Policy settings reference

This page describes every control on Settings → Purchasing → Approval Policies, the limits that apply, and the exact message you see when something can't be saved. For a walkthrough, see Set up purchase order approvals.

Anyone with the Approval Policies → View rules permission can open the page. Without Edit rules, the page is read-only and shows You can view these rules. Ask an admin to change them. See the Approval permissions reference.

Page header and saving

Control	What it does
Page description	Reads Decide who approves purchase orders, deposits and payments, by amount. Amounts are compared in your base currency (USD). Your own base currency appears in brackets.
Save	Saves every policy tab you changed in one go. It stays disabled until something changes. On a phone, Save and Revert sit in a bar at the bottom of the screen.
Unsaved changes	Leaving the page with unsaved changes asks You have unsaved changes. Leave without saving?

The save confirmation

When requests are waiting under a policy you changed, Save opens Save approval policy? first:

• If the policy stays on, it reads, for example, 2 requests for purchase orders are in progress under the old rules. They keep their current approvers unless you re-route them now — re-routing starts each one over, clearing any approvals already given. Choose Save to keep them on their current approvers, or Save & re-route all to start them over under the new rules.
• If you turned the policy off, a warning reads Turning off approvals for purchase orders withdraws 2 requests. Those documents go back to how they worked before the policy.

When nothing is waiting, the policy saves straight away and the toast reads Approval policy saved. See Change or turn off a policy.

Tabs

Tab	What it holds
Purchase orders	The purchase order policy.
Vendor deposits	The vendor deposit policy.
Bill payments	The policy for paying supplier bills.
Delegations	Out-of-office hand-offs. A number beside the tab shows how many there are.

A dot on each policy tab is green when that policy is on and grey when it's off. Each tab has its own address, so you can bookmark or share a tab.

Policy card

Control	What it does
Require approval for purchase orders	Turns the policy on or off. Nothing changes until you click Save.
Caption under the switch	Off: Purchase orders go through without approval. On: Purchase orders must be approved before they're opened, sent to the supplier, or paid a deposit. The deposit tab reads Vendor deposits must be approved before a payment can be recorded. The bill tab reads Supplier bills must be approved before a payment can be recorded.
Copy from…	Lists the other two policies, each with its tier count, or No tiers set up yet (unavailable). See below.
Waiting requests	When requests are waiting, a blue box reads, for example, 3 requests waiting for approval under these rules. with a link, Open the approvals queue.

Copy from… copies the tiers, approvers, Self-approval choice and Reminders into the policy you're on, and turns it on. It doesn't copy Re-approval or Applies to, which exist only for purchase orders. The toast reads Copied from Purchase orders — review and save. Nothing is saved until you click Save.

When the policy is off

The tiers, rules and email cards are hidden, and the page shows Purchase orders don't need approval yet with an explanation:

Tab	Explanation
Purchase orders	Anyone with the Approve purchase orders permission can open and send them. Turn this on to require sign-off by amount — for example, owner approval above $10,000.
Vendor deposits	Deposits follow your Payment Approvals settings. Turn this on to require sign-off by amount before a deposit can be paid.
Bill payments	Bill payments follow your Payment Approvals settings. Turn this on to require sign-off by amount before a bill can be paid.

Set up approvals turns the policy on and adds a first, empty tier. Copy from Purchase orders appears when another policy already has tiers.

Approval tiers card

The card title reads Approval tiers (amounts in USD, inclusive). Each row is a tier. Columns: Up to, Approvers, Requires, and the Tier actions menu.

Control	What it does
Up to	The tier's upper limit, in your base currency. Limits are inclusive, so $10,000.00 belongs to Up to $10,000. The last tier always reads No limit and has no field.
Band hint	Grey text under the limit that shows the band, for example $0 – $10,000, More than $10,000, or Every amount when there's one tier.
Approvers	Search for people or roles. The placeholder reads Add people or roles. A role chip shows how many people it has, for example Purchasing (3). Someone who's no longer in the account shows struck through, with (no longer in this account) — remove or replace.
Requires	How many of the listed approvers must approve the step. See below.
Step name	Appears only when a tier has more than one step: Step 2 · followed by a field with the placeholder Name this step, e.g. Owner approval.
Must be someone who hasn't approved an earlier step	A switch on Step 2 and Step 3, on by default. When on, someone who approved an earlier step can't approve this one too.
✕ (Remove this step)	Removes Step 2 or Step 3.
Add tier	Adds a tier just above the No limit tier. Its caption reads Splits the band above your highest limit. Someone on a higher tier's final step can also approve lower amounts — except a step that requires All, which needs everyone listed on it.

On a phone, each tier is a separate block titled with its number and name, for example Tier 1 · Up to $10,000.

Tier names

You don't type a tier name. It comes from the limits:

Tier	Name
A tier with a limit	Up to $10,000
The last tier, when there are several	Over $10,000 (the limit of the tier above it)
The only tier	All amounts

This name is what you see in chips, the queue's Tier column, Test an amount, alerts and emails, and messages such as the "Over $10,000" tier needs Sam Turner. It differs from the grey band hint, which says More than $10,000 or Every amount.

