Demonstrations of invoice approval workflow software show the happy path, where an approver responds promptly and everything moves. Real elapsed time is decided by what happens when they do not, and that case is never demonstrated because demonstrations do not wait. The most informative test in an evaluation is therefore to submit something and leave it alone.
What to watch for
Does a reminder go out, and to whom. Does the item escalate to a named alternative after a defined period, or does it simply keep reminding the same silent inbox. Can the escalation period be configured by you rather than by the vendor. These behaviours account for most of the difference in real-world performance between products.
The absence case
Mark the approver as away and repeat. Does the item route automatically to a delegate, and does that happen without the approver having remembered to set one. Unplanned absence is unplanned, so any mechanism that depends on foresight fails exactly when it is needed most, which is what produces the long tail.
The unroutable case
Submit an invoice for a cost centre the rules do not cover. Does it land with a named default owner, or does it sit in a queue nobody watches. An invoice that routes nowhere is the one that surfaces weeks later when the supplier telephones, and a named default costs nothing to configure.
Questions people ask about invoice approval workflow software
How long should a trial run?
Long enough to observe the escalation period at least twice, which usually means a fortnight rather than a demonstration.
Are these things configurable everywhere?
Usually, but by whom differs. If changing an escalation period is a support ticket, it will not be maintained.
What else separates products?
What the approver sees at the moment of decision. Ask to see the screen with a messy invoice rather than a curated one.