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Stripe Integration

ApproveThis manages your Stripe Integration approvals.

April 17, 2025

Integration Category: Payment Processing

When Finance Meets Approval Automation

Let's cut through the corporate speak: payment processing is messy. Between subscription cancellations, disputed charges, and high-value client onboarding, finance teams waste hours chasing down approvals via Slack threads and forwarded emails. ApproveThis and Stripe fix this by doing the heavy lifting where these systems actually meet – in the approval trenches.

Here's the playbook: Stripe handles the money movement. ApproveThis handles the "should we?" decisions. Connect them through Zapier, and you've got a system where every critical financial action gets human oversight without creating bottlenecks. We're talking about turning payment-related fires into a structured review process that even your most spreadsheet-obsessed CFO will respect.

Who Actually Benefits From This Integration?

This isn't just for accounting teams. When you connect Stripe to ApproveThis, you're solving cross-departmental headaches:

Finance Teams

No more manually tracking down department heads to approve $50K+ invoices. Set approval thresholds in ApproveThis that automatically escalate big-ticket Stripe transactions to the right execs.

Customer Success

Ever had a VIP client cancel their subscription? Now that cancellation triggers an instant approval workflow where your CS team can intervene with retention offers before the account churns.

Operations

New enterprise client signed up via Stripe? Auto-initiate your security review and contract approval process through ApproveThis without dropping a single ball.

Real-World Use Cases That Don't Suck

These aren't hypothetical "maybe someday" scenarios – these are workflows our customers run daily:

The Subscription Cancellation Triage

When a Stripe subscription gets canceled (whether by the customer or through billing failure), ApproveThis automatically creates an approval request for your customer success team. Here's why this matters:

A SaaS company used this to reduce churn by 18% – their CSMs get alerted to cancellation attempts immediately, letting them offer discounts or check-in calls before the account fully churns. ApproveThis' email-based approvals mean even off-platform stakeholders can approve retention offers with one click.

Invoice Generation That Doesn't Require Babysitting

When an ApproveThis request gets approved (say, for a custom enterprise contract), Zapier triggers Stripe to generate the invoice automatically. An e-commerce agency uses this to handle client add-ons – their project managers approve scope changes in ApproveThis, which then creates Stripe invoices without involving finance. Bonus: ApproveThis tracks who approved what and when, so there's always an audit trail.

High-Risk Client Vetting

New Stripe customer with a $20K/month subscription? Trigger an ApproveThis workflow that requires sign-off from legal, fraud prevention, and the account executive. A cybersecurity firm uses approval groups with conditional logic – small contracts get auto-approved, but anything over their threshold requires manual review. Their sales team loves it because they don't have to play middleman between departments.

Features That Make This Integration Actually Useful

ApproveThis isn't just another approval tool – these specific features matter when connected to Stripe:

Approval Thresholds = Automatic Escalations

Set rules like "Any Stripe invoice over $15K requires CFO approval." Below that? Auto-approve and keep things moving. This is how a mid-sized retailer handles supplier payments – their AP team manages routine orders, but big purchases get escalated without manual intervention.

Vacation Delegation (Because People Take PTO)

When your Stripe-related approval gets stuck because the marketing director is hiking the Alps, ApproveThis automatically reassigns it to their delegate. No more waiting weeks for a campaign budget approval because someone forgot to set an out-of-office reply.

Calculated Fields for Smarter Decisions

Automatically calculate customer lifetime value (using Stripe data) within the approval request. A subscription box company uses this to decide which canceling customers get retention offers – if their LTV is over $1K, instant CSM intervention.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Here's the 3-step process even non-techies can handle:

  1. Connect Stripe to Zapier: Use Stripe's Zapier integration to set up your trigger (new charge, subscription cancellation, etc.)
  2. Map to ApproveThis: Choose which Stripe data (customer email, amount, etc.) becomes part of the approval request
  3. Set Approval Rules: Configure who needs to approve what, thresholds, and what happens post-approval (create Stripe invoice, send to collections, etc.)

Pro tip: Start with one high-impact workflow (like large invoice approvals) before scaling to other use cases. Most teams get this live in under 45 minutes.

Why This Isn't Just Another Integration

ApproveThis solves two critical issues specific to Stripe users:

  • External Approvers Don't Need Stripe Access: Your client's procurement team can approve invoices via ApproveThis without getting Stripe logins. Same for freelance contractors or board members.
  • Audit Trails That Actually Help During Disputes: When a client disputes a Stripe charge, you've got a full ApproveThis log showing who approved the work and when. This has saved our customers thousands in chargeback fees.

The Bottom Line

If you're using Stripe for payments but still handling approvals through email chains or Slack, you're creating unnecessary risk and inefficiency. ApproveThis adds the layer of structured decision-making Stripe lacks out of the box – without slowing things down.

This isn't about replacing your current tools. It's about connecting them in a way that lets finance teams maintain control while other teams keep moving fast. The companies getting this right are the ones where the CFO isn't the bottleneck, but still sleeps well at night.

Next step: Register for ApproveThis and set up your first Stripe approval workflow in under an hour. Or, if you want to see it tailored to your specific use case, book a 15-minute demo.

🥳

Integrate with Stripe Integration and get 90 days of ApproveThis for free.

After you create a Zapier integration, please email us at support@approve-this.com with your account name and we'll add 3 months of ApproveThis to your account. Limit one redemption per account.

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Best Approval Workflows for Stripe

Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Stripe

Create approval requests for canceled subscriptions in Stripe

Manage your subscription cancellations effectively by creating an approval request each time a subscription is canceled in Stripe. This integration helps you ensure all cancellations are reviewed and approved.

Zapier Components

Stripe Logo

Trigger

Canceled Subscription

Triggers when a subscription is canceled (by a subscriber or due to end of billing period).

Action

Create Request

Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.

Generate invoices when approval requests are resolved

Enhance your billing workflow by automatically generating a Stripe invoice once an approval request from ApproveThis is resolved. This unique integration saves time and ensures seamless financial operations.

Zapier Components

Trigger

A Request Is Approved/Denied

Triggers when a request is approved or denied.

Stripe Logo

Action

Create Invoice

Creates a new invoice.

Initiate approval workflows for new Stripe customers

Automatically start an ApproveThis workflow for each new customer added to your Stripe account. This automation ensures that new customers are reviewed and approved promptly for further engagement.

Zapier Components

Stripe Logo

Trigger

New Customer

Triggers when a new customer is added.

Action

New Request

Triggers when a new approval request workflow is initiated.

Create approval requests for completed checkouts

Automatically generate an approval request in ApproveThis for every completed checkout session in Stripe, ensuring all transactions are properly reviewed and approved.

Zapier Components

Stripe Logo

Trigger

Checkout Session Completed

Triggers when a checkout session is completed.

Action

Create Request

Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.

Confirm payment intents for new Stripe events

Ensure every new event in Stripe is acted upon by confirming payment intents automatically. This integration helps streamline your payment processing seamlessly.

Zapier Components

Stripe Logo

Trigger

New Event

Triggers on a new event.

Stripe Logo

Action

Confirm Payment

Confirms an existing payment, also known as a PaymentIntent.