Approval permissions reference
While an approval policy is on, who can approve comes from the policy, not from a role permission. You can approve a request because a policy lists you, not because your role says so. Role permissions decide who can manage policies, who can step in when a request is stuck, and who can do the ordinary work around a document, such as editing a purchase order or sending it to the supplier.
The examples use Priya Shah (purchasing manager and administrator, approves purchase orders up to $10,000), Dana Reyes (the buyer who raises purchase orders, deposits and bill payments), Sam Turner (the owner and an administrator, the only approver above $10,000) and Jordan Lee (the finance lead, on no policy).
Who can approve while a policy is on
You can approve a request's current step when any of these is true:
- You're listed on the step, by name or through a role. Role membership is checked when you act, so someone added to a listed role can approve straight away, and someone removed from it can't.
- You're on the last step of a higher tier, and the step requires Any one or a count of approvers. Higher authority covers lower amounts: Sam, the approver above $10,000, can also approve PO-0064 for $4,280. This doesn't apply to a step that requires All. Everyone listed on an All step must approve it themselves, or through their delegate.
- Someone listed has handed their approvals to you with a delegation that's active now. You fill that person's place on the step. See Hand off approvals while you're away.
Even then, the policy's Self-approval rule can stop you approving a request you raised yourself. When you can't approve, the Approval card tells you why. See Approval messages reference.
The Purchase Orders → Approve permission doesn't decide who approves a purchase order while the purchase order policy is on. Taking it away doesn't stop a listed approver, and granting it doesn't make anyone an approver.
The Approval Policies permissions
An administrator grants these in Settings → Users & Permissions → Roles, in a role's Approval Policies group. Administrators have all three automatically. Each permission's help text in the role editor is quoted in the second column.
| Permission | Help text in the role editor | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| View rules | "See the approval policies (tiers, approvers and rules) for purchase orders, vendor deposits and bill payments. Doesn't let anyone approve." | Opens Settings → Purchasing → Approval Policies read-only, including Test an amount and the Approver email notifications card. Adds the All pending view to Orders → Approvals, and makes History there show everyone's requests instead of only your own. Lets you see any document's approval history. |
| Edit rules | "Change the approval policies: turn them on or off, edit tiers and approvers, reminders and self-approval rules. Doesn't let anyone approve." | Changes and saves policies, including Save & re-route all. Uses the switches and the Turn on email for everyone button on the Approver email notifications card. Saving a role with Edit rules also gives it View rules, because the page needs it to open. |
| Override & re-route | "Approve a stuck request on someone's behalf (a reason is required and the document is flagged), re-route requests, and manage anyone's delegations." | Override approve and Re-route to current policy on any request. Send reminder and Withdraw on anyone's request. Sets up a delegation for someone else, with the Approver going away field, and revokes anyone's delegation. Receives the Approval Escalated alert. |
Without Edit rules, the policy page shows You can view these rules. Ask an admin to change them. and its controls are greyed out. Hovering over a greyed-out email switch shows You need permission to manage approval policies to change this.
Without Override & re-route, the Delegations tab on the policy page works like your own My delegation: it lists only the hand-offs you set up, and has no Approver going away field.
Override approve finishes a request without the listed approvers. It needs a reason of at least 10 characters, marks the approval Overridden, and alerts everyone who could have approved it. Use it to unstick a request, not as an everyday way to approve. See Override or re-route a stuck request.
What still needs an ordinary permission
A policy decides who approves. Everything else around the document keeps its usual permissions. The table assumes the policy for that document type is on.
| To… | You need |
|---|---|
| Open Orders → Approvals and use Waiting on me | Nothing. Anyone can open the queue. It only lists requests you can act on, unless you have View rules. |
| Review and decide a request from the queue's review drawer | Only to be able to approve it. You don't need permission to open the document itself. |
| Open a purchase order's page | Purchase Orders → View |
| Open the Vendor Deposits or Purchase Invoices pages | Purchase Orders → List |
| Click Request Approval on a draft purchase order, or request approval again after changes were rejected | Purchase Orders → Edit. Without it, the purchase order shows neither Request Approval nor Approve. |
| Approve a draft purchase order whose amount falls in an Auto-approve tier | Purchase Orders → Edit or Purchase Orders → Approve. Nobody is listed on that tier, so anyone without either permission sees You don't have permission to approve purchase orders. |
| Submit or Resubmit an approved purchase order to the supplier, on its own or in bulk | Purchase Orders → Edit. Purchase Orders → Approve alone isn't enough: under a policy, sending is an editing action, and approving comes from the policy. |
| See Approve in the purchase order list's bulk actions, and send the skipped orders for approval from its result | Purchase Orders → Edit or Purchase Orders → Approve. Purchase orders you can't approve under the policy are skipped, and you can send them for approval in your name. |
| Choose Approved (per policy) in a demand plan's Generate orders dialog | Purchase Orders → Edit or Purchase Orders → Approve while the purchase order policy is on. Orders over your limit are sent for approval instead. If the policy's Applies to leaves out Unified plan orders, only Purchase Orders → Approve works, and anyone else is refused. Without a policy, the option reads Approved and needs Purchase Orders → Approve. |
| Import new purchase orders as Open | Nothing extra while the purchase order policy is on, because the policy decides whether each one opens. Without a policy, Purchase Orders → Approve. |
| Withdraw a request or send a reminder | Be the person who raised it. Administrators and anyone with Approval Policies → Override & re-route can too. |
| Hand your own approvals to someone while you're away | Nothing. Use My delegation on Orders → Approvals. |
When a policy is off
While the policy for a document type is off, the Approval Policies permissions don't affect approving it:
- Purchase orders use their simpler approval. Purchase Orders → Approve decides who approves a draft and who submits it to the supplier. See Approve and submit a purchase order.
- Vendor deposits and bill payments go to the approver set in Settings → Purchasing → Payment Approvals. See Manage vendor deposits and Track & pay purchase invoices.
Each document type has its own policy, so a team can run the purchase order policy while deposits still use Payment Approvals.
Who can see a document's approval history
The Approval card and its History list show to:
- administrators and anyone with View rules
- the person who raised the request, the people it's waiting on, and anyone who decided a step
- anyone who can open that kind of document: Purchase Orders → View for purchase orders, Purchase Orders → List for deposits and bill payments
Anyone else sees You do not have access to this document's approvals.