A step you don't name is called Approval if it's the first step and Step 2 or Step 3 otherwise. The name field shows only while a tier has more than one step, so a single step you never named is called Approval.

Requires

Option	Meaning
Any one	One approval from anyone listed finishes the step. Someone from a higher tier's final step can also approve it.
Any 2, Any 3…	That many different people must approve. Higher-tier approvers also count. Offered when more people are listed.
All (2) (or All with one approver)	Everyone listed must approve. Each listed person has a seat: their delegate can fill it, but someone from a higher tier can't. When a seat can't be filled, an administrator can use Override approve. The requester's own seat is skipped when Self-approval doesn't let them approve, unless they're the only person listed.

A role counts as all the people who hold it. If a step requires more approvals than a role currently has people, an amber warning reads, for example, Requires 3 approvals, but only 2 people are in these approvers right now. Approvals will wait until enough people join. You can still save.

Tier actions menu

Open it with the ⋯ (Tier actions) button at the end of the tier's first row.

Item	Subtitle	What it does
Add step	Up to 3 sequential steps, or Already at 3 steps (unavailable)	Adds a step that starts after the previous one is approved. Unavailable on an Auto-approve tier.
Auto-approve this band	No approval needed for these amounts	Skips approval for amounts in this band. The tier shows the green chip Auto-approve — no approval needed in this band, and its approvers are dropped when you save. Nobody gets approval authority from an Auto-approve tier.
Require approval	Send these amounts to approvers	Shown instead of Auto-approve this band on an Auto-approve tier. Turns approval back on, so you can add approvers again.
Delete tier	A policy needs at least one tier, or The no-limit tier can't be deleted (unavailable)	Deletes the tier. You can't delete the only tier or the No limit tier.

Rules card

Setting	Options and text
Self-approval — Can the person who raised a request approve it?	Only if they're the sole approver (Recommended): Whoever raised the request can't approve it — unless nobody else can. Then they can, and the approval is labelled "Self-approved". Never: Whoever raised the request can never approve it. If that leaves nobody, admins are alerted to re-route or override. Allow — the requester counts like any other approver: Approvers can approve their own requests.
Reminders	Remind approvers every [hours] hours, up to [times] times, then alert admins. Caption: Weekends are skipped. Leave the hours blank to turn reminders off. The hours field shows off when it's blank. The times field defaults to 3.
Re-approval (purchase orders only)	Ask again when an approved PO's total rises by more than [%]. Caption: …or moves into a higher tier. Changing the supplier or currency, or adding lines, always asks again.
Applies to — Where the PO came from (purchase orders only)	Manual (app and API) (always) is always ticked. You can tick Imports (purchase orders imported as Open), Auto-reorder and backorder purchasing, Forecast schedules, Unified plan orders and Dropship POs from sales orders. The first four are on by default. Dropship is off by default, with the caption Off by default — holding a dropship PO delays the customer's order. Amazon / AWD inbound (never), Outsourced manufacturing (never) and Opening balances (never) can't be ticked. Their tooltip reads Not subject to approval — internal transfers and historical records, not new spend.
Payment Approvals note (deposits and bills only)	While this policy is on, the default payer in Payment Approvals is only notified when a deposit is approved and ready to pay. It no longer decides who approves. The bill tab says bill instead of deposit.

Even with reminders off, a request whose approvers have all left or lost access is escalated to administrators. See Set approval rules and Choose which purchase orders need approval.

Approver email notifications card

This card appears below Rules while the policy's switch is on. It lists everyone who can approve under the policy's tiers, including the people in any role you listed. The card's text reads Approvers always get an in-app alert when something waits on them. Alerts are easy to miss, so turn on email for requests, reminders and overrides — sent as they happen. Each person can still change this under My notifications.

Email for approval alerts is off for each person until someone turns it on. See Get approval requests by email.

Part	What it shows or does
Person row	Name, then the email address or No email address, and via Purchasing role when the person is listed through a role.
Status chip	Email on (instant email), Email digest (email in a digest), In-app only (no email), or No email (the person has no email address).
Switch	Turns approval emails on or off for that person. It saves at once, even before you click Save, and even if the policy itself isn't saved yet.
Turn on email for everyone	Turns on instant email for every listed approver who has an email address. It reads Turn on email for 2 more when some approvers already have email on, or when someone has no email address. It also switches people on Email digest to instant email.
All approvers get emails	A green chip that replaces the button once everyone has email on. It reads Everyone with an email address gets emails when someone has no email address.
My notifications link	Opens Settings → Alerts & Notifications → My Notifications, where each person manages their own alerts.

The switches change each person's own alert settings: the same rows they see in My Notifications. Messages you can see:

Message	When
Checking approvers' notification settings…	The card is loading.
Add approvers to the tiers above to see who gets emails.	No tier has approvers yet.
Approval emails on for Sam Turner. / Approval emails on for 2 approvers.	You turned email on.
Approval emails off for Sam Turner.	You turned email off.
Add an email address to this user first.	Tooltip on the switch of someone with no email address.
You need permission to manage approval policies to change this.	Tooltip on the switches when you don't have Edit rules. The bulk button is hidden too.
Couldn't update approval emails.	The change didn't save.

