How Approvals Work

This page explains the standard approval process that applies to all workflow-enabled documents in PayInvoice Next — Purchase Requests, Purchase Orders, Invoices, Budget Entries, and more.

The Approval Lifecycle

Every document with a workflow follows this general pattern:

Create (Draft) → Submit for Approval → L1 Review → L2 Review (if required) → Approved → Submitted

The number of approval levels depends on the workflow configured for each document type. Some documents require a single approval; others require multiple levels based on value thresholds or organizational hierarchy.

Step-by-Step: Submitting a Document for Approval

1. Create and save the document. Fill in all required fields and click Save. The document is now in Draft status.

2. Submit for approval. Click the Submit for Approval action button. The document moves to the first approval state (typically "Pending L1 Approval").

3. Approver receives notification. The designated approver receives an email notification and sees the document in their Pending Actions list in PayInvoice Next.

4. Approver reviews. The approver opens the document, reviews the details, and takes one of the available actions:

• Approve — Moves the document to the next state (either the next approval level or "Approved").
• Reject — Sends the document back to the initiator with a mandatory rejection reason.
• Return — Sends the document back for correction without rejecting it outright.

5. Multi-level approval (if applicable). If the workflow has multiple levels, the document moves through each level in sequence. Each approver sees the document only when it reaches their level.

6. Final approval. Once all required approvals are complete, the document reaches the "Approved" state and is automatically submitted (or can be manually submitted, depending on configuration).

Where to Find Pending Approvals

Approvers can find documents waiting for their action in several places:

• Notification Bell — Real-time notification when a document arrives for your approval.
• Pending Actions — Your personal queue of documents awaiting action, accessible from the main navigation.
• Document List View — Filter any document list by workflow state (e.g., show all Purchase Orders in "Pending L1 Approval").

Approval Actions and Reasons

When approving or rejecting, the system records:

Data Point	Captured Automatically
Who took the action	Yes
When (timestamp)	Yes
What action (Approve / Reject / Return)	Yes
Reason (for reject/return)	Required input
Time spent in this state	Yes (TAT tracking)

This creates a complete audit trail visible in the document's workflow history.

What Happens on Rejection

When an approver rejects a document:

1. The approver must select a reason from the Rejection Reason list (configured by your administrator).
2. The document moves back to "Draft" or "Returned" state.
3. The original creator receives a notification with the rejection reason.
4. The creator can correct the issue and resubmit, or cancel the document.
5. The rejection is permanently recorded in the workflow history — it cannot be deleted.

Value-Based Routing

Some workflows route documents to different approvers based on the document value. For example:

• PO below 1 lakh → Department Head approval only
• PO between 1–10 lakh → Department Head + Procurement Head
• PO above 10 lakh → Department Head + Procurement Head + CFO

Your administrator configures these thresholds. The value-based routing is automatic — you do not need to select approvers manually.

Related Pages

• Delegation & Escalation — What happens when an approver is unavailable
• SLA Tracking — Time limits on approvals
• PO Approval Workflow — PO-specific approval details
• PR Approval Workflow — Purchase Request approval details