Multi-Level Purchase Approvals

This module adds approval steps to the purchase and payables cycle. A buyer sends a purchase quotation to a chosen approver, and vendor bills and vendor payments go through create, verify and validate stages, each handled by a dedicated security group. It plugs into Purchase, Invoicing and Accounting. Purchasing managers, accountants and finance approvers use it. The benefit is separation of duties and a documented approval trail in the chatter.

1. 1

   Choose an approver on a quotation

   On a draft purchase quotation the buyer presses Send for Approval and a wizard asks for an internal user as approver. The button appears only while no approver is set and the order is a draft. The quotation then carries the Approver field.

   • Button: Send for Approval
   • Internal users only
   • Approver field on the order
2. 2

   Notify the approver

   The system posts a message to the approver through the chat channel so the request is noticed. The approver opens the quotation from that message. The notification is sent by the internal bot user.

   • Chat message to the approver
   • Link to the quotation
   • Sent by the bot
3. 3

   Confirm or cancel as approver

   Only the assigned approver sees the Confirm and Cancel buttons on the quotation. Confirming turns it into a purchase order, and cancelling stops it. Others cannot confirm a quotation that is awaiting approval.

   • Buttons: Confirm, Cancel
   • Approver only
   • Quotation becomes a purchase order
4. 4

   Verify vendor bills

   A draft vendor bill shows a Verify button until it is verified. Verification is logged in the chatter with the user's name, and only then can the bill be confirmed. Separate groups exist for bill creator, verifier and validator.

   • Button: Verify
   • Chatter log with user name
   • Groups: Creator, Verifier, Validator
5. 5

   Verify vendor payments

   Payments follow the same pattern with their own groups: Vendor Payment Creator, Verifier and Validator. The Verify button is logged in the chatter, and posting requires the verified flag. This keeps payment release under a second pair of eyes.

   • Own three payment groups
   • Verify logged in chatter
   • Posting needs verification

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