Test an amount card

This card sits beside the policy on wide screens and below it on narrower ones. It uses your unsaved changes, so you can check them before you save.

Control	What it does
Amount (USD)	The amount to test, in your base currency.
Raised by (optional)	Pick a person to see whether they could approve it themselves. The placeholder reads Anyone.
Result	For example, A $12,500 PO goes to Sam Turner (Over $10,000 tier, 1 step). Each step follows, such as Owner approval — any one, with the people who can approve it, or No eligible approver. In an Auto-approve tier it reads A $250 PO is auto-approved (Up to $500 band).
Requester result	Priya Shah can approve it themselves in one click. or Priya Shah can't approve it directly — with the reason.
At a glance	A list of sample amounts around your limits with the approvers listed on each tier, or Auto-approved. Click one to test it. Caption: Shows the approvers listed on each tier. Pick an amount to see everyone who can approve it.

Message	When
Enter an amount to see who would approve it.	The amount is blank.
Working out who approves…	The result is loading.
Enter an amount, e.g. 12500	The amount isn't a number, or it's below zero.
Fix the highlighted tier fields to test an amount.	A tier has an error.
Couldn't work out the routing.	The test failed for another reason.

Delegations tab

The tab is titled Delegations — out-of-office hand-offs, with an Add delegation button.

• Administrators and anyone with Approval Policies → Override & re-route see everyone's delegations, and can add one for anyone. The text reads While an approver is away, their delegate can approve with the same authority. Decisions show "on behalf of", and both are notified.
• Without it, the tab works like My delegation on the Approvals page and shows only your own hand-offs. The text reads Going away? Hand your approvals to a colleague. They approve with your authority until the end date, and both of you are notified.

The list has the columns Approver, Delegate, From, Until, Documents, Note and Status (Active, Scheduled or Ended). With nothing to show, it reads No current or upcoming delegations — Add one before someone goes on leave so approvals keep moving. For the steps, see Hand off approvals while you're away.

Limits

Limit	Value
Tiers per policy	10. At 10, Add tier is unavailable and its tooltip reads A policy can have at most 10 tiers.
Steps per tier	3
Reminder interval	1 to 720 hours, or blank for no reminders
Number of reminders	0 to 10
Re-approval tolerance	0 to 100%
Delegation length	90 days
Delegation note	500 characters

Validation messages

Fields with a problem are outlined in red when you click Save, and the page scrolls to the first one. A missing approver shows straight away.

Policy messages

Message	Where	Fix
Fix the highlighted fields on Purchase orders before saving	Toast	Correct the red fields on that tab.
Purchase orders has unfinished tiers — turn it on to fix them, or revert	Toast	A policy you turned off still has incomplete tiers. Turn it back on to fix them, or undo your changes.
Add at least one tier before turning the policy on.	Tiers card	Add a tier.
Enter a limit	Up to field	Type the tier's limit.
Must be greater than zero	Up to field	Use an amount above zero.
Must be greater than the tier above	Up to field	Each limit must be higher than the one above it.
Add at least one approver or mark this tier Auto-approve.	Under the tier	Add an approver, or use Auto-approve this band.
Add at least one approver	Approvers field	Add a person or a role to the step.
The same approver is listed twice	Approvers field	Remove the duplicate.
Name (no longer in this account) — remove or replace	Approvers field	Remove the person, or replace them with someone who's still in the account.
Requires 3 approvals but only 2 approvers are listed	Requires field	Add approvers, or lower Requires.
Enter a percentage from 0 to 100	Re-approval	Type a percentage from 0 to 100.
Hours: 1–720 hours	Reminders	Type a whole number of hours from 1 to 720, or leave it blank.
Times: 0–10	Reminders	Type a whole number from 0 to 10.
Couldn't save the approval policy	Toast	The save failed. Try again.
Couldn't load approval policies.	Page, with Retry	The page couldn't load. Click Retry.

If someone changes the account while you're editing, saving can also return one of these. Correct the field and save again.

Message	Where
One or more approvers are no longer in this account — remove or replace them.	Approvers field
One or more roles no longer exist.	Approvers field
Limits must be greater than zero.	Up to field
Limits must increase from top to bottom.	Up to field
The same approver is listed twice.	Approvers field

Delegation messages

Message	Fix
Choose who is going away	Pick the approver who's away.
Choose a delegate	Pick the delegate.
Choose someone other than the person delegating	The delegate must be a different person.
Choose when it starts / Choose when it ends	Fill in From and Until.
The end must be after the start	Move Until later than From.
A delegation can last at most 90 days	Shorten the delegation.
Choose at least one document type	Tick at least one document under Documents.
Couldn't load delegations.	Click Retry.
Couldn't add the delegation / Couldn't revoke the delegation	Try again.

Related

• How approvals work
• Set up purchase order approvals
• Set up deposit and bill payment approvals
• Get approval requests by email
• Approval permissions reference