QuickBooks Online purchase order approval with multi-level approvers and budget checks
QuickBooks Online only approves purchase orders natively on the Advanced plan, with one approver per condition and one PO approval workflow at a time. Procurer adds the approval layer in front of QBO: employees request, rules route the request through as many approvers as you need, the PO goes out after the last approval, and the matched bill lands in QuickBooks Online ready to pay. Plans start at 149 USD per month per company, not per seat.
On this page
- 01What QuickBooks Online does for purchase order approval today
- 02QuickBooks Online Advanced approvals vs Procurer in front of QBO
- 03How the purchase order approval process runs with QBO
- 04A multi-level PO approval in a QuickBooks Online company
- 05Who adds Procurer to QuickBooks Online
- 06What it costs next to your QuickBooks subscription
- 07FAQ
What QuickBooks Online does for purchase order approval today
Most companies discover the gap the same way: someone places a 9 000 USD order, the bill arrives, and nobody can say who agreed to it. QuickBooks Online is good accounting software, but its purchasing controls depend on the edition you pay for. Based on Intuit's help pages and replies from Intuit staff in the QuickBooks Community:
- Purchase orders are available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. Simple Start and Essentials users are pointed to an upgrade.
- A purchase order approval workflow is an Advanced feature. It can trigger on amount, vendor, location or terms and notify an approver by task or email.
- Each condition in that workflow has a single approver, and only one PO approval workflow can be active at a time.
- Approvers and requesters are QuickBooks users, so everyone who asks to buy something needs a seat in your books.
- There is no budget check on the request, no receiving by the person who took delivery, and no automatic match of the invoice to the PO and the receipt.
For a five person office that may be enough. For a company with 40 requesters, three departments and a finance policy with a Controller step over 5 000 USD, it usually is not. Intuit changes plans and features over time, so check your own subscription page before you decide.
QuickBooks Online Advanced approvals vs Procurer in front of QBO
The table compares the native workflow with Procurer connected to QuickBooks Online. It is not a score: if the native workflow covers your policy, keep it.
| Topic | QuickBooks Online Advanced (native) | Procurer with QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
| QBO edition needed | Advanced for PO approval workflows | Essentials, Plus or Advanced |
| Approvers per step | One approver per condition | A person, a role or the requester's manager; unlimited steps from Business |
| Number of workflows | One PO approval workflow at a time | Separate rules per department, amount, category, project and supplier |
| Who can request | QuickBooks users | Anyone with a Procurer account, no QuickBooks login |
| Budget check | Not on the purchase order | Budget, committed and remaining shown to every approver |
| Receiving | Recorded by the bookkeeper | Full or partial receipt by whoever took delivery |
| Invoice match | Manual comparison | Three-way match with tolerance rules, from Business |
| What reaches QBO | The PO you typed | A bill with vendor, lines, account, class and the invoice PDF |
| Price | Part of the Advanced subscription | From 149 USD per month per company, on top of your QBO plan |
- QBO edition needed
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)Advanced for PO approval workflowsProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineEssentials, Plus or Advanced
- Approvers per step
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)One approver per conditionProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineA person, a role or the requester's manager; unlimited steps from Business
- Number of workflows
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)One PO approval workflow at a timeProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineSeparate rules per department, amount, category, project and supplier
- Who can request
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)QuickBooks usersProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineAnyone with a Procurer account, no QuickBooks login
- Budget check
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)Not on the purchase orderProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineBudget, committed and remaining shown to every approver
- Receiving
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)Recorded by the bookkeeperProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineFull or partial receipt by whoever took delivery
- Invoice match
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)Manual comparisonProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineThree-way match with tolerance rules, from Business
- What reaches QBO
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)The PO you typedProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineA bill with vendor, lines, account, class and the invoice PDF
- Price
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (native)Part of the Advanced subscriptionProcurer with QuickBooks OnlineFrom 149 USD per month per company, on top of your QBO plan
The full integration, including what syncs in each direction, is on the QuickBooks purchase order workflow page.
How the purchase order approval process runs with QBO
You set the rules once and every request follows them. Nothing about your chart of accounts changes, because Procurer reads vendors, accounts, classes and locations from QuickBooks Online and codes every request with the same values.
- Request: the employee fills a one minute form with supplier, lines, amount, class and a quote attached.
- Route: rules send it to the right people. For example, department manager over 1 000 USD, Controller over 5 000 USD, CFO over 25 000 USD.
