How to require a manager's approval on big invoice discounts

Set a percent; an invoice whose discount is over it cannot be sent by anyone, or by Otto, until a manager approves the discount.

Updated 2026-10-25

A discount taken at the desk or typed on an invoice can be bigger than the business meant to give. Set a percent once, e.g. 20, and any invoice whose discount takes more than that share of its subtotal waits for a manager before it reaches the customer.

Where

Invoices → Settings → Documents, the box Invoice discounts that need a manager's approval. Only an owner or admin can change it.

Steps

1. Type a whole percent from 0 to 99, e.g. 20, and leave the box. Leave it empty for no approval at all.
2. On an invoice whose discount is over that percent of its subtotal, Send is greyed out and the reason is written beside it. A discount of exactly the percent is not over it.
3. Someone who can approve (an owner, an admin, or a position with approve switched on) presses Approve discount on the invoice.
4. Send works again. The approval and who gave it are written on the invoice and on the customer's timeline.

What happens next

• It counts every discount: one typed on the invoice, one from a promo code, one carried from a quote.
• Otto cannot send it either. If a workflow asks Otto to email the invoice, Otto is told it needs approval and drafts nothing. An email Otto drafted before is held in Reviews until the discount is approved, even if someone approves the Review.
• Changing the discount, or the lines so the discount's amount changes, needs approving again.
• Withdraw approval on the invoice takes it back.

If it doesn't work

• No Approve discount button: your position cannot approve. The note beside Send says to ask a manager.
• "The discount approval threshold is a whole percent from 0 to 99." Type a plain whole number, e.g. 15.