Approvals

Sign-offs with a paper trail.

The documents that need a yes — a purchase order over budget, a supplier payment, a credit note, a stock write-off, an expense claim — route to the right person’s inbox, get answered, and stay on the record. No more approvals by hallway.

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Multi-level chains with amount thresholds
An inbox for approvers, status for requesters
Escalation, fallback approvers and time-outs
Nobody approves their own request

What is Approvals in Flowyana?

Flowyana Approvals adds approval workflows to the documents where money or stock leaves the business: purchase orders and bills, supplier payments, quotations, sales orders and invoices, returns, credit and debit notes, stock adjustments and transfers, expenses, expense claims and advances, payroll and resignations. Approvers get one inbox; requesters see status; the trail stays on the record.

In many growing businesses, approval means a WhatsApp message to the owner and a screenshot as proof. It works until the owner is travelling, the message is buried, or an auditor asks who signed off a supplier payment in March. Then nobody can say, and the purchase order was already sent.

In Flowyana an approval is part of the document’s life. When a workflow covers a document type, saving that document sends it for approval instead of letting it proceed. It can’t be posted, sent or paid until the chain says yes. A rejection sends it back with a reason. Every decision, comment and delegation is recorded against the document itself.

Approvals are opt-in per document type. A document type with no workflow behaves exactly as before, so you add sign-off where it matters, such as purchases above a limit, and leave everything else fast.

What it does

Approvals, in practice.

One inbox for decisions

Approvers see everything waiting on them in one place — nothing buried in email or chat.

Chains of more than one level

A supervisor first, then a manager, then finance: each level with its own approvers and how many must agree.

Thresholds and conditions

A level applies only above an amount, or when a field matches, so small purchases go straight through and large ones get a second look.

The right approver, found for you

Name a person or a role, or let the request go to the submitter’s manager, the branch manager or the department head.

Nothing gets stuck

Escalate after a set number of hours, hand over to a fallback approver, skip a level with nobody on it, or auto-approve on time-out.

Scoped by branch and department

Different chains for different branches, departments or submitter roles.

No self-approval

Nobody approves their own request, and an approved status can only come from the workflow, never from editing the record.

A clear trail

Who asked, who decided, when, and with what comment — on the record, next to the record.

How you get it

Approvals come with the Business plan of every product line that has one, and can be added to any other plan, including Retail and Restaurant, as an add-on.

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How it works

Approvals, step by step.

1
Choose the document type
Create a workflow for a document type, such as purchase orders, and optionally limit it to a branch, a department or the roles that submit.
2
Build the levels
Add levels in order. For each, pick the approvers, whether any, all or a majority must agree, and the amount or condition that brings the level into play.
3
Set the safety nets
Decide what happens when nobody answers: escalate after a number of hours, pass to a fallback approver, or approve automatically on time-out.
4
Work as usual
Staff save documents as normal. Covered documents wait in the approver’s inbox, notifications go out, and the document moves on the moment it’s approved.

In depth

A closer look.

Approval workflows for purchase orders and supplier payments

Purchasing is where most businesses want a second signature. A purchase order above your threshold waits for the purchasing manager; above a larger amount, finance must approve as well. Purchase invoices, purchase returns, debit notes and supplier payments can each have their own chain. Until the chain completes, the purchase order can’t be marked as ordered and the payment can’t go out, so approval is a real control, not a formality after the fact.

Purchase orders, purchase invoices and purchase returns
Debit notes and supplier payments
Amount thresholds per level
The document stays blocked until approved

Multi-level approvals with thresholds and conditions

Each workflow is a list of levels. A level names its approvers and how many must agree: any one of them, all of them, or a majority. A level can apply only above a minimum amount, or only when a field on the document matches a condition you set, such as a category or a branch. Levels can run one after another or in parallel. Small requests pass a single level, while large ones climb the chain.

Any, all or majority per level
Minimum amount and field conditions per level
Sequential or parallel levels
Required approvers who can’t be skipped

Approvers by person, role, manager or branch

Approvers don’t have to be named people. A level can go to a specific user, to everyone in a role, or to a relationship: the submitter’s reporting manager, the manager of the branch that raised the document, or the head of the department. When staff change, the workflow keeps working. If a relationship finds nobody, for example a branch with no manager yet, the level can be skipped or handed to a fallback approver.

