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Many teams use Jira to track the entire accounts payable workflow, from invoice submission via Jira Service Desk to receiving final approvals. Given the high volume of supplier invoices, optimizing this workflow is crucial for ensuring timely payments and minimizing human error. In this article, we will explain how to achieve this using an invoice approval process template in Jira. We will provide you with a ready-to-use template along with step-by-step instructions for implementation.
Common Issues in the Invoice Approval Process That Can be Fixed With a Template
- Fragmented knowledge: If the process is not properly documented, essential details are often scattered across emails, messengers, or verbal instructions. As a result, it’s easy to miss something important.
- Vague responsibility areas: In the absence of clear instructions, it can be challenging to determine who to inform about issues with an invoice or who should approve the payment. It’s also crucial to assign responsibility for ensuring information accuracy.
- Slow progress: Things like forgotten W-forms, surpassed budget limits, or other missing details slow down the invoice approval process and result in more back-and-forth than necessary.
- Lack of standardization: When a process is vague or heavily depends on the availability of knowledge holders, it’s difficult to review, scale it, or maintain consistency.
These issues lead to countless inefficiencies and can result in payment delays, errors, and compliance risks. Fortunately, implementing an invoice approval process template enables you to eliminate most of these problems and mitigate the impact of others.
What is an Invoice Approval Template in Jira?
This is a structured checklist containing step-by-step instructions for managing the invoice approval process. The same template can be reused multiple times across different Jira work items.
Most importantly, this template can document the process in fine detail and maintain consistency across your organization. The template can include the tags of responsible team members, links to internal policies, and other necessary information.
By completing the listed steps one by one, finance professionals can prepare invoices for an approver’s review following best practices and without missing anything. This allows you to streamline and speed up the process, making it more efficient and less stressful.
Here’s an example of what such a template can look like. Switch to the markdown version to view the full text.
- Review the invoice documents
>- Invoice number
>- The entity to which it was issued
>- Type of services – see the payment structure [here]
>- Check if the descriptions and amounts are correct
- Verify the invoice date and due date
>- Ensure the due date is realistic and fits the payment schedule
>- Flag any invoices with outdated or missing due dates
- Check for duplicate invoice entries in the system
>- Search by invoice number and vendor name
>- If a duplicate is found, tag it as “Duplicate” and notify the Finance team
- Confirm the vendor is approved and active in the database
- Verify the vendor’s banking and contact details
- Fill in the following fields for each ticket:
>- Payment source (see the payments structure [here])
>- Proper account (see the Chart of Accounts [here])
>- If you need more details about the payment, contact the Requestor in the ticket comments
- Attach supporting documents
>- Purchase order (if applicable)
>- Contract or agreement (if applicable)
>- Internal approval from the budget owner
- Open the Vendor payments monitor, refresh the data, and reset the dashboard
- Filter PAY-project tickets in the Status Group “To Do” and “In Progress”, Project = [Project]
- Review the monitor for payments that go over budget, report to @FinancialAnalyst, and check if we can pay the specified amount. If not, change the status to “Blocked” and inform the Requestor about this issue in the ticket comments.
- Check the monitor for W-forms. Each vendor must have a signed W-8/W-9 form before we make a payment.
>- If this is the first payment to this vendor, send them a proper W-form using [this template]
>- Read more about W-forms [here]
- Double-check tax implications for this payment
>- Validate whether VAT, withholding tax, or local tax applies
>- Document the tax treatment in the ticket comments
- Review the total amount to be paid per bank account. If it goes over the current balance, initiate a top-up process using [this guide]
- Confirm approvals before scheduling payment
>- Verify required approvals (e.g., team lead, finance manager) are logged in the ticket comments or attached
>- If the approvals are missing, tag @Approver and wait for confirmation
- Mark the invoice as approved and ready for payment - change its status to “Approved”
- Hand the invoice off to the payment execution team
>- Mention @PaymentsTeam with a note: “Invoice {{InvoiceNumber}} is ready for processing”
>- Include the payment deadline and any special handling notes
As you can see, the template includes key preparation stages such as reviewing invoice details, checking for duplicates, verifying vendor information, and confirming final approvals. This template can be added to any work items in Jira Cloud (including JSM) and Jira Data Center. Additionally, it’s possible to apply the template automatically based on work type or other parameters.
It’s also worth noting that Jira offers a project template for Finance service management. Its pre-set workflow has several approval-related statuses, such as “Waiting for Approval” or “Approved.” If you have a Jira Service Management subscription, you may find this feature helpful. For best results, use it together with a checklist template listing clear ToDo items. Smart Checklist seamlessly integrates with JSM, giving you the freedom to set up tailored processes. All this will help you manage the invoice approval workflow smoothly and efficiently.
