ApproveThis manages your Ponto Integration approvals.

Let’s cut through the corporate jargon: financial approvals suck. Chasing down signatures, reconciling spreadsheets, praying someone checks their email before the payment deadline. It’s 2024 – why are we still doing this? That’s where ApproveThis and Ponto come in. Together, they automate the tedious parts of financial approvals while keeping humans firmly in control of the big decisions. Think of it as autopilot for your paperwork, with guardrails.

Why This Combo Works (Even If You’re Skeptical)

Ponto connects directly to 150+ European banks, handling transactions and balance tracking through APIs. ApproveThis manages who needs to approve what, when, and under what conditions. Zapier stitches them together without needing a single line of code. The result? Fewer errors, faster payments, and a clear audit trail that won’t make your auditors twitch.

What You’re Really Solving

For companies between 50-5000 employees, financial approvals aren’t just about signing off on expenses. It’s about:

• Stopping rogue spending: That “urgent” server upgrade approved by the CTO without budget sign-off? Yeah, that.
• Killing spreadsheet limbo: If your finance team is manually updating cells after every approval, you’re wasting 15+ hours a month.

Real-World Use Cases (Not Just Theory)

1. Transaction Approvals That Don’t Require a PhD in Banking

The Problem: New transactions hit Ponto, but finance needs to verify them against contracts/POs before releasing funds. Cue endless Slack pings.

The Fix: Auto-create ApproveThis requests for every Ponto transaction over €500. Route based on department budgets. Approvers get email links (no Ponto login needed).

Who Uses This:
- E-commerce: Verify supplier payments against inventory received.
- Consultancies: Flag client billings that exceed SOW limits.

2. Payments That Actually Happen On Time

The Problem: Even after approval, payments get stuck waiting for someone to manually initiate in Ponto. Late fees add up.

The Fix: When ApproveThis greenlights a request, Zapier auto-generates the Ponto payment. Finance just signs off in Ponto’s dashboard.

Who Uses This:
- Manufacturing: Pay raw material suppliers within net-30 terms automatically.
- Nonprofits: Release grants on exact dates without manual intervention.

3. Balance Checks That Prevent “Oops” Moments

The Problem: A client payment fails because someone approved an expense without checking current balances.

The Fix: Trigger ApproveThis requests when Ponto detects low balances. Route to CFO with escalation rules if below safety thresholds.

Who Uses This:
- Agencies: Pause client campaigns if balances can’t cover ad spend.
- Retail Chains: Block store-level procurement if regional budgets are tapped.

Features You’ll Actually Use (No Bloat)

We’re not here to sell you features. But these matter when money’s involved:

Approval Thresholds: Auto-approve invoices under €1K if the vendor is pre-vetted. Anything higher goes to the board.

Delegation That Doesn’t Break: Approver on vacation? ApproveThis shifts their approvals to a deputy without missing a beat.

Calculated Fields: Automatically add 15% contingency to project budgets during approval. No mental math required.

Setup: Less Time Than Your Next Coffee Run

If you can use Zapier, you can do this. Seriously:

1. Connect Ponto and ApproveThis to Zapier (takes 2 minutes each).
2. Pick a trigger (e.g., “New Transaction in Ponto”).
3. Add an action (“Create Request in ApproveThis”).
4. Test with a €1 transaction. Celebrate with actual coffee.

Pro Tip: Start with one workflow (like transaction approvals). Expand after your team stops complaining about “another new tool”.

Who Wins (Besides Your Sanity)

Finance Teams: Get approvals done before lunch instead of chasing people all week.

Department Heads: Real-time visibility into budgets without begging for reports.

External Partners: Vendors/clients approve directly via email – no logins, no portals, no hassle.

The Bottom Line (No MBA Required)

ApproveThis + Ponto isn’t about fancy tech. It’s about fixing approval bottlenecks that cost you time, money, and the will to live. If you’re manually handling more than 20 financial approvals a month, you’re leaving efficiency (and sanity) on the table.

Next Step: Book a 15-minute demo or start a free trial. Worst case? You’ll finally understand why your finance team is always grumpy.