User, role or relationship-based approvers
Reporting manager, branch manager, department head
Delegation to a colleague when an approver is away
Fallback when no approver can be found

Escalation, time-outs and notifications

A request that sits too long is a cost. Each level can escalate to another person after a set number of hours. A workflow can approve automatically when its time-out passes, for low-risk documents where silence means yes. Notifications go out when a request is submitted, approved or rejected, so the requester doesn’t need to chase. Requesters can recall a pending request to fix it before anyone decides.

Escalate after N hours to a named person
Auto-approve on time-out, where you allow it
Notifications on submit, approve and reject
Recall a pending request to correct it

Sales, stock, expense and HR approvals

Beyond purchasing, workflows can cover quotations, sales orders, sales invoices, sales returns and credit notes, so large quotes and refunds get a second look before the customer sees them. Stock adjustments and transfers can need approval before stock moves. Expenses and employee advances can be governed, and expense claims always need approval, with no self-approval except for the owner. Payroll runs and resignations can go through a chain too. Leave requests have their own approval flow in HR.

Quotations, sales orders, invoices, returns, credit notes
Stock adjustments and stock transfers
Expenses, advances and expense claims
Payroll and resignations

An audit trail that stands up

Every request keeps its history: who submitted it, each approver’s decision and comment, delegations, escalations and recalls, with dates and times. The approver inbox shows what is waiting, with filters by status and document type. And because an approved status can only be reached through the workflow or the Approve action, nobody can mark a document approved by editing its status. When an auditor asks who signed off a payment, the answer is on the payment.

Full decision history on each document
Inbox with status and document-type filters
Approved status only through the workflow
Each decision’s comment kept with it

Who it’s for

Businesses that run on Approvals.

Trading and distribution companies

Purchase orders above a limit go to the owner; supplier payments need finance before they leave.

Retail chains

Stock adjustments and write-offs at each branch wait for the area manager before stock moves.

Contracting and service companies

Expense claims and employee advances from site staff route to their manager, then to accounts.

Restaurant groups

Transfers from the central kitchen and purchase bills above a threshold get a second signature.

Wholesalers selling on account

Credit notes and sales returns are checked before the customer’s balance changes.

Growing teams with HR

Payroll runs and resignations go through a chain, while leave requests use HR’s own approval flow.

Questions

Asked about approvals.

Which documents can go through an approval workflow?

Quotations, sales orders, sales invoices, sales returns, credit notes, purchase orders, purchase invoices, purchase returns, debit notes, supplier payments, stock adjustments, stock transfers, expenses, expense claims, employee advances, payroll and resignations. Leave requests have their own approval flow in HR.

Can I set approvals only above a certain amount?

Yes. Each level can apply only above a minimum amount, so a small purchase order passes straight through and a large one waits for the approvers you named.

Can approvals have more than one level?

Yes. Add as many levels as you need, each with its own approvers, and choose whether any one, all, or a majority of them must agree.

What happens if an approver doesn’t respond?

A level can escalate to another person after a set number of hours, and a workflow can approve automatically on time-out. Approvers can also delegate to a colleague.

Who can approve what?

You decide per level: a named user, a role, the submitter’s manager, the branch manager or the department head. Workflows can also differ by branch, department and submitter role.

Can someone approve their own request?

No. Self-approval is blocked, except for the workspace owner. And an approved status can only come from the workflow, not from editing the document.

Do requesters see the status?

Yes — a request shows where it stands, and notifications go out on submit, approve and reject, so nobody has to ask “did you see my request?” twice.

Do I have to use approvals on every document?

No. Approvals are opt-in per document type. A document type with no workflow saves and posts exactly as before.

Are approvals included in every plan?

No. Approvals come with the Business plan of every product line that has one, and can be added to any other plan, including Retail and Restaurant, as an add-on.

One platform

Plays well with the rest.

Approvals shares its records with every other module you switch on — no connectors, no re-typing.

Purchasing Expenses HR & Payroll Automation All features →

Put Approvals to work.

Tell us what your business runs. We’ll show you this module live — on its own or alongside the rest — and recommend the plan that fits.

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WhatsApp +91 97460 84243 Call +91 97460 84243 hello@flowyana.com