[Advisors] What happens when my payment request needs to be approved?

AdvicePay's invoice approvals feature allows the firm's primary account (aka your broker-dealer, selected "reviewer" or "Home Office") to review payment requests issued by advisors. If the invoice or engagement approvals feature is enabled, any request will require approval before being sent to the client. 

When requesting payments, we will let you know if it is subject to approval by displaying the following message when creating it, and in the activity log on the page.

How the Invoice, Subscription & Engagement Approval Process Works:

1. Once you complete the payment request details and click Finish (or if a document is attached, the choice to Send Now or Edit and Send), then click  Publish without Sending an Email,  or Send an Email via AdvicePay, the invoice will be sent to the firm's account for approval.

Note it will not be sent directly to the client's account. (If you selected to email the request, we will hold the email until it's approved!)

2. While the request is awaiting approval, it will reflect the "Pending Approval" status 

3. When the firm's account approves the request:

• You will be notified of the approval via email
• The invoice or subscription  will update to the normal status of "Inactive" for subscriptions or "Unpaid" for an invoice
• The invoice will no longer be editable
• The invoice will appear in the client's account for payment

If the payment request included the option to email the client, upon approval, the invoice notice (including a request for eSignature(s) on any contracts) will also be sent immediately to the client.

If the email option was not part of the request, the client will not be notified.

What happens when approval for an invoice or subscription is denied?

If the firm's account denies approval on an invoice:

• You will receive an email letting you know which invoice was denied and the reason, if provided.
• The invoice will reflect the "Approval Rejected" status 

After an invoice rejection, you'll continue to have the ability to edit the invoice. If approval is no longer needed on the invoice after editing it (e.g. the amount is adjusted to less than/equal to the specified approval threshold), the invoice will automatically be sent directly to the client for payment.

If approval is needed, it will be sent back to your firm for review. The firm account will not receive an immediate email regarding the need for re-approval, but they will receive a daily summary via email every morning at 5 a.m. MST notifying them of pending invoices that require review. The firm can also view pending invoices under Approvals in their account.

What happens when Approval for an Engagement is denied?

• The advisor will receive an email letting them know that approval of the Engagement was denied -- as well as the reason why (if provided)
• The Engagement will be deleted and will need to be recreated by the Advisor

If invoices and subscriptions are rejected, you can delete/cancel them to start over if needed.