Example workflow · Finance and procurement
AP invoice exceptions
Move invoices through without making AP chase missing details.
- Work covered
- Review an invoice after a matching, coding, or policy check fails.
- Owner
- AP Manager
- Human decision
- The AP Manager decides whether to approve, return, escalate, or hold the invoice.
- Starting measure
- Time in the exception backlog
Follow one case from start to decision.
Use the map to correct the workflow, connect each step to a source record, and mark what is missing.
Example
AP invoice exceptions
What this workflow covers: Review an invoice after a matching, coding, or policy check fails.
Your workflow map connects each step to its source records and marks missing information.
Starts with
An invoice enters the exception backlog after a check fails.
Source systems
- ERP
- Procurement system
- Shared AP inbox
Review packet
Gather the invoice, purchase order, receipt, supplier history, exception reason, and missing records under the invoice ID.
Owner
AP Manager
Decision
The AP Manager decides whether to approve, return, escalate, or hold the invoice.
Starting measure
Time in the exception backlog
Start with the current number. Compare after the change.
What the sources show—and what they do not.
The labels below separate what the source records show, what needs a person’s judgment, and what remains unknown until review.
- Seen in source records
- Directly visible in a record, interview, example, or system.
- Working assumption—confirm with the owner
- A reasonable explanation that still needs to be checked.
- Not yet known—confirm during review
- Missing information that we will not turn into a guess.
What we would check.
- How an invoice enters the exception backlog.
- Where people combine records, copy details, or ask for them again.
- Which rules software can check and which require AP judgment.
- Where the final decision is recorded.
What stays with the accountable person.
- The review packet does not make the final decision.
- The named owner sees the source records before deciding.
- The decision stays logged to the case.
- The AP Manager approves, returns, escalates, or holds the invoice.
Questions we need answered first.
Why this workflow may fit
The work repeats, the records are easy to follow, and one person owns the release decision.
- Which invoice ID follows the case across every system?
- Which exception reasons are structured, and which arrive as free text?
- Where do approval rules change by entity, supplier, or spend category?
- Which missing records make AP leave the worklist to find more context?
The 3-Day Workflow Proof
Replace this example with work from your own team.
Bring 5–10 real examples and the rules a good employee follows. In three days, watch a working version handle the agreed test. If it fails, you owe nothing.