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Purchase Order Approval Levels

xAssets Procurement Guide
Purchase Order Approval Levels

Purchase Order Approval Levels

This page explains how xAssets processes multiple levels of purchase order approval, how levels interact with each other, and what happens at each stage.

Overview

xAssets supports up to 6 levels of approval for purchase orders, numbered 1 through 6. You do not need to use all levels — configure only the ones your organization requires. Levels do not need to be consecutive (you can use levels 2, 4, and 6 without defining 1, 3, or 5).

How Levels Are Configured

How Levels Are Processed

Levels are evaluated in order from 1 to 6 when a PO is submitted for approval. A PO does not need approval at every level — only at levels where the configured rules apply. Key behaviors:

  • Skipping — if a PO does not qualify for approval at a given level (the query returns no results, or the level is not configured), that level is skipped entirely.
  • Higher-level override — an approver at a higher level can approve the PO, which skips all lower unapproved levels. For example, if a PO needs approval at levels 2 and 4, an approver with authority at level 4 can approve the PO in a single step.
  • Rejection — if a PO is rejected at any level, it is removed from the approval process entirely and returns to New status. The requester must revise and resubmit it.
  • Locked during approval — once submitted, no changes can be made to the PO without first withdrawing it by setting the status back to New. This prevents edits to a PO that is already being reviewed.

Determining the Current Approval Level

You can check where a PO stands in the approval chain using the API:

  • GetPurchaseOrderApprovalLevel — returns the next level that requires approval
  • LookupPurchaseOrderApprovers — returns the list of custodians who can approve at or above the current level
  • GetCustodianPOApprovalLevel — checks whether a specific custodian can approve a given PO

See Purchase Order Approval API Calls for full details on these calls.

Practical Example

An organization configures three approval levels:

Level Rule Approvers
2 Line manager of the requesting custodian The manager's CustodianID, from the Custodian table
4 Finance team for POs over $10,000 Members of the Finance Approvers query
6 Standard Purchase Approval for POs over $500 Members of the PO Approvers user group

A PO for $15,000 is submitted:

  1. Level 1 — no query defined, skipped.
  2. Level 2 — the line manager query returns the requesting user's manager. The manager approves.
  3. Level 3 — no query defined, skipped.
  4. Level 4 — the finance query returns the finance director. The finance director approves.
  5. Level 5 — no query defined, skipped.
  6. Level 6 — Standard Approval applies (value exceeds $500), but the PO has already been approved at level 4 (a higher level), so this level is satisfied.

The PO is now fully approved and can be moved to Order Placed.

Tip: Use the PO dialog's approval notification to see which levels apply and who the current approvers are, so you know whom to contact if a PO is awaiting approval.