How to Build an Invoice Approval Process Template With Smart Checklist
- Install Smart Checklist for Jira from the Atlassian Marketplace.
- Copy the invoice approval process template from the previous section of this article. Then, paste it into the Smart Checklist section of a Jira work item. Alternatively, you can create your own checklist from scratch, documenting the instructions for the finance team.
- Use the Markdown editor to customize the template. For example, adjust formatting, add headers, and tag designated approvers or other stakeholders. It’s also possible to make selected steps mandatory, set custom statuses for each step, and include deadlines.
- Save the checklist as a template. Open the Smart Checklist menu in your work item (the three dots in the upper right corner) and select Save as a template, as shown below. Later, you can use the same menu to import a checklist from the saved template.
What Key Stages to Include in an Invoice Approval Process Template
The exact steps depend on the process accepted in your organization. However, in many cases, it’s useful to include stages such as:
- Invoice validation – having detailed step-by-step instructions for reviewing invoice data is essential for minimizing human errors
- Checking for duplicate invoices – this is a crucial step in preventing duplicate payments
- Account and budget mapping – this ensures the availability of financial resources for timely payments according to the payment terms
- Tax and compliance review – a step that allows you to avoid unnecessary complications further down the road
- Vendor record check – proper verifications are important for timely payments to providers and maintaining constructive vendor relationships
- Payment approval and scheduling – following the established procedure for planning and approvals minimizes the need for extensive follow-up communication and prevents delays in invoice payments.
For best results, discuss the process with your team and iteratively update the template to keep it relevant.
How to Automatically Add a Smart Checklist Template to Jira Work Items
Smart Checklist has a native automation functionality that allows you to add a checklist template to specific work types. To use it, navigate to the Smart Checklist menu (the three dots in the upper right corner). Then, select Manage templates, find your invoice approval process template, and expand it.
In the pane on the right, select work types to which you want to apply the template automatically. You may want to create a designated work type in advance – for example, “Invoice” or “Payment Request”. In our example below, it’s simply “Task.”
If you want to assign your template based on complex conditions, you can do so by using Smart Checklist with Automation for Jira. This will allow you to build flexible process automation rules, as well as set up workflow automation. For example, a checklist template can be added to a work item when it transfers to a specific workflow status.
Please refer to this Checklist Automation guide for setup details.
How to Apply Changes to the Checklist Template in All Work Items at Once
By default, once you have applied the same checklist template to different work items, after that moment, the checklist can be edited in each Jira ticket individually.
However, it’s also possible to “lock” changes and prevent team members from altering the content of your invoice approval template. In this case, they will only be able to change the statuses of checklist items (“To Do,” “In Progress,” and so on). All the other changes can only be implemented by an administrator. To enable this feature, use Smart Checklist’s linked templates.
Apart from preventing unsanctioned edits, this feature allows you to sync the templates in real-time across all Jira tasks in your project. This applies to both new and previously created tasks. For example, if you add a new step to your invoice approval process template, that step will instantly appear in all checklists created with the help of that template.
Benefits of Building an Invoice Approval Process Template with Smart Checklist
Save time on invoice processing and approvals
With the entire process documented as a ToDo checklist, your team can easily follow it. They won’t have to waste time figuring out what’s next or searching for necessary links and internal resources.
Reduce back-and-forth communication
A streamlined and well-functioning process brings clarity and improves communication. If responsibility areas are well-defined and invoices are well-prepared with context, approvers can review them faster.
Standardize your financial processes
Using a checklist template ensures that everyone across the organization follows the same steps and best practices. This creates transparency and aligns expectations.
Ensure compliance early on
Tax checks and timely W-form preparation allow you to hard-wire compliance into your processes.
Streamlining the Invoice Approval Process
To optimize the process and to always approve invoices in time, you don’t have to start with implementing complex automation software. If your team works in Jira and especially if you use JSM for payment processing, consider utilizing an invoice approval template. It allows you to codify the invoice management process in an actionable form. At the same time, it’s an easy-to-use tool that does not require a learning curve.
By doing so, you can eliminate duplicates and discrepancies, reduce time-consuming back-and-forth communication, and prevent bottlenecks. Most importantly, a transparent and well-oiled process helps you avoid late payments. If these checklist templates accurately capture the process, they can benefit a wide range of roles, from CFOs and financial specialists to the procurement and HR teams.
An organization-wide adoption of these templates, along with various automation solutions, will significantly help you optimize business processes and boost efficiency.