- Approve: each approver sees the request, the quote and the remaining budget on one screen, and approves or rejects with a comment.
- Order: after the last approval, a numbered purchase order is emailed to the vendor as a PDF.
- Receive and match: delivery is recorded against the PO lines, and from Business the invoice is matched to the PO and the receipt.
- Sync: the approved, matched invoice becomes a bill in QuickBooks Online, ready for your usual bill payment.
Every decision is kept with name, time and comment, so an auditor asking who approved a purchase gets an answer in seconds. More on the rules themselves on purchase order approval software.
A multi-level PO approval in a QuickBooks Online company
A 120 person distributor on Procurer Business runs QuickBooks Online Plus with a class per department and a written policy: manager over 1 000 USD, Controller over 5 000 USD. On QBO alone they would have to move to Advanced before any purchase order could be approved at all.
The warehouse lead requests two pallet jacks and shelving from a regular supplier for 7 380 USD, class Warehouse.
The Warehouse manager approves first. The screen shows the quarter's Warehouse budget of 40 000 USD with 29 100 USD spent or committed.
Because the total is over 5 000 USD, the Controller gets the second step and approves from the Slack message.
The PO goes to the supplier and the 7 380 USD shows as committed against the Warehouse budget right away.
The shelving arrives a week before the jacks. The lead records a partial receipt, then the rest.
The invoice comes in at 7 425 USD, with 45 USD freight inside the 50 USD tolerance, so the match clears and a bill appears in QuickBooks Online under class Warehouse with the PDF attached.
The bookkeeper never retypes the order, and the approval trail sits with the bill.
Who adds Procurer to QuickBooks Online
Procurer is built for companies with 50 to 1 000 staff that keep their books in QuickBooks Online and have outgrown approval by email:
- Controllers who need a documented purchase approval process before an audit or a lender review.
- Operations and facilities teams placing dozens of supplier orders a month.
- Companies on QBO Plus or Essentials that want approvals without moving everyone to Advanced.
- Firms with more than one approver per level, such as a department head and a project lead.
- Multi-department businesses that want spend by department and supplier from the same data. See spend analytics software.
If you mostly buy on company cards and rarely issue POs, an expense tool will suit you better than a purchase order workflow.
What it costs next to your QuickBooks subscription
Procurer is priced per company, not per seat, so every requester can have an account. Team costs 149 USD per month (124 USD billed yearly) with up to 25 user accounts, 2 approval steps, 250 POs a month and QuickBooks Online sync. Business costs 299 USD per month (249 USD billed yearly) with up to 100 user accounts, unlimited approval steps, conditional rules, three-way matching, invoice capture by email and Slack or Microsoft Teams approvals. Scale is 699 USD per month for multi-entity companies. Your QuickBooks Online subscription stays as it is.
Does QuickBooks Online have purchase order approval?
Only on QuickBooks Online Advanced, where a workflow can require approval by amount, vendor, location or terms. Each condition has one approver and one PO approval workflow can run at a time. Plus and Essentials have no native PO approval, so companies on those plans add an app like Procurer in front of QBO.
How do I set up purchase order approval in QuickBooks Online?
On Advanced, you create a purchase order approval workflow in the Workflows area and set the conditions and the approver. With Procurer, you connect QuickBooks Online once as an admin, pick approval rules from templates by amount and department, and invite requesters. Most companies run their first approved PO the same week.
Can you have multiple approvers for a purchase order in QuickBooks Online?
Not per condition in the native workflow: Intuit staff confirm one approver per condition. Procurer runs steps in sequence, so a request can go to the department manager, then the Controller, then the CFO, with up to 2 steps on Team and unlimited steps from Business.
Do I need QuickBooks Online Advanced to use Procurer?
No. Procurer works with QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus and Advanced. The purchase order and its approvals live in Procurer, and QuickBooks Online receives the vendor and the bill after matching.
Do requesters and approvers need QuickBooks licenses?
No. Requesters, approvers and receivers work in Procurer. Only the admin who connects the integration needs QuickBooks access, which keeps your QBO user count unchanged.
Does Procurer create bills in QuickBooks Online?
Yes. The approved or matched invoice becomes a bill with vendor, lines, account, class and the invoice PDF. Payment status flows back, so requesters see when the vendor was paid.
Approve every purchase before it reaches QuickBooks
Create your account, connect QuickBooks Online and route your first request through approval this week.