Q: What is the difference between step routing and skip routing an invoice for approval in a workflow solution, and which is seen as the best practice?

A: Step routing involves routing an invoice to each user in the delegation of authority process until the user with the appropriate approval level is found. For example, if there are three people between the person who initially reviews the invoice and the final person who has the authority to approve the invoice, the invoice will route to each user before routing to the final approver. In contrast, skip routing invoices involves routing from the initial user receiving the invoice directly to the person with the final authority to approve. This skips or bypasses the intermediary users who do not have the delegation of authority approval levels.

As far as best practices, skip routing is the preferred method to shorten the approval process because it avoids forcing intermediary users who do not have the authority to approve the invoice from being involved in the invoice routing process. This allows for more potential discounts to be taken as invoices are not slowed down in the approval process.

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