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Procurement · Approval rules
Approval chains by amount and department, with cover when an approver is away.
Draw the bands your organization signs by — a requisition up to 50,000 needs one signature, one above 500,000 needs three — and every procurement request, quotation award and supplier bill follows the chain its value lands in. The person who raised it cannot sign it, nobody signs twice, and an approver on leave hands their steps to a colleague who signs on their behalf.
Rules are switched on per workspace. With no rule for a document type, anyone holding the approve permission approves it in one step, exactly as before. Add a rule and that document type follows it from the next approval on.
Rule set · Procurement requestsBase currency KES
Procurement request PR-0418 · KES 182,400 Field Operations · raised by J. Mwangi
Band 1
0 – 50,000
1 Department head
Band 2 · matched
50,000 – 500,000
1 Department head
2 Finance manager
J. Mwangi raised it, so J. Mwangi cannot sign it.
Band 3
Above 500,000
1 Department head
2 Finance manager
3 Director
A. Otieno is away until 14 Nov Step 2 is signed by P. Kamau, recorded as for A. Otieno.
Three document typesprocurement requests, quotation awards (whole quote or item by item) and supplier bills
Up to eight stepseach one a role anyone holding it can sign, or a named person
One person, one stepand the people who raised the document are kept out of its chain
Every approve buttonweb, mobile app and approvals hub run the same check before a document is approved
Settings → Approval rules
A rule is a band, an optional department, and the order people sign in.
You write one rule per band you care about. Leave the upper limit open for the top band. Name a department and the rule applies only to that department’s documents; leave it blank and it applies to everyone.
Edit rule · Field operations, mid-value
Applies to
Procurement requests
Department
Field Operations
From (KES)
50,000.00
Up to (KES)
500,000.00
Approvers, in order
1 Department head Role
2 A. Otieno, Finance manager Person
The people who raised a document cannot approve it
Active
A role step or a named step
A role step can be signed by anyone who holds that role. A named step waits for one person, or for whoever is covering for them. A step can carry its own label, such as Budget holder, so the chain reads the way your policy does.
On top of the permission, never instead of it
An approver still needs the usual permission to approve that kind of document. The rule decides who signs and in what order; the permission still decides who may approve at all.
A step nobody can sign is flagged
When a rule names a role that nobody in the workspace holds, the rules page says so, because that step could never be signed until someone is given the role.
Editing a rule leaves work in progress alone
Each approval keeps a copy of the steps it started with. The rules page shows how many documents are part-way through, and they finish on their original chain.
Matching
How a document finds its lane.
The value is measured from the document itself, the same way on every screen, so the web, the app and the approvals hub always agree on which chain applies.
Measure the document
A procurement request is its quantities times their prices (the item’s buying price where a line has none). A quotation award is the quote’s total, or the sum of the lines chosen in an item-by-item award. A supplier bill is its total.
Convert it to your base currency
A quote or bill in another currency is converted at the workspace exchange rate before it is compared with the bands. If there is no rate to convert it with, it is held to the strictest rule you have — the highest band — rather than slipping under all of them.
Find its department
A request carries its own department; a quotation award takes the department on its RFQ; a supplier bill takes its own, or its purchase order’s.
Pick the rule
Of the active rules whose band covers the amount, a rule for that department wins over a rule for everyone, and a higher band wins over a lower one. If nothing matches, the document approves in one step on permission, as it does with no rules at all.
Worked example
PR-0418, KES 182,400, from raised to approved.
One press of Approve is one signature. The document only becomes approved when the last step signs; until then it waits, and the chain shows who has signed and who is next.
Raised
J. Mwangi submits the request
It matches the Field Operations rule for 50,000 to 500,000. The request page shows the two-step chain before anyone presses anything, so nobody is surprised by a second step.
You raised this document, so someone else must approve it.
Step 1 of 2
The department head signs
The signature is recorded and the request stays pending. The next approver gets a notification in their bell that it is waiting for them.
Your approval is recorded (step 1 of 2). Procurement request PR-0418 now waits for A. Otieno.
A line changes
Someone edits a quantity
The request is no longer what step 1 signed, so its approval starts again from step 1 under whichever rule the new value matches.
This document changed since it was last signed, so its approval started again.
Step 2 of 2
The finance step signs, and it is approved
The department head cannot take step 2 as well. Once a different person signs the last step, the request is approved.
You already signed step 1 of this document — step 2 needs a different approver.
Out of office
Leave does not stall the chain, and the record says who stood in.
Anyone can set their own cover under Settings → Out of office, or from the mobile app: a colleague and two dates. Between those dates the colleague can sign any step that waits for them — a step naming them, or one needing a role they hold.
- Signed on behalf of. The signature is stored as the delegate’s, with the absent approver recorded beside it, and the chain reads P. Kamau (for A. Otieno).
- The delegate is told. When a step comes due for someone who is away, whoever is covering for them gets the notification too.
- Cover does not bend the other rules. A delegate who raised the document, or who already signed another step of it, is still refused.
- Cover is not passed on. You cannot choose yourself, and you cannot choose someone who is away and has handed their own approvals to somebody else.
- It is on the audit log. Setting cover records who handed approvals to whom, and for which dates.
AO
A. OtienoFinance manager · named on step 2
Away 3–14 Nov hands her steps to
PK
P. KamauSenior accountant · covering
Delegate Approval chain · PR-0418
Step 1 · Department headS. Njeri
Step 2 · A. OtienoP. Kamau (for A. Otieno)
StatusApproved
Safeguards
The rules a chain holds, whoever presses the button.
