Approving an expense by email
Approve and sign a payment voucher from a secure email link, without logging in to the dashboard.
Every expense in WAQAF runs through a fixed approval chain — accountant, then Finance Manager, then CEO. When a request reaches your step, you normally open the approvals queue in the dashboard. But if you are often away from your desk, WAQAF can email you a secure link instead: you review the voucher, approve it, and apply your signature in a couple of taps — without logging in. This article explains how that emailed approval works and what the link does.
Who can do this. Only the organisation's designated signatory for the step — the Finance Manager (the finance approve capability) or the CEO — receives an approval email. You also have to be the person named as that signatory in the Letterhead settings, and you must switch the email channel on yourself (see below). If you never receive these emails, either you are not the designated signatory or the channel is off; see Members & roles.
Turning the email channel on
The emailed link is opt-in, per person. You decide whether you want it and whether you want to sign live on the link or apply your stored signature automatically.
Where to find it. Finance → Settings → Signatures. You only see these controls if you are a designated signatory (CEO and/or Finance Manager).
Open your Signatures settings
Go to Finance → Settings → Signatures. If you are a designated signatory you'll see your signature panel and an approval automation section. (If you see only a short note instead, you are not a designated signatory — that is set in the Letterhead tab.)
Keep yourself on a manual mode
The email channel is meant for reviewing and approving by hand. If your approval mode is set to Auto-approve, requests advance on their own and no email is sent — so the email toggle is switched off for you. Leave your mode on Review (or Auto-sign) to use email approval.
Switch on "Email me a link to review & approve"
Turn on the Email me a link to review & approve switch. From now on, when a request reaches your step, you'll get an email with a secure link to review, approve, and sign it.
Choose how you'll sign (optional)
Turn on Sign live on the approval link if you'd rather draw or upload a signature each time you approve. Leave it off to apply your stored signature automatically with a single tap.
If you have no stored signature yet, the link always shows a signature pad — there is nothing to apply automatically, so you must sign live to approve. Upload a signature in the panel above if you'd prefer the one-tap path.
Save
Press Save to store your choices.
Approving from the email
When a voucher you've coded reaches your step, WAQAF emails you a WAQAF-branded message with your organisation's logo and a button to the approval page. The link is single-use and stays valid for 7 days.
Open the link
Tap the button in the email. It opens a simple page — no login required — showing your organisation's logo, the heading Approve payment voucher, and a short summary of the voucher: its Reference, the Payee, and the Amount (shown in OMR to three decimals, e.g. 200.000).
Review the details
Check that the reference, payee, and amount are what you expect before you approve. This is your review step in the chain — once you approve, the request moves on.
Approve and sign
- If you opted to use your stored signature, press Approve & sign (or Use my stored signature). Your saved signature is applied to the voucher automatically.
- If you opted to sign live (or have no stored signature), a signature pad appears. Use the Draw tab to sign with your finger or mouse, or the Upload tab to choose a signature image. Then press Approve & sign.
You'll see a confirmation: Approved — thank you. Your signature has been applied.
Approving here only records your approval — it never pays the voucher. Payment is a separate step taken in the dashboard after every approval in the chain is complete. The emailed link cannot execute a payment.
What the link does, and its limits
The link carries a secret token that ties it to one voucher, one step, and you as the named signatory. That is the only thing the page checks — so treat the email as private and don't forward it.
The link can only be used once, and only to approve. There is no "reject" button on the emailed page — to reject or send a request back, use the approvals queue in the dashboard. Once you've approved (or the request has moved on another way), reopening the link just shows a status message, not the approve button.
You may see one of these messages instead of the approve button:
- This request has already been processed — the voucher already advanced (for example, you or someone else approved it in the dashboard, or it auto-approved). The link is spent.
- This approval link has expired — more than 7 days have passed. Approve the request from the dashboard approvals queue instead.
- This request was rejected — the request was rejected, so there is nothing to approve.
- This link is invalid — the link is broken or was never valid.
If you've changed role or left as the designated signatory since the email was sent, the link quietly stops working and the page shows "already processed" — WAQAF will not record an approval in your name once you are no longer the active signatory for that step. This is a safety check, not a bug.
A signature you draw or upload must be an image (PNG). If you try to approve a voucher that needs a signature without providing one, the page won't let you continue — it asks you to sign first.