Approvals → /approvals
Some actions are deliberately not granted to one person end to end. Instead of firing directly they create an approval request, and someone with the right authority decides. The decision, the decider and the reason are recorded on the underlying record.
What routes for approval
| Area | Typical routed actions |
|---|---|
| Receivables | Issuing an invoice above a threshold; credit notes and write-offs. |
| Payables | Paying an expense. |
| Collections | Issuing a demand letter, handover, fee waiver, hardship restructure, closing a case with a write-off. |
| Communications | Publishing a message template or broadcast. |
| Operations | Activating schedules and other material configuration changes. |
Low-impact confirmations — sending a single reminder on a case you are assigned — stay one-click actions. The distinction is deliberate: routing everything through approvals makes approval meaningless.
The approvals inbox
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Request title | What is being asked for. |
| Module | Which part of the platform raised it. |
| Entity type | The kind of record involved. |
| Action type | What will happen on approval. |
| Applicant / customer | The party affected. |
| Amount | The money at stake, where relevant. |
| Branch / block / unit / lease | Where it applies. |
| Requested by / requested at | Who asked, and when. |
| Risk | The assessed risk of the action. |
| SLA / age | How long it has been waiting. |
| Status | Pending, approved, rejected. |
Filter by module, entity type, action type and status to work one kind of decision at a time — approving twenty expenses in a row is faster and more consistent than context-switching.
Deciding
Open the review
Open Review shows the request in context, including a preview of what will be sent or posted where the action produces a document or a message.
Check the substance, not just the amount
For an expense: is it attributed to the right unit, with the vendor's invoice attached? For a demand letter: are the figures and the tenant's details right?
Approve or reject
Rejection requires a reason. Write it for the person who has to act on it.
Confirm the outcome
Approval triggers the action. Check the underlying record shows it happened.
What happens on a decision
| Decision | Effect |
|---|---|
| Approved | The staged action executes — the invoice issues, the letter is sent, the expense is paid, the case closes. |
| Rejected | The staged action is marked skipped with the reason, recorded on the record's timeline. |
Because the action is staged rather than duplicated, there is no risk of the action happening twice or of an approved action being forgotten.
Delegation and policy
Approval policies define what routes where, and delegation covers absence. Both are administrator configuration — a manager on leave with no delegate is the most common cause of a stalled approval queue.
Working the queue well
Work by SLA, not by date
The age column exists so the oldest request does not quietly become the most urgent.
Batch by type
All expenses, then all credit notes. Consistency of judgement improves markedly.
Reject with substance
"Rejected" with no reason produces a resubmission of exactly the same request.
Watch the volume
A rising approval queue usually means a threshold is set too low, not that the team is misbehaving.
Audit
Every approval decision is recorded: who decided, when, what they decided and why. Combined with the activity log, this is what makes separation of duties demonstrable rather than merely intended.
Common problems
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Request stuck pending | No approver available, or no delegate configured for an absent approver. |
| Approver cannot see the approve button | They do not hold the required role for that request type. |
| Action did not happen after approval | Check the underlying record's timeline for a failure after approval. |
| Everything routes for approval | The policy threshold is set too low. |