Streamline Strata Management with ApproveThis and Urbanise Strata Automation

Why Integrate ApproveThis with Urbanise Strata?

Urbanise Strata simplifies complex property management workflows, while ApproveThis adds precision to decision-making. Together, they create a seamless bridge between operational tasks and structured approvals. For strata management companies, this integration means reducing delays in financial processes, improving compliance, and maintaining transparency across internal teams and external stakeholders like property owners or vendors.

ApproveThis complements Urbanise Strata’s automation capabilities by adding layers of accountability. While Urbanise handles invoicing, receipts, and task tracking, ApproveThis ensures every critical action gets reviewed by the right people at the right time – without manual follow-ups. This is particularly valuable for businesses managing multiple properties, where oversight of expenses or contractor approvals can become chaotic.

Key Features That Make This Integration Powerful

Urbanise Strata Strengths

Urbanise excels at centralizing strata management tasks like invoice processing, receipt tracking, and owner record updates. Its cloud-based platform allows teams to access real-time financial data and property details from anywhere.

ApproveThis Differentiators

ApproveThis brings three critical advantages to Urbanise workflows: conditional approval logic (auto-approve small expenses, escalate large ones), email-based decisions (no software downloads for external approvers), and cross-team coordination through approval groups. A facilities manager could set thresholds to automatically approve maintenance requests under $500 while routing larger expenses to a committee – all triggered directly from Urbanise data.

Real-World Use Cases for Property Management Teams

1. Accelerating Invoice Approvals

When a new invoice appears in Urbanise Strata, ApproveThis can automatically route it based on amount, vendor history, or property location. For example:

• A strata firm managing 50+ apartment complexes sets conditional rules to auto-approve recurring cleaning invoices under $2,000 while flagging irregular plumbing charges for committee review
• Community managers receive approval requests directly in email with one-click approve/reject options, even when offline

This eliminates bottlenecks where accountants previously waited days for verbal approvals before processing payments.

2. Automating Post-Approval Actions

When an approval is finalized in ApproveThis, Urbanise Strata can immediately:

• Create tasks for on-site staff to execute approved work orders
• Update owner records with new voting decisions or bylaw changes
• Trigger payment processing for approved invoices

A real estate management company reduced project start delays by 68% by automatically creating repair tasks in Urbanise the moment approvals were granted.

3. Streamlining Receipt Audits

For strata firms handling hundreds of monthly expense receipts, ApproveThis adds accountability. When receipts are logged in Urbanise:

• Approval requests route to budget managers with calculated fields showing YTD spending per category
• Automatic reminders ensure reviews happen within 48 hours
• Rejected receipts trigger immediate Urbanise tasks for staff to request corrections

This is crucial for businesses preparing quarterly owner reports, where unapproved expenses lead to disputes.

Setup Guide: Connecting Urbanise Strata to ApproveThis via Zapier

1. Create a Zapier account if you don’t have one (free tier available)
2. In Zapier, choose Urbanise Strata as your trigger app
3. Select an event like “New Invoice Created” or “Receipt Logged”
4. Connect ApproveThis as the action app
5. Map Urbanise data fields to your approval template (e.g., invoice amount → approval threshold)
6. Test with a sample transaction to ensure approvals route correctly

Most teams configure their first workflow in under 20 minutes. For complex rules involving approval groups or calculated fields, ApproveThis’s support team offers free setup assistance.

Team-Specific Benefits

Finance Teams

Controllers gain real-time visibility into approval statuses through ApproveThis’ dashboard, reducing last-minute scrambles during audits. Automated audit trails show who approved each invoice and when.

Property Managers

By linking Urbanise work orders to approval workflows, managers ensure contractors don’t begin unauthorized work. Sequential approvals let junior staff handle routine approvals while escalating exceptions to supervisors.

Executive Leadership

Custom reports in ApproveThis reveal approval cycle times and bottleneck points. One COO used this data to renegotiate vendor contracts, penalizing suppliers whose slow invoicing caused payment delays.

External Stakeholders

Board members or property owners can approve major expenditures via email without needing Urbanise licenses. ApproveThis maintains an immutable record of their decisions for compliance purposes.

Critical Features You’ll Use Daily

Vacation Delegation: Automatically reassign approvals when managers travel, avoiding stalled workflows.
Approval Thresholds: Auto-approve recurring expenses under set limits while flagging outliers.
Calculated Fields: Compare requested amounts against budget remaining, adding context for decision-makers.
Real-Time Dashboards: Monitor all pending Urbanise-related approvals in one place with color-coded statuses.

Why This Integration Beats Manual Processes

A mid-sized strata firm processing 1,200 monthly invoices saved 31 hours per week by eliminating these tasks:
• Chasing approvers via phone/email
• Manually entering approved invoices into Urbanise
• Correcting errors from illegible approval notes
• Compiling audit reports from scattered spreadsheets

Their accountants now focus on strategic tasks like cash flow optimization instead of data entry.

Getting Started

To implement these workflows:

1. Register for an ApproveThis trial (no credit card needed)
2. Connect your Urbanise Strata account via Zapier
3. Use pre-built templates for common strata approval scenarios
4. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to optimize advanced features

For businesses managing over 50 properties, ask about bulk workflow setup discounts.

Final Thoughts

Integrating ApproveThis with Urbanise Strata isn’t just about speed – it’s about creating enforceable financial controls. The automation ensures no invoice gets paid without proper review, no receipt goes unaccounted for, and no committee decision gets lost in email threads. For strata management companies facing tight margins and high compliance requirements, this integration acts as both a productivity booster and a risk mitigation tool.

Ready to eliminate approval bottlenecks? Book a personalized demo showing how your specific Urbanise workflows can be automated.