With the payment approval workflow, authorized team members can review pending payments and decide whether to approve or decline them before they are sent. This guide explains how to approve or decline a payment and how to view the payment details before making your decision.
This is a premium feature available for Core and above subscribers.
Not sure if you have the right permissions? Check this article to see which roles have payment approval permissions
How to approve or decline a payment
1- Sign in to your Melio account.
2- From your Pay dashboard, select the Approvals tab.
3- In the Approvals tab, select Payments from the toggle to see the payments pending approval.
4- Find the payment you want to review.
5- To view the full payment details, select the payment from the list. The Payment and bill details panel will open on the right.
Please note
If the payment has an invoice attached:
To view the invoice, select it directly in the panel — no need to download. To navigate a multi-page document, scroll through the pages using the built-in viewer. To switch between multiple attachments, select the arrow icons at the top right of the panel.
Invoice attachments are clearly marked in your dashboard for easy identification.
6- After reviewing the payment, you can approve or decline it.
How to approve the payment
There are two ways to approve a payment.
Option 1: In the payments list, select Approve in the Action column next to the payment you want to approve.
For recurring payments select Approve all in the action column next to the recurring payment or select the Approve all button at the bottom of the Payment and bill details panel.
For late or international payments, selecting Approve triggers an extra confirmation pop-up before the payment is fully approved.
Option 2: In the Payment and bill details panel, select the Approve button at the bottom of the panel.
That's it! The payment will move to the Payments tab as Scheduled. Once the final approval is complete, both you and the team member who scheduled the payment will receive an email confirming the payment was approved.
How to decline the payment
There are two ways to decline a payment.
Option 1: In the payments list, select the 3 dots on the right of the payment you want to decline. From the popup menu, select Decline.
A popup will appear confirming the payment you are declining, the amount, and the team member who scheduled it. You can optionally add a decline note for the payment creator in the Decline note field. Select Decline to finish.
Option 2: In the Payment and bill details panel, select More at the bottom of the panel. From the popup menu, select Decline.
A popup will appear confirming the payment you are declining, the amount, and the team member who scheduled it. You can optionally add a decline note for the payment creator in the Decline note field. Select Decline to finish.
That's it! The payment will move to the Payments tab as Declined. Once the final decline is complete, both you and the team member who scheduled the payment will receive an email confirming the payment was declined.
If a workflow requires multiple approvers, a single decline will keep the payment in Pending status until all required approvers have acted.