PO Approval Workflow

This page explains how Purchase Orders are approved in PayInvoice Next.

How Approvals Work

When a Purchase Order is submitted, it enters the configured approval workflow. The workflow determines who approves the PO, in what order, and under what conditions.

Typical approval flow:

Draft → Submitted → Pending L1 Approval → Pending L2 Approval → Approved
                         ↓                       ↓
                     Rejected                  Rejected

Checking Approval Status

1. Open the Purchase Order.
2. The current Workflow State is shown at the top of the form (e.g., "Pending L1 Approval").
3. The Workflow Comment section at the bottom shows the approval history — who acted, when, and any comments.

Approving a PO (For Approvers)

1. You receive a notification (email or in-app) that a PO requires your approval.
2. Open the PO from the notification or from Procurement > Purchase Order with the status filter.
3. Review the PO details: supplier, items, amounts, budget availability.
4. Click Approve to advance the PO to the next stage, or Reject to send it back.
5. Add a comment explaining your decision (required for rejections, optional for approvals).

When a PO Is Rejected

1. The PO status changes to Rejected.
2. The creator receives a notification with the rejection reason.
3. The creator can:
   • Edit and resubmit: Make changes to address the rejection reason, then resubmit. The PO re-enters the approval workflow from the beginning.
   • Cancel: If the PO is no longer needed. See Cancel or Close a PO.

Delegation

If an approver is on leave, their approval authority can be delegated:

1. Navigate to Settings > Workflow Delegation.
2. Set up delegation specifying the original approver, the delegate, and the date range.
3. During the delegation period, the delegate receives approval notifications and can approve/reject.

See Delegation & Escalation for full setup instructions.

Escalation

If a PO has been pending approval beyond the configured SLA time, PayInvoice Next can automatically:

• Send a reminder to the approver
• Escalate to the next level approver
• Notify the procurement team

See SLA Tracking for configuration details.

TIP

You can view all POs pending your approval by navigating to Procurement > Purchase Order and filtering by Workflow State = Pending Approval and Assigned To = Me.

Related Pages

• Create a Purchase Order — What happens before approval
• Modify or Amend a PO — What to do after rejection
• Workflow Setup — How to configure approval workflows