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This article is for small businesses who use Xero.

Overview

  • Approve an invoice that's been submitted by a staff member using new or classic invoicing. You can also print the invoice, sent it as an email or mark it as done.

 

Tip

We’ve added a security check to protect your data. If you can’t send an invoice or access contact information, you may need to verify your account.

 
To approve and send an invoice, you'll need one of the below user roles:

  • Adviser

  • Standard

  • Invoice only – approve and pay (sales and purchases)

  • Invoice only – purchases (purchase orders and bills)

  • Invoice only – sales (quoting and invoicing)

 

New Invoicing

If an invoice has been submitted for approval and you have the appropriate user role, you can approve the invoice by:

  1. In the Business menu, select Invoices.

  2. Select the Draft or Awaiting Approval tab, then find and open the invoice you want to approve.

  3. (Optional) If the invoice opens in classic invoicing, click Switch to new invoicing at the bottom of the invoice.

  4. Check the details of the invoice are correct and make any changes as needed. Xero will automatically save any changes.

  5. Click Send to approve the invoice and email a copy to your customer. Or click the arrow next to Send and select:

    • Get link – To copy a link to the online invoice.

    • ​Print PDF – To create a PDF copy for printing.

    • Approve (mark as done) – To simply approve the invoice. You can go back to the invoice at a later time to send, share an online link or print a PDF copy.

      The different approve options in the Send menu when creating an invoice in new invoicing.

  6. (Optional) If your customer has remaining credit, click Apply credit to allocate it to the invoice, or click Skip for now to use the credit another time. Then click Send.

  7. (Optional) If you chose to send the invoice, complete the fields in the Send invoice window, and select Attach PDF or Send me a copy, if needed. Then click Send.

 

Classic Invoicing

Approve Invoices

Warning: When approving multiple invoices, ensure the details are correct. Approved invoices can only be edited or voided one at a time.

  1. In the Business menu, select Invoices.

  2. Select the Draft or Awaiting Approval tab, then find and open the invoice you want approved.

  3. (Optional) If the invoice opens in new invoicing, click Switch back to classic invoicing at the bottom of your invoice.

  4. Check the details of the invoice are correct, and make any changes as needed. You'll need to manually save any changes, as Xero won't automatically save them for you.

  5. Either:

    • Click Approve while you’re in the invoice to approve it individually

    • Or, from the list of invoices, select the checkbox next to each invoice, then click Approve.

Email an invoice

  1. Open the invoice you want to email.

  2. Click Email.

  3. Update the information in the Send window.

    If you’re sending the invoice to multiple email addresses, separate each address with a comma or semicolon.

  4. (Optional) Tick either:

    • Include files as attachments to email any additional files attached to the invoice.

    • Include PDF attachment to include a PDF copy of the invoice.

    • Mark as sent to mark the invoice as being sent.

    • Send me a copy to send yourself a copy of the email.

Image showing invoice email.

  1. Click Send.

 
Keywords: Approve, Send, Invoice, Customer, Xero