Set up journal and purchase order approvals

Policy switches groups user membership amount rules and safe verification

Use this procedure before routine journal or purchase-order entry. An approval design needs a saved policy, active rules, eligible approvers and the correct access. A checkbox alone does not assign a reviewer. Journal and PO approvals are separate configurations; neither creates a universal approval policy for every module.

This task is for the authorised Tenant Administrator and accounting or purchasing configuration owner. A tenant is the subscription workspace; a company is a ledger within it. Agree who may request, configure and approve work before changing live settings. Keep existing pending work under controlled review while changing authority limits.

Choose the approval procedure

Use GL Setup fields, purchasing policy and rule fields, Manage Access fields and approval decision fields and illustrations alongside these steps. The illustrated field guides show controls; the sequence here explains how they fit together.

Prepare the authority design

1. Confirm Current Company, functional currency, amount precision and every location/currency used by the workflow.
2. Record the approved limits and intended groups. Decide whether a high-value band routes to a different group; do not assume that two rules create two sequential approvals.
3. Identify active named approvers and a separate requester. Plan absence cover without sharing sessions or credentials.
4. Separate configuration authority from routine approval duties. Review existing groups and rules before adding similar records.
5. Agree a controlled change window and representative checks. A setup change does not reverse or reapprove historical documents automatically.

The examples below use a fictional USD functional currency and two-decimal amount precision. Replace the amounts with your authorised limits; USD is not a system requirement.

Set up manual journal approval groups

Manual journal approval setup connects the company policy to its reviewers and amount limits. Complete the group, membership and rule steps together before users depend on the workflow.

1. Confirm the company, then open General Ledger and GL Setup. Review the existing Require Approval For Manual Journals setting. If the matrix link is hidden until enabled, coordinate enabling it during the controlled setup window, before users resume journal entry.
2. Open Manual Journal Approval Matrix. Review existing groups and rules before choosing Create Group.
3. Enter a meaningful Group Name, such as Journal reviewers, an explanatory Description and Active status. Company identifies the selected company and is not an instruction to switch ledgers.
4. Choose Save, then return to the matrix and open the saved group to compare name, company and active status.

A group is an authority pool, not a list of journals and not a permission grant. Creating it does not assign users or establish amount coverage. Keep the configuration window controlled until membership and rules are ready.

Assign manual journal approvers

1. In authorised user administration, open the intended colleague's Manage Access. You cannot use this form to change your own access or the primary account holder's access.
2. Review the active role and relevant company scope. Under Module Permissions, review the manual-journal approval capability separately from entry/edit and matrix-maintenance capabilities.
3. Under Manual Journal Approval Groups, select the intended company group. Confirm its displayed currency and amount scope; a group with no mapped rules is not complete routing.
4. Review Summary, choose Update Access, then reopen the saved access. Repeat for the approved cover person where applicable.

Ordinary approvers need the approval function and active membership of the matching active group. The Tenant Administrator has broader approval authority within the permitted company scope; use ordinary named roles when checking the intended business control, not the administrator account as the only test.

Set up manual journal amount rules

1. In Manual Journal Approval Matrix, choose Create Rule and select the company's Approval Group.
2. Leave Currency blank for an all-currency rule or select the intended transaction currency. The currency choice filters journals; it does not change the amount-limit denomination.
3. Enter Min Amount and, if limited, Max Amount in functional currency. Both boundaries are inclusive; blank Max Amount has no upper limit. Keep Min Amount non-negative and Max Amount at least Min Amount.
4. Set Active, choose Save, then reopen the rule and compare the group, currency and exact saved limits.
5. Review the whole matrix for gaps and overlaps, including all-currency and currency-specific rows. Resolve overlap feedback instead of disabling a rule simply to make a save pass.

For a balanced journal with USD 1,000 debit and USD 1,000 credit, the approval amount is USD 1,000, not USD 2,000. The journal's functional debit total supplies the comparison. A foreign-currency journal still uses its functional debit total for limits. Where matching rows coexist, the journal resolver prefers its transaction-currency rule before an all-currency rule; do not use that as a substitute for an unambiguous approved matrix.

