# Invoice approval

An invoice approval form is an internal record that a named person checked a supplier's invoice and agreed it should be paid.

## What it is

Before a company pays a bill, someone should confirm that the goods arrived, the price matches what was agreed, and the budget allows it. An invoice approval form is the written proof of that check. It is usually one page: the invoice details, a short checklist, and a signature.

It is an internal control, not a contract with the supplier. The signature records sign-off. It does not pay anything. docuinked collects the signature and seals the record, but it does not move money and does not connect to accounting, banking or ERP tools. Payment stays where it is today.

## When it is used

- Bills above a set amount, or from a new supplier.
- Invoices that need a second person, so the person who ordered isn't the only one who approves.
- [Agencies](/industries/agencies) passing costs through to clients, who want a record of each approval.
- Project-based firms, such as [construction](/industries/construction), checking a subcontractor's bill against work done.

## What it usually contains

| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Invoice details | Supplier, invoice number, date, amount and currency |
| Matching | The PO number and delivery record it matches, if any |
| Cost code | Budget line, project or department to charge |
| Checklist | Goods or services received, price correct, no duplicate |
| Approver | Name, title and approval limit |
| Second approver | For amounts above a threshold, if your policy needs one |
| Signature and date | Each approver's sign-off |
| Notes | Any part rejected or held, and why |

## Things to get right

- **Separate the roles.** The person who asks for the purchase shouldn't be the only one who approves the bill.
- **Match to the PO.** A three-way match of [purchase order](/templates/purchase-order), delivery and invoice catches most errors.
- **Watch for changed bank details.** A request to pay a new account is a common fraud pattern. Confirm it by phone using a number you already have, not one in the email.
- **File it with the invoice.** Keep the sealed approval PDF next to the invoice in your own records.

This is general information about finance practice, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Your accountant should set your approval rules.

## How to send it for signature with docuinked

### In the app

Make a one-page approval form as a PDF, with labels like "Approved by:". Combine it with the invoice into one PDF, upload it, add your approver, and send. For two approvers, turn on signing order.

### By API

Your bills inbox or finance tool creates the form as a PDF and sends it. This example asks two approvers to sign in order and has the first tick the checklist.

```
curl https://docuinked.com/v1/documents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCUINKED_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: inv-approval-8841-acme" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "Invoice 8841 approval, $4,250",
       "pdf_url": "https://example.com/invoice-8841-approval.pdf",
       "ordered": true,
       "consumer_disclosure": false,
       "signers": [{"name": "Kim Nolan", "email": "kim@example.com"},
                   {"name": "Pat Quinn", "email": "pat@example.com"}],
       "fields": [{"signer": 1, "kind": "checkbox", "anchor": "Goods received", "required": true},
                  {"signer": 1, "kind": "signature", "anchor": "Approved by:"},
                  {"signer": 2, "kind": "signature", "anchor": "Second approval:"}],
       "send": true}'
```

`consumer_disclosure` is off here because both signers are staff signing for the business, not consumers. Leave it on if in doubt. See [consumer disclosure](/glossary/consumer-disclosure).

When the form completes, your [webhook](/docs/webhooks) handler can mark the bill ready to pay in your own system. That step, and the payment, are yours.

### From an agent

An agent that reads incoming invoices can fill the approval form and prepare it over [MCP](/docs/mcp). It can't send on a live key without a person releasing the draft from the `approval_url`. And it can never sign as the approver. That matters here: an agent that could approve its own invoices would defeat the point of the control. See [approvals](/docs/approvals) and [human-in-the-loop](/glossary/human-in-the-loop).

## Related

- [Purchase order](/templates/purchase-order)
- [Vendor agreement](/templates/vendor-agreement)
- [Audit trail](/glossary/audit-trail)
- [Agents](/agents)

## Sources

Checked 2026-11-07.

- [UETA 1999 text](https://scs.nevada.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FED_Act99.pdf), section 9: an electronic signature is attributable to a person if it was their act, which may be shown in any manner, including the efficacy of a security procedure.

## Common questions

### Why use a signature for an internal approval at all?

A click in a shared inbox is easy to dispute later. A signed, sealed form names the person, the time and the exact invoice they saw, which auditors and your own team can check.

### Can an AI agent approve invoices with docuinked?

No. It can prepare the form and ask for it to be sent, but only the named approver can sign. There is no signing tool for agents.

### Can docuinked read the invoice amount for me?

docuinked doesn't extract data from invoices. Your own tool or agent fills the form, and docuinked handles sending, signing and the sealed record.

### How do I find every approval for one supplier later?

Put the supplier and invoice number in the title and `metadata`. `list_documents` returns documents newest first with that data, so a small script can pick out one supplier, and each has its sealed PDF and evidence.