Orcha Approval Process — Target Architecture

Orcha Approval Process — Target Architecture

Derived from 50+ customer interviews. Solves the core problems: routing to the right person, approval fatigue, budget awareness, audit trails, and absence handling.

Entry / Input
Automated Check
Decision Point
Automated Action
Human Required
Terminal
Phase 1 — Document Intake & Classification
Document Arrives
Email forwarding, manual upload, API ingestion, or Candis/Spendesk/Payhawk sync
Stefanie Breuer: "Invoices frequently get lost or forgotten in inbox"
Classify Document Type
Invoice (AP) · Credit Note · Purchase Request (PR) · Expense / Receipt · Contract · Delivery Note
Danail Vara: "Credit notes go to same inbox as invoices — high error rate from misclassification"
Extract & Digitize
Line-item extraction, supplier identification, amounts, tax rates, dates, references, PO numbers. Split multi-receipt PDFs into individual documents.
Inken (tax advisor): "Multiple receipts in one PDF — need individual booking per receipt"
Phase 2 — Automated Compliance, Fraud & Matching
Formal Compliance Check
§14 UStG validation, VAT ID verification, reverse charge logic, mandatory fields, duplicate detection
Michael Nowicki: "Vorab-Check (§14) is often wrong — takes a lot of time"
Barbara Kaindl: "Taxes are a problem — SteuerschlUssel, reverse charge — should be a focus"
Fraud Detection (External & Internal)
External: IBAN changes vs. master data, sender domain spoofing, urgency language (fake CEO), Handelsregisterrechnungen
Internal: Orders after goods receipt, 0-cent POs, BANF created after PO, invoice splitting patterns, rounded amounts
Peter Jaud: "Fraud detection — increasingly difficult (different IBAN)"
Baumgartner: "Invoice splitting detection, orders after goods receipt, 0-cent orders"
Does the document reference a PO?
Check for PO number on invoice, match against ERP/contract database
YES — PO exists
N-Way Matching
2-way: PO ↔ Invoice
3-way: + Goods Receipt
4-way: + Supplier Contract
Configurable per supplier/category. Tolerance thresholds (amount, quantity, price variance).
Hauke Dahms: "80% have PO. When GR comes → check → auto booking"
Stefanie Breuer: "Framework contracts with partial payments — hard to track cumulative billing"
Match Result?
Full match within tolerance · Partial match / variance · No match / mismatch
Full match
Auto-Approve & Book
No human needed. Create journal entry, push to ERP/DATEV. Log for audit trail.
Hauke Dahms: "He thinks for 80% no approvals are needed"
Julia Schwieger: "If approved in budget, it should auto-approve"
NO — No PO reference
Supplier & History Lookup
Known supplier? Check past invoices for typical amounts, accounts, cost centers, and who approved previously. New supplier → trigger supplier verification flow.
Kees Pruim: "Look into history — how was the approval process in the past — use the same routing again"
Budget Check
Compare invoice amount against remaining budget for the cost center / vendor / category. Within budget → lower risk. Over budget → flag for FP&A pre-approval.
Eric Lau: "Every vendor has a budget. If within → approve. Out of budget → FP&A should approve before"
Julia Schwieger: "Always compare with budget — if yes: fine; if not: ask questions"
Risk-Based Routing Decision
Combine signals: amount thresholds, budget status, supplier history, fraud flags, confidence score, document type. Low risk: auto-approve or single approver. Medium risk: department owner approval. High risk: multi-step approval (dept + finance + C-level).
Julia Schwieger: "Only things that must be approved should wait — rest should go through"
Peter Jaud: "5-25k = two people; >50k = CEO"
Variance / Mismatch Path (from N-Way Match):
  • Price variance: Route to Procurement for negotiation context
  • Quantity mismatch: Route to Warehouse/Logistics for GR confirmation
  • Missing GR: Park invoice, notify logistics, auto-retry when GR arrives
  • Cumulative over-billing: Flag and route to contract owner
Christian Dorf: "If invoice differs from PO or GR — discussion with procurement starts"
Hauke Dahms: "Invoice often before GR — often GR comes earlier"
Phase 3 — Smart Approval Routing
Determine Approver(s)
Resolve from approval matrix: based on role/title (not person name), cost center, amount threshold, document type. Cross-reference with HR/org data (Personio, Workday, MSFT Entra) for current org structure. Check for delegation/absence rules → auto-substitute.
Michael Nowicki: "Almost one person just to check where to route and where it's stuck"
Dimas: "Signature matrix by titles not people (e.g. HoF vs. Dimas) — change matrix via Orcha"
Julia Schwieger: "Suddenly person has to approve everything [when someone leaves]"
Send Approval Request via Preferred Channel
Slack · Microsoft Teams · Google Chat · Email
Include: PDF preview, AI-extracted summary, budget context (spent vs. remaining), historical comparison (vs. prior invoices from same supplier), fraud flags, match status. One-click approve/reject + optional comment field.
Eric Lau: "Approval via Slack is a great idea — would save a lot of time"
Kees Pruim: "Tinder style app: left/right — you mainly check the PDF"
Julia Schwieger: "Head of Finance: 5-10 per week — rest done by team"
Context provided to approver:
  • Invoice PDF + line items
  • Matched PO / contract / GR (if available)
  • Budget remaining for this cost center / vendor
  • Spend trend: comparison to prior months and same period last year
