Workflow Builder

Build the path from invoice to booking-ready.

Draw your whole payables flow on a canvas, not just approvals. Route by entity, apply special treatments, check a contract or a PO against the invoice, flag issues back to the supplier, then export to DATEV. No code, no rule syntax to learn.

Invoice Approval WorkflowPublished
Invoice received
Starts when an invoice lands in your inbox or upload
Cortena Reconciliation Agent
Reads the document and matches it to your books
AI Auto-fill fields
Fills account, cost centre and VAT from history
Manager Review
Assignee: Accounting Team
Conditional
IF
Yes →
No →
CFO Approval
Assignee: Sebastian L.
Send to Google Drive
Archive the document to a Drive folder
Send to DATEV
Export to DATEV Unternehmen online
Send email
Send a notification email
Complete
Workflow finished
Add a step

Click or drag a step onto the canvas. Drag nodes to move, click a port then a node to connect.

AI Steps
Human Steps
Logic Steps
Auto Steps
Every node is one step. The agent reasons before the branch decides.
Route by amount and resultCondition
Ifamount > 5.000,00 EURTwo-step approval
Else ifentity = Cortena B.V. (NL)Send to local approver
Else ifagent.flags contains "review"Hold for review
ElseReady for export
One branch node, four outgoing paths.
Conditional nodes

Branch on what actually matters

A condition node reads the invoice and the agent result, then sends each invoice down the right path. Split on the recipient entity, the amount, the supplier, or whether the agent coded the invoice with high confidence. Nest conditions as deep as you need.

Recipient entityRoute per Mandant
AmountThreshold in EUR
Agent resultConfidence and flags
The difference

Not rules that trigger.
Agents that reason.

Classic automation fires a rule when a field matches. Cortena reads the whole invoice first, codes every line, weighs its own confidence, and only then does the branch decide. The workflow acts on judgement, not just a matched value.

Human steps

Keep people in the loop, on purpose

Add a review or an approval node wherever you want a person to look. Set who approves and when. Approved invoices continue down the green edge, rejected ones follow the reject edge back with a reason attached. Nothing moves without the sign-off you set.

AssignBy person, role, or approval matrix
RejectAlways with a reason
Human stepApprovalamount > 5.000,00 EUR
Sofia Reiter · Head of Finance
ApprovedSend to DATEV
RejectedBack to sender with reason
Two outgoing edges: Approved and Rejected.
Send to Google DriveOn export
Path template
Cortena/{{invoice_date_yyyy}}/{{invoice_supplier_name}}/{{invoice_number}}.pdf
Resolves to
Cortena / 2026 / Hetzner Online GmbH / RE-2026-4471.pdf
A path template resolves per invoice.
Send to Google Drive

File a copy where your team expects it

Add a Send to Google Drive node and build the folder path from invoice fields. Use placeholders like the invoice year and the supplier name, and every document lands in the same tidy structure. Your DATEV archive stays the record of truth.

  • Path built from invoice fields
  • Folders created on the fly
  • Runs after export, never before
Multi-entity

One root workflow, inherited by every entity

Set the workflow once on the root and every sub-entity inherits it, locked so nothing drifts. Need a local difference for one Mandant? Unlock that entity and edit just its copy. The others keep following the root.

Root workflowCortena GroupSource
Cortena Deutschland GmbHInherited · locked
Cortena Services GmbHInherited · locked
Cortena B.V. (NL)Unlocked · local
Sub-entities inherit the root flow. Unlock only where you need to.
Publish and save

Save a draft, publish when ready

Work on a flow without touching what is live. Save as many drafts as you like, then publish when it is right. Invoices already in flight finish on the version they started on.

01

Draft freely

Edit a copy of the flow. Nothing changes for live invoices while you work.

02

Preview the path

Trace how a sample invoice would move through every node before you commit.

03

Publish

Make the draft live in one click. New invoices follow the new flow from that moment.

04

Keep versions

Every published version is kept, so you can see what a workflow looked like on any date.

FAQ

Questions about the Workflow Builder

  1. No. You build the flow by dragging nodes onto a canvas and connecting them. Conditions are set with plain dropdowns for the field, the operator, and the value. There is no scripting language to learn.

  2. A condition can read the recipient entity, the amount, the supplier, the invoice date, and the agent result, including its confidence and any review flags. You can nest conditions to build as many paths as you need.

  3. You place a review or approval node and set who approves. Approved invoices continue down the flow, rejected ones return to the sender with a reason. Approvers can be a person, a role, or a rule from your approval matrix.

  4. You write a path template using placeholders such as the invoice year and the supplier name. Cortena resolves them per invoice and creates the folders if they do not exist. This runs after export, and your DATEV archive stays the record of truth.

  5. Set a workflow on the root and every sub-entity inherits it, locked by default so it cannot drift. When one Mandant needs a local difference, you unlock that entity and edit only its copy while the others keep following the root.

  6. Still have a question?

See your approval flow, on a canvas.

We map your current process in the demo and show you the exact workflow in Cortena.

Book a demo