the coded invoice.
Keep it moving

Nothing waits on someone who is away.

Approvals stall when the approver is on holiday or buried in email. Cortena keeps the queue moving without anyone chasing it.

Delegation

Set a stand-in for a date range. Invoices route to them automatically, and the log records who acted for whom.

Reminders

A quiet nudge after a set time, then an escalation to the next approver so nothing sits idle.

Slack approvals

Soon

Approve or reject straight from Slack, with the invoice and its lines attached. This is on the roadmap, framed as where we are heading.

The audit trail

Every decision is in the log.

Each invoice carries a per-invoice activity log. Who approved, who rejected and why, when a stand-in acted, when it moved to the next step. It stays with the document and works GoBD-aligned.

Activity · this invoiceRE-2026-4471
09:12Cortena coded 3 lines and matched tier 10k-25k
09:12Routed to Maren Köhler and Tobias Brandt per matrix
10:47Maren Köhler approved the Facilities lines
11:03Reminder sent to Tobias Brandt
14:20Tobias Brandt approved · ready for DATEV
The log stays with the invoice for the full retention period.
FAQ

Approval workflow questions

  1. Cortena reads your approval matrix and matches each invoice to an amount tier the moment it is coded. Tiers can also match on cost centre, supplier or GL account, with wildcards for the long tail. The right chain of approvers is selected automatically.

  2. Yes. A tier can define a chain of approvers, for example team lead then Head of Finance. Multi-line invoices can also route per line, so each cost-centre owner signs off only the lines they own.

  3. Set a stand-in for a date range and invoices route to them automatically. Cortena also sends reminders after a set time and can escalate to the next approver so nothing sits idle. The log records who acted for whom.

  4. Yes. An approver can reject with a required reason, which the requester sees and which is stored in the activity log. The invoice returns for correction rather than moving forward.

  5. Slack approvals are on the roadmap and labelled Soon. Today you approve in Cortena or by email nudge. When Slack approvals ship, the invoice and its lines will be attached to the message.

  6. Yes. Every decision is written to a per-invoice activity log, including who approved, who rejected and why, and any delegation. Cortena works GoBD-aligned and the archive stays in DATEV.

  7. Still have a question?

See your approval matrix in action.

Bring your real sheet. We will show you how Cortena routes a live invoice through it, end to end.

Book a demo