PR Approvals

PR Approvals allow you to indicate that the line items on a purchase requisition must be approved before they can be added to a purchase order. You must have the appropriate security rights to create PR approvals.

The PR type, selected when the purchase requisition was created, determines whether the PR is required to go through the approval process. Even if approval is not required by the PR type, you can still establish approvers for any PR.

You can add two types of approvers to a PR:

  • Cost Approvers – These users approve the cost of items. They must have an approval limit that exceeds the total NTE (Not To Exceed) amount of the entire PR.

  • Subject Matter Experts – These users approve the suitability of the item. For example, a subject matter expert might approve a piece of computer equipment if it ran a compatible operating system. Subject matter experts are allowed to approve items where the costs exceed their approval limits.

If your PR is of a type that requires approval, you must select at least one cost approver.

Selecting approvers creates an approval sequence that the purchase requisition must go through before it can be considered approved and ready for the creation of the purchase order. At each step, an approver can approve or decline any item on the PR. Only approved items continue on to the subsequent approvers.

For example, you might create a PR that includes three pieces of computer equipment and send it through three approvals—your manager, a subject matter expert, and the head of your department. If your manager declines one item due to cost and the subject matter expert declines another due to incompatible technology, only one item will be on the department head's approval list.

To open the Approval Summary page:

  1. Open the Purchase Requisition Details page.

  2. At the top of the Item Summary pane, click the Approvals link.

    At the top of the Approval Summary page, a summary of the PR details appears. At the bottom of the page, there are two panes:

    • Approver Records – This pane lists all approver records that have been created. You can create new records, edit or delete existing records, and send out approval notifications.

    • PR Approval History – This pane maintains an audit trail of all approval actions that have occurred, containing one entry for each update made.

ClosedAdd an Approval Request

Adding an approval request creates a sequential approval step for the purchase requisition. Each approval step specifies the name of the user who needs to give his or her approval and indicates that approver's approval limit. Approval steps are processed in the order in which you define them. The approval status of an item is not updated until the entire step is complete.

To add approval requests:

  1. In the Approver Records pane, click the New Approval Request button.

    The Add Approver dialog box opens.

  2. In the Approver field, select the name of the user you want to add to the approvals list.

    The list is filtered so that only users who have access to the PR module and have rights to your properties/regions are included. The list displays each user's approval level so that you can properly select the users who can be cost approvers and the users who can be subject matter experts. Once an approver is added, his name is removed from the list to prevent inadvertently adding the same approver more than once.

    If approvals are required, at least one approver must have an approval limit that is equal to or exceeds the NTE amount of the PR.

  3. Enter a value for the Approval Step.

    The system automatically assigns the next sequential step to each approval you add. You can change this value, but you cannot use a value that is already assigned to another approval step.

  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each approval you want to add.

  5. Once your approval steps are complete, click the Send Approval Notifications button.

    This starts the approval process by sending an email notification to the first user in the approvals list and adding the PR to that user's My Approvals page. Each time a user completes an approval, the next user is notified and the PR moves to that user's list.

ClosedEdit an Approval Record

Editing an approval record allows you to change the approver for a particular step, change the order in which the approval records are processed, or delete an approval step. If approvals are required, you cannot delete the only user who has a sufficient approval level to cover the NTE. You must first add another user with a sufficient approval level before deleting.

You can only modify approval steps that are in a Pending Approval or Not Sent approval status.

To edit approval record:

  1. In the Approver Records pane, click the Edit button to the right of the approval record.

    The Edit Approver dialog box opens.

  2. To change the approver:

    1. Select a new approver in the Approver field.

      Only users who have the appropriate security rights and approval level are included. Approvers who are already in the current approval list are not displayed to prevent adding the same approver more than once.

    2. Click UPDATE.

  3. To modify the step number:

    1. Enter a new value in the Approval Step field.

      You cannot enter a number that is already assigned to another step or is smaller than the current step.

    2. Click UPDATE.

  4. To delete an approver:

    1. Click the Delete link.

      A dialog box opens asking you to confirm your choice.

      You cannot delete an approver if he or she is the only approver with a sufficient approval level. You must add a replacement approver first, and then delete the approver.

    2. Click OK.

ClosedPR Approval History

The PR Approval History pane maintains an audit trail of all approval actions that have occurred, containing one entry for each update made. For example, a new entry might be made when an approval request is made, if a line item was approved or declined, or when the entire approval cycle is completed. Updates are listed in chronological order with the initial updates at the top of the list and the most recent updates at the bottom.

The PR approval history information cannot be modified. For each entry it displays:

  • Type – the type of entry: Initial for the initial approval creation, Internal for system events like notifications, or Update for changes made by users

  • Update Date – the date and time the update was made

  • Action Taken – a description of the action taken, for example, Approval request created

  • Total Cost – the total cost of all items on the PR

  • NTE – the Not To Exceed amount of the PR

  • Updated By – the name of the person who made the update

Accruent logo in white text.

© Copyright Accruent 2025Privacy PolicyTerms of UseLegal