  • Supplier history: average amount, frequency, last invoice
  • Fraud/compliance flag summary
  • AI confidence score with reasoning
Rory Ribeiro: "Sastrify for 15k/year only for SaaS spending — show if higher or lower percentile of former invoices"
Phase 4 — Human Decision & Escalation
Approver Reviews & Decides
Approve → proceed to booking
Reject → trigger supplier communication or internal clarification
Reassign → route to different person with comment
Request Info → park invoice, notify requester/supplier
Escalation & Reminder Engine
No response after X hours → remind. After Y hours → escalate to substitute/manager. Configurable SLAs per priority level. Dashboard showing stuck invoices. Random spot-check routing (every Nth invoice → additional reviewer for compliance).
Michael Nowicki: "Person forgets to sign off — when does system notice invoice is lying around?"
Michael Nowicki: "Random generator — every 50 invoices route to CC responsible for spot check"
Kees Pruim: "Medius does a good job of reminding"
Phase 5 — Booking, Payment & Audit Trail
Create Journal Entry & Push to ERP
Generate booking with GL account, cost center, tax code, period allocation. Push to DATEV (DUO or REWE), SAP, Netsuite, Dynamics, BMD, Abacus — depending on customer. Attach original PDF as Beleg.
Store Complete Audit Trail
Every step logged with timestamp, actor, action, and reasoning. Approval proof stored independently of chat platform (survives Slack channel deletion). Versioned: if fields are changed post-approval, delta is tracked.
Josh Innes: "When auditor asks for proof of approval — easier to find within Email vs. Slack"
Eric Lau: "Audit trail is critical — store approval information"
Josh Innes: "PowerAutomate is not auditable — no version history"
Trigger Payment Preparation (Optional)
Create payment file (SEPA XML). Respect Skonto deadlines. Update open items list. Notify treasury/cash management.
Done — Invoice Fully Processed
Booked in ERP · Audit trail stored · Payment queued · Budget updated · AI learns from final booking
Parallel Flow — Purchase Request (PR) Approval
Employee Submits Purchase Request
Via Slack / Teams / Google Chat / Web form. Fields: description, estimated amount, vendor (optional), category, justification, attachment (quote). Can be triggered conversationally: "I need to buy X for Y EUR"
Danail Vara: "Purchase requests done via Slack"
Eric Lau: "Send request → forwarded to dept that reviews → Legal uploads NDA → Finance updates budget"
Benjamin Sauter: "BANF in Excel → Email approval → Procurement converts to PO → PDF → Supplier"
Auto-Enrich & Validate
Lookup vendor in master data. Check if existing contract covers this. Pre-fill GL account & cost center from category. Compare against budget remaining. Flag if similar recent PR exists (duplicate check).
Route Based on Amount & Category
Below threshold (e.g. <2k) → direct manager only.
Medium (e.g. 2k-25k) → manager + finance.
High (e.g. >25k) → manager + finance + C-level.
New vendor → add Legal & IT Security review steps.
Rory Ribeiro: "Below 500 EUR → direct approval"
Eric Lau: "Legal approval must upload NDA, Finance must update budget — customized forms per step"
Sequential Approval Chain
Each approver in sequence via preferred channel. Can request additional info or quotes. Upon full approval → auto-generate PO in ERP (or export as PDF to send to supplier).
PO Created → Linked to Future Invoice
PO stored in Orcha. When matching invoice arrives, it auto-links. Budget is reserved at PR approval time (not at invoice time). Accruals can be created based on PO status.
Eric Lau: "PO raised → approved → synched in ERP → accruals based on PO status → 3-way matching → payment"
PR Complete — Awaiting Invoice
Configuration & Setup Requirements
Approval Matrix Configuration
  • Define by: role/title (not person name)
  • Dimensions: amount threshold, cost center, document type, vendor category
  • Absence/delegation rules with auto-activation
  • Random spot-check percentage (configurable)
  • Editable via Orcha UI (not code changes)
Channel Integration
  • Slack (ready)
  • Microsoft Teams (ready)
  • Google Chat (in development)
  • Email fallback (always available)
  • Approval actions work identically across all channels
HR / Org Data Sync
  • Personio, Workday, MSFT Entra, or manual CSV
  • Org hierarchy for routing decisions
  • Employee ↔ cost center mapping
  • Absence calendar sync
  • Auto-update when org changes (new hire, departure, reorg)
Julia Schwieger: "Suddenly person has to approve everything [when someone leaves]"
ERP / Accounting Integration
  • DATEV (DUO + REWE)
  • SAP (S/4HANA, Business One, Infor LN)
  • Microsoft Dynamics / Business Central
  • Oracle Netsuite
  • BMD, Abacus, Sage
  • Read: chart of accounts, cost centers, open POs, master data
  • Write: journal entries, payment files
Budget Integration
  • Import budget from Excel, Google Sheets, or ERP
  • Track committed (PR approved) vs. actual (invoiced) vs. remaining
  • Alert at configurable thresholds (e.g. 80% used)
  • Per cost center, vendor, category, or project
Peter Jaud: "Budget notifications at 80% usage are important"
Audit & Compliance
  • GoBD-compliant document storage
  • Complete approval chain with timestamps
  • Change tracking (field-level versioning)
  • Export for auditors (PDF report per invoice)
  • Approval proof stored outside chat platforms
  • ISO certification compatible workflows
Josh Innes: "Vendor lock-in good from audit perspective"