Term

What is Invoice sign-off (accorderen)?

Accorderen is another Dutch word for approving a purchase invoice for payment by somebody authorised to do so. It means the same as fiatteren and autoriseren.

Also known as: giving sign-off, signing off an invoice, sign-off

Dutch has three words for the same act. Fiatteren is the classic bookkeeping word. Autoriseren is what most teams and software packages say today. Accorderen is heard mostly in government and in larger organizations, often next to a written delegation of authority. In everyday speech people simply say they give their akkoord.

The word changes nothing about the substance. Somebody with the right authority says the cost is wanted and the invoice may be paid, and that is recorded: who, for what and when. How to set up approval rules, what they should key on and what goes wrong when a step stalls is covered in depth under fiatteren.

In Exact Online

Exact Online supports basic purchase invoice processes, and whatever word your organization uses, the posting stays in Exact Online. In Glimps the step is called authorizing. You set up approval flows with groups and with rules on GL account, supplier and amount. Approvers approve straight from the email, and whoever is away delegates their invoices to a stand-in.

Accorderen, fiatteren or autoriseren: which word do you pick?

Pick the word already used in your delegation of authority or process description, and use it the same way everywhere. A process description that mixes three words makes the auditor ask whether there are three steps.

  • Fiatteren: the classic word from bookkeeping.
  • Autoriseren: the word most teams and software use, with the autorisator as the person who signs.
  • Accorderen: common in government and larger organizations, often tied to a budget holder.

Where it usually goes wrong

  • 1Using three words for one step in your procedures. It then looks as if three signatures are needed.
  • 2Signing off with a short email. A year later nobody remembers who approved which amount.
  • 3Confusing sign-off with checking. A signed-off invoice is wanted, but that does not make it correctly posted.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Invoice sign-off (accorderen).

Questions about your situation?

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In substance, none. Both mean that an authorised person approves an invoice for payment. Accorderen is heard more in government and larger organizations, fiatteren is the classic bookkeeping word, and autoriseren is what most teams say today.

Whoever is authorised under your own delegation of authority, usually the budget holder, with a second person above a certain amount. Record that in rules rather than in somebody’s head, so it still works when that person is on holiday.

Yes. In Glimps it is called authorizing. The approver approves from the email, the approval rules decide whose turn it is, and when you are away you delegate your invoices to a stand-in.