Enable and verify manual journal approval

1. In GL Setup, confirm Require Approval For Manual Journals is on under the approved policy. Use the applicable Create or Update action and compare the saved detail. Do not replace other GL mappings while changing this setting.
2. In the approved training environment, prepare a balanced manual journal in an open period. Save it and check the saved lines before submitting for approval.
3. Submit the existing journal. Its approval state should become Pending Approval; submission is not a posted ledger entry. A matching active rule is required, so an uncovered amount or currency must be resolved in the intended matrix rather than bypassed.
4. Have the authorised ordinary reviewer inspect and decide on the same journal. Approval queues posting; check the eventual Posted status and balanced ledger result separately.
5. If rejected, retain the reason and use the supported draft/rejected correction and resubmission path. Do not create a duplicate journal to get around rejection.

This setting concerns manual journals, not every journal generated by sales, purchasing, assets or payroll. The journal setup does not provide the PO Prevent Submitter Approval switch. Enforce independent journal review through separately assigned duties and approved policy; do not claim that these amount rules alone guarantee a technical self-approval prohibition.

Set up purchase order approval groups

Purchase order approval setup connects each location's purchasing policy to eligible groups and amount rules. Review all operating locations rather than assuming one saved policy covers the company.

1. Confirm Current Company, then open Vendors and PO Approval Matrix. Review existing groups before choosing Create Group.
2. Enter Group Name, Description and Active status for the intended purchasing authority. Choose Save and reopen the saved group.
3. In each intended colleague's Manage Access, review the purchase-order approval function and applicable company/location duties. Select the intended PO Approval Groups separately from Manual Journal Approval Groups.
4. Review Summary, choose Update Access and reopen the saved membership. Confirm the ordinary approver and cover person have the intended authority without unnecessary configuration rights.

The two group types are not interchangeable. Membership in a similarly named journal group does not authorise PO approval. Administrator authority is broader within allowed company scope, so it is not a substitute for checking the ordinary user's routing.

Set up purchase order amount rules

1. In PO Approval Matrix, choose Create Rule. Select the required Location for the intended company and the intended Approval Group.
2. Select Currency only when a transaction-currency restriction is intended; blank covers all currencies. Enter functional-currency Min Amount and optional Max Amount, keeping both inclusive boundaries and company precision in mind.
3. Set Active, choose Save, then reopen the saved rule and compare location, group, currency and limits.
4. Repeat for every location and amount band that needs approval. Check foreign-currency and high-value orders as well as ordinary domestic purchases.

The ordinary rule form requires Location; do not assume one new rule configures every location. When matching location rules exist, the workflow uses those; its fallback handling for existing broader rules is not an instruction to create hidden company-wide rules. Review matching currency-specific and all-currency rules together because PO routing is not the journal's single preferred-rule calculation.

Thresholds compare the PO's functional net amount payable. For a fictional EUR order whose functional net amount payable is USD 5,000, apply the USD 5,000 band even when Currency is EUR. Read the saved functional total rather than performing an approximate mental conversion.

Enable purchase order approval for each location

1. Under Vendors, open Purchasing Setup and identify the saved policy for the intended location. Review an existing policy rather than creating a duplicate.
2. Set PO Approval Required according to the approved design. For independent review, enable Prevent Submitter Approval. Review the separate option controlling print/export/reporting of unapproved POs if your policy requires it.
3. Retain the approved matching/receipt flow, tolerances and GRNI/variance mappings. The location on an existing policy is locked; do not change unrelated accounting settings to enable approval.
4. Save the intended policy and reopen it. Repeat for each relevant location; do not infer all locations follow the last screen you edited.

When PO approval is required, submission moves eligible open orders to Submitted. When it is not required, submission can mark the order Approved without an independent decision. That is an important policy choice, not evidence that another user approved it. Creating or approving a PO does not itself post stock, a supplier liability or a payment.

Prevent Submitter Approval checks the recorded submitter, not simply the person who first created the order. Keep requester and reviewer duties separate. Review this control with administrator use as well as ordinary roles; do not disable it as a workaround for absent cover.

Check amount boundaries and workflow outcomes

Use an approved training environment for these consequential checks, not an unattended production experiment. Keep the document reference, amount basis, role, expected routing and observed outcome together in your organisation's acceptance record.

Change approval configuration safely

Review pending documents and available cover before changing groups, rules, membership or policy. Record before/after limits and the authorisation. Make the intended changes, reopen their saved detail and recheck representative routing, including boundaries. Do not assume existing requests have been reassigned automatically after a rule change; inspect each affected current request and source document.

Do not turn approval off to resolve a missing request, overlapping rule or delayed posting. Read My Approvals and history and inspect the original journal or PO before retrying an action. Preserve rejected and superseded history.

Resolve approval setup problems

For other configuration tasks, use the module setup checklist. For the sequence appropriate to your activities, use the business setup map.