Override or re-route a stuck request

A request gets stuck when the people who can approve it aren't there to do it. An approver left the company or lost the role that put them on the policy, is away without handing off, or nobody was ever listed for that step. Nothing is rejected automatically, so the purchase order, deposit or bill payment waits until someone with override rights steps in. In the example, PO-0065 for $18,650.00 waits on Sam Turner alone while he's travelling, so Priya Shah, who is an administrator, steps in.

You have two ways to move it:

• Override approve finishes the request yourself, with a reason everyone can see.
• Re-route to current policy starts the request over under today's policy, so it goes to whoever the policy names now.

Before you begin

• Administrators and anyone with Approval Policies → Override & re-route can override or re-route a request.
• Both actions are on the document's Approval card: on the purchase order, the vendor deposit or the bill's payment panel. They aren't in the row menu on Orders → Approvals.
• Turn on email for the Approval Escalated alert, so you hear about stuck requests without watching the bell. See Get approval requests by email.

Spot a stuck request

Administrators and anyone with Approval Policies → Override & re-route get an Approval Escalated alert. Its title names the document type, such as Purchase order approval is stuck, and its message ends with the reason and what to do: PO-0065 (18,650.00 USD) needs attention: no one is currently eligible to approve it. Re-route or override it from the document. The Open approval button opens the document.

The alert says…	What happened
no one is currently eligible to approve it.	The request reached a step that nobody can approve, for example because everyone listed has left, or the only approver raised it and self-approval isn't allowed. The alert goes out as soon as the step starts.
nobody is left who can approve its current step.	Everyone who could approve the current step has left the account or lost the role that listed them since the step started. SKU.io checks every hour, and sends this even when the policy's reminders are off.
it has waited through every reminder without a decision.	The approvers are still there but haven't decided, and the policy's last reminder has gone.

Once a request has been escalated, the hourly check doesn't alert about it again. If you re-route it and the new request gets stuck too, you get a new alert.

On the document, a request nobody can approve shows the headline No one can approve this with No eligible approver — ask an admin to re-route or override. The timeline's Waiting on line reads no eligible approver in red. Once escalated, it adds a line such as No decision · 3 reminders sent · escalated to admins Oct 14. On Orders → Approvals, the Waiting on column reads No eligible approver.

A request can also be stuck without an alert: the approver is still in the account but away, and the reminders haven't run out yet. You find these by their age in Orders → Approvals → All pending.

Choose what to do

Situation	Do this
The approver is away for a while and will be back	Add a hand-off for them, so a colleague approves in their place. Use this for a step that Requires All, where only the listed people or their delegates count.
You've confirmed the purchase is fine and it can't wait	Override approve.
An approver left and you've updated the policy, or the policy changed since the request was raised	Re-route to current policy.
Many requests are waiting on someone who left	Fix the policy, then save it with Save & re-route all. See Change or turn off a policy.

Removing someone from a role, or adding someone to one, takes effect on waiting requests straight away, because approvers listed through a role are looked up whenever someone acts. If the step lists a role, adding a colleague to that role can be enough.

Override approve a request

1. Open the document: click Open approval in the alert, or click the document's number in Orders → Approvals.

2. On the Approval card, open the ⋯ menu, labelled Approval actions.

3. Choose Override approve.

   It's only in the menu while you can't approve the request yourself. If you're an approver for the step, use Approve instead.

4. In Reason for overriding, say why you're approving in place of the policy's approvers. It needs at least 10 characters.

   The dialog warns: Overrides skip the approval policy. The approval is flagged red on the timeline, logged, and every eligible approver and the requester are notified.

5. Click Override approve.

   What you'll see: the message Approval overridden. The status chip changes to Overridden, and the headline reads, for example, Approved by override — Priya Shah (admin).

An override completes every remaining step at once, including later steps. On the timeline, the step shows a red Override approved row with your reason and the line The eligible approvers and the requester were notified. Those people get the Approval Overridden alert. For a vendor deposit or a bill payment, the default payer also hears that it's approved and ready to pay, unless they're the person who overrode it.

The document then carries on as if it was approved: a purchase order can be sent to the supplier, and a deposit or bill can be paid.

If the document was changed after the request was raised, the override is refused with PO-0065 changed after this approval was requested — it needs a new approval., for example. The changes need a new request, which the people the policy names approve. See How re-approval works.

Re-route a request

1. Open the document.

2. On the Approval card, open the ⋯ menu (Approval actions).

3. Choose Re-route to current policy.

4. In Re-route to the current policy, read the warning: The request starts over under today's policy — every approval collected so far is cleared and all approvals must be given again.

5. Click Re-route.

   What you'll see: the message Approval request re-routed.

The old request is marked Superseded, and a new one starts from the first step under today's tiers and approvers, with the reason Re-routed. Its approvers get an Approval Requested alert. If nobody can approve the new request either, you get another Approval Escalated alert, so fix the policy before you re-route.

Re-routing is refused while the policy is off: The approval policy for this document is turned off.

caution

Re-routing clears approvals already given. On a two-step request where step 1 is approved, the first approver has to approve again. If only a later step is stuck, consider Override approve instead.

Keep requests from getting stuck

• Keep reminders on in the policy's Rules, so a request nobody acts on reaches an administrator. See Set approval rules.
• Ask approvers to hand off their approvals before they go on leave. See Hand off approvals while you're away.
• List at least two people on each tier, or a role with several members, so one absence doesn't block a step.
• Use Test an amount on the policy page after any change. It warns when a step has nobody who can approve it.
• When someone leaves the company, update every policy they're on and save with Save & re-route all.

Next steps

• Change or turn off a policy
• Approval status reference: every chip and headline, including Overridden and Superseded.
• Approval permissions reference
• Read and act on alerts