Troubleshoot approvals

When an approval doesn't behave the way you expect, start here. Find what you see in the tables below, check the likely cause, and follow the fix. The examples use the chapter's team: Priya Shah approves purchase orders up to $10,000, Sam Turner approves anything larger, and Dana Reyes raises the requests.

Before you begin

• Some fixes change the policy, which needs an administrator, or a role with Approval Policies → Edit rules (which includes View rules).
• Fixes for a stuck request need override rights: administrators and anyone with Approval Policies → Override & re-route have them.
• If a button is greyed out, point to it first. The tooltip, or the amber line above Approve and Reject, usually names the cause.

Approval emails

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
An approver gets the alert under the bell, but no email.	Email for approval alerts starts off for everyone, and nobody turned it on. The policy page's email card shows In-app only for them.	Click Turn on email for everyone on the Approver email notifications card, or ask them to switch on Email in My Notifications. See Get approval requests by email.
The alert is greyed out in My Notifications and marked Disabled company-wide.	An administrator turned the alert off for everyone in Alert Preferences, so nobody gets it, whatever the policy page shows.	Turn it back on in Alert Preferences. See Choose which alerts your team gets.
The email goes to an old address, or the card shows No email address.	Approval emails go to the email address on the person's user account.	Update the address on the user. See Create and manage users. Then turn on their switch on the email card.
The email arrives late, bundled with other alerts.	The person chose Daily Digest or Weekly Digest. The card shows Email digest.	Set Frequency to Instant in My Notifications, or turn on their switch on the email card, which sets Instant.
Sam gets nothing for a two-step request that Priya hasn't approved yet.	Approval Requested goes to the approvers of the step a request has reached.	Nothing. Sam hears about it when the request reaches his step.
A delegate, such as Jordan Lee, gets no email for the requests they cover.	Delegates aren't on the policy page's email card, so its switches don't cover them.	Ask the delegate to turn on Approval Requested and Approval Reminder email in My Notifications. See Hand off approvals while you're away.
The approval rows are missing from My Notifications.	Approver rows appear only while a policy you're on is switched on.	Turn the policy on, or check that the person is listed on it.
Dana never hears that her purchase order was approved.	Approval Decision isn't covered by the policy page's email switch.	Dana turns on Approval Decision email in My Notifications.

A purchase order opened without approval

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
A purchase order from an import, auto-reorder, a forecast or dropship opened by itself.	Its source is unticked under Applies to on the Purchase orders tab.	Tick the source and click Save. See Choose which purchase orders need approval.
A small purchase order opened as soon as someone clicked Approve, with no request. Before it was approved, its approval chip read Not required.	Its amount falls in an auto-approve band.	Nothing, if that's intended. Otherwise open the tier's Tier actions menu and choose Require approval. See Skip approval for small amounts.
An older purchase order is Open but has no approval on its Approval card.	It was approved before the policy was turned on, or while the policy was off. A policy doesn't reach back to purchase orders approved earlier.	Nothing. If someone changes it now, the re-approval rules apply. See How re-approval works.

Approving and requesting

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Approve is greyed out.	The policy doesn't let you approve this request right now, for example because it's over your limit or you raised it. The reason shows in amber above the button.	Look the reason up in Why Approve is unavailable.
Request Approval doesn't appear on a draft purchase order.	Your role doesn't have Purchase Orders → Edit.	Ask an administrator to add it to your role, or ask a buyer to request approval.
Submit is greyed out on an approved purchase order.	Under a policy, sending needs Purchase Orders → Edit. Purchase Orders → Approve alone isn't enough. If the purchase order changed since it was approved, it may be waiting for re-approval.	Ask someone with Purchase Orders → Edit to send it, or wait for the re-approval. See Approval permissions reference.
You can't withdraw a request: This request already has approvals and can no longer be withdrawn — an administrator can re-route it.	Someone already approved a step.	Ask an administrator to re-route it, or ask the next approver to reject it. See Withdraw a request or send a reminder.
You can't withdraw a request: Only the requester or an administrator can withdraw this request.	You didn't raise it.	Ask the person who raised it, or an administrator.

Nobody can approve

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Waiting on reads No eligible approver, or the card says No one can approve this.	Everyone who could approve the step left the account or lost their role, or the only approver raised the request and self-approval isn't allowed.	Administrators and anyone with Approval Policies → Override & re-route override or re-route it. See Override or re-route a stuck request.
A request has waited for days on someone who's away.	The approver is on leave without handing off.	Add a hand-off for them, or override the request. See Set up a hand-off for someone else.
Many requests are waiting on someone who left.	The policy still lists them.	Remove them from the policy, then save with Save & re-route all. See Change or turn off a policy.

Deposits and bill payments

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Record Payment is greyed out on a draft deposit.	The deposit hasn't been sent for approval.	Click Request Payment, and record the payment once it's approved. See Request and approve a vendor deposit payment.
Recording a deposit payment shows …is awaiting approval — the payment can be recorded once it is approved.	The deposit is still waiting on an approver.	Wait for the approval, or send a reminder.
You approved a deposit in the Orders → Approvals drawer, and there's no way to record the payment there.	The review drawer approves, but it doesn't record payments.	Open the deposit, by clicking its number in the queue or from Orders → Vendor Deposits, and click Record Payment.
Approve & Mark Paid shows Approved your step — waiting on Step 2. No payment was recorded.	The policy has another step after yours.	Record the payment once the last step approves.
Approving a deposit shows Bank details differ from the supplier profile and must be verified out-of-band before this deposit can be approved.	The deposit's bank details don't match the supplier's profile.	Confirm them with the supplier through a channel you trust, then tick I verified these details out-of-band. See Check changed bank details first.
You can't create a deposit against a purchase order.	The purchase order isn't approved yet, or its changes are waiting for re-approval.	Get the purchase order approved first.
A bill payment is refused: Payment of … exceeds the approved … — request approval for the difference.	You're paying more than Approved to pay.	Pay up to the approved amount, or click Submit for Approval to ask for the rest. See Request and approve a bill payment.

Setting up the policy

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Someone you want as an approver doesn't appear when you search the Approvers box.	They aren't a user in this account, or the list is showing only the first people alphabetically.	Type part of their name or email address to search. If they still don't appear, add them as a user first. See Create and manage users.
A chip shows a name with (no longer in this account) — remove or replace.	That person left your account.	Remove the chip, add someone else if the step needs it, and save.
Save shows Fix the highlighted fields on Purchase orders before saving.	A tier is missing a limit or an approver.	Fix each marked field. See Validation messages.

For every other message, see the Approval messages reference.

Next steps

• How approvals work
• Get approval requests by email
• Override or re-route a stuck request
• Approval messages reference