Review invoices before they post

Overview#

Every invoice is checked automatically when it goes out (sent or paid) and again whenever it changes. Clean invoices pass on their own. Only exceptions wait in the Invoice Review queue, with flags that say exactly what's wrong. You approve them (one at a time or in batches), add a missing PO, or send them back to the technician. Approval posts the job's costs and, if you choose, releases the invoice to QuickBooks.

Before you start#

• The queue needs invoices.review (Owner, Admin, Accounting).

• Review rules need costing.manage (Owner, Admin, Accounting).

• The AI check needs AI turned on and ai.approve (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Accounting).

Steps#

Set the rules#

1. Go to Accounting › Job Costing.

2. In Invoice review, set:

   • Hold invoices back from QuickBooks until they pass review or are approved (off by default).

   • Flag margin below (%) (default 25).

   • Flag discounts above (% of invoice) (default 15).

   • Require a customer signature, Require technician notes and Flag materials with no cost.

3. Click Save.

Work the queue#

1. Go to Accounting › Invoice Review. Tabs: Needs review, Returned to tech, Approved, All.

2. Each row shows the invoice, customer, total, Flags and Status. Flags you may see:

   • No customer signature

   • Material with no cost ("margin is overstated")

   • Low margin ("Gross margin X% is below your Y% floor.")

   • Unusual discount

   • Customer PO missing

   • No technician notes

   • Possible duplicate line

3. Act on each:

   • Approve: accepts the flags, posts job costs and releases the invoice to QuickBooks.

   • Save PO: type the Customer PO # (shown when a PO is missing). Checks run again.

   • Return to tech…: write What to fix and click Return. A note "Invoice #N returned by the office: …" is added to the job.

4. To approve several, tick them and click Approve selected.

How invoices move#

• A returned invoice that's changed goes back to Needs review.

• An approved invoice that gets a new kind of flag goes back to Needs review.

• An invoice fixed before anyone acted is approved automatically and shows Passed.

Check an invoice for missing items with AI#

1. On the job, click Check invoice for missing items in the side column.

2. AI compares the technician's notes with the invoice and the pricebook. If it finds work that wasn't billed, it says "Possible missing items found. Review them in Approvals."

3. Open AI approvals (the sparkle icon), review the proposal with its quoted evidence, and Approve or Reject. Approved lines are added to the invoice; you can Undo for 24 hours.

Settings that change this#

• Accounting › Job Costing › Invoice review.

• Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences: turns the invoice-check agent on or off (or to auto).

• Per customer: PO number required on invoices (customer page) or Customer requires a PO number on invoices (job cost card).

Tips#

• Turn on the QuickBooks hold once your team trusts the queue. Your books then only get reviewed invoices.

• Return invoices with a specific instruction ("Add the 2 capacitors from your notes"). It lands as a job note the technician sees.

• The AI agent also runs automatically on recently completed jobs when it's on.

Troubleshooting#

• "This invoice hasn't gone out yet, so there's nothing to review." → send the invoice first.

• "Pick at least one invoice" → tick invoices before Approve selected.

• "There are no notes to check the invoice against." → the AI check needs technician notes.

• "Invoice review didn't run: …" → AI is off or the agent is turned off → check Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences.

• I see Invoice Review in the menu but it takes me to Accounting → your role can't review invoices.

FAQ#

Does review block sending the invoice to the customer? No. Review happens after the invoice goes out. It only holds QuickBooks posting, if you turn that on.

Is the AI check the same as the review queue? No. The queue uses fixed rules. The AI check looks for work in the notes that wasn't billed and proposes lines for approval.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same idea as: reviewing invoices and batches before exporting to accounting.

• Different: checks run automatically and only exceptions wait for a person. There are no batches to open and close.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan's invoice review and accounting batches; Accounting › Invoice Review in TradesWork.