Today we're shipping one of our most requested features: configurable multi-step approval workflows for expenses. Admins can now build approval chains that match how their organisation actually works — not how we think it should work.
Why this matters
Until now, expense approval in Luna HR was straightforward: submit a report, your manager approves it, done. That works for small teams. But as companies grow, the approval process gets more nuanced. A £50 lunch receipt doesn't need the same oversight as a £5,000 conference trip.
Some companies need finance to sign off after the manager. Others want department heads involved for anything over a threshold. And when someone's on holiday, approvals shouldn't pile up — they should route to a delegate automatically.
How it works
Head to Admin → Approval Workflows and create a new workflow. Each workflow is a sequence of steps. For each step, you define:
- Who approves — the employee's line manager, a specific person, anyone with a particular role, or the nearest manager in the org tree.
- When the step activates — always, or only when conditions are met (e.g. “only if amount exceeds £500”).
- Auto-approve rules — skip the step entirely if conditions are met (e.g. “auto-approve amounts under £25”).
- Escalation — if the approver doesn't act within a configurable number of hours, the request escalates to someone else.
- Delegation — whether this step respects active delegation periods.
An example
Say you're a 50-person company with a finance team. You might set up a workflow like this:
- Manager Approval — the employee's line manager reviews and approves. Always runs.
- Finance Authorisation — only if the report total exceeds £500. Routes to anyone with the “expenses:approve” permission.
- Director Sign-off — only if the report total exceeds £2,000. Routes to a specific person.
An employee submits a £200 lunch receipt. Step 1 runs, their manager approves, done. Same employee submits a £1,200 travel report. Step 1 runs (manager), then step 2 kicks in (finance). Step 3 is skipped because the amount is under £2,000.
Scoped to your org structure
Workflows can be scoped to specific parts of your organisation. Set a company-wide default, then override it for departments that need a different chain. The engineering team might have a simpler flow than the sales team — that's fine.
What's next
This is the foundation for approval workflows across Luna HR. We're starting with expenses because it has the most complex approval needs, but the engine is designed to work across modules. Leave and training workflows are on the roadmap.
Expense approval workflows are available now for all Pro and Pro+AI customers. Head to Admin → Approval Workflows to get started.