The requester is kept out
Everyone who raised or entered the document — on a quotation award that includes the RFQ’s author and the original requester — is refused when the rule blocks self-approval, which it does unless you switch it off.
One person signs one step
Someone who signed step 1 cannot also sign step 2, even if they hold both roles, so a three-step chain always means three people.
A change starts it again
Amounts, lines or, on an item-level award, the chosen supplier per line are fingerprinted. If the document changes mid-chain, earlier signatures stop counting and it restarts from step 1.
No route around it
Approve on the web, in the mobile app and in the approvals hub all call the same check first, so a document cannot be approved through a screen that skipped the chain.
A rejection closes the chain
Rejecting a document part-way through ends its approval and records who refused it and at which step.
No currency slips under a band
Foreign-currency amounts are compared in your base currency; one with no rate goes to the strictest rule rather than the cheapest.
Web, app and API
The same chain wherever someone signs.
Waiting on me
The procurement overview lists the documents whose current step you can sign, including the ones you can sign because you are covering for someone.
In the mobile app
Request, quotation, RFQ and supplier bill screens show the chain card — who signed, who is next, and why you may not sign if you may not. Out-of-office cover is set from the app’s settings.
Over the API
The app’s API returns the rule set, the documents awaiting the signed-in person at /procurement/approvals/awaiting, and out-of-office cover at /me/out-of-office. Rules themselves are edited on the web.
What AWRA OpsHub does today
- Approval rules per document type for procurement requests, quotation awards (whole quote or item by item) and supplier bills, set in Settings and switched on per workspace.
- Amount bands with a lower limit and an optional upper limit, compared in your base currency, with an amount that has no exchange rate held to the strictest rule.
- An optional department on a rule, which wins over a rule for everyone in the same band.
- Ordered chains of up to eight steps, each a role or a named person, with an optional label.
- The requester blocked from their own document, per rule and on by default.
- One person, one step, so a chain of three is always three people.
- A restart from step 1 when the document changes while it is being signed.
- The same check on every approve path on the web, in the mobile app and in the approvals hub, with rejections recorded against the step.
- A notification to the next approver, and to whoever is covering for them.
- Out-of-office cover between two dates, set by each person for themselves on the web or in the app, with the decision stored as on behalf of the absent approver.
- A snapshot of the chain on each approval, so editing a rule never changes one already under way.
More we can add to your workspace
- Approval rules for more document types, such as expense claims, payment runs or stock transfers, routed through the same bands.
- Parallel steps, where two approvers sign at the same level and either order counts.
- Escalation on a timer, moving a step to a deputy when it has waited too long.
- Cover set by an administrator on behalf of someone who left without setting their own.
- Cover limited to one document type or amount, so a delegate takes requisitions but not bills.
- Conditions beyond amount and department, such as supplier, item category or project.
- Rule editing in the mobile app, alongside the chain card and cover settings already there.
Where we point you to a specialist
- We will not approve a document automatically because its approver is away. Cover hands the step to a person you chose; nothing signs on its own.
- We will not let a delegate sign twice or sign their own request. Cover widens who may sign a step, never the rules every signature is held to.
- We will not set your limits for you. The bands and who signs them are your delegation-of-authority policy; the system enforces the one you write down.
Escalation on a timer and cover set by an administrator are the two items in that middle column most organizations ask for first. Tell us how your approvals are delegated today and we will come back with a written spec, a timeline and a price.
Around the chain
Where approval rules meet the rest of procurement.
Procurement requests and approvalsThe requests the first band usually governs, from raising to RFQ. Budget controlsWarn or block when spend would pass what is left, with a written override. Approve from a notificationSign your step from the push on your phone. Purchase order change ordersRevise an issued order with a second person’s approval. Workflow automationActions that run after a decision, across every module. Unified action queueEverything waiting on you, gathered into one list.
Frequently asked questions
Do approval rules apply as soon as we sign up?
No. Rules are switched on per workspace by adding one. With no rule for a document type, anyone who holds the approve permission approves it in one step. Add a rule in Settings and that document type follows it from the next approval on.
Which documents can follow an approval rule?
Procurement requests, quotation awards — a whole quote or an item-by-item award across several suppliers — and supplier bills. Each document type has its own set of rules.
How is the amount compared with the bands?
It is measured from the document — a request’s quantities times prices, a quote’s total or the chosen lines of an award, a bill’s total — and converted into your base currency. A document in a currency with no exchange rate is held to the strictest rule, the highest band you have set.
What happens when two rules could apply?
A rule for the document’s department wins over a rule for everyone, and among those a higher band wins over a lower one. If no active rule covers the amount, the document approves in one step on permission.
Can the person who raised a request approve it?
Not when the rule blocks self-approval, which is on by default. Everyone who raised or entered the document is refused, and on a quotation award that includes the RFQ’s author and the original requester. No one can sign more than one step of the same document either.
What if the document changes after someone has signed?
Its approval starts again from step 1. Earlier signatures were for a different amount or set of lines, so they stop counting, and the new value may match a different band.
How does out-of-office cover work?
You choose a colleague and two dates under Settings → Out of office, or in the mobile app. Between those dates they can sign any step that waits for you, by name or by a role you hold, and the decision is stored as theirs on your behalf. They still cannot sign a document they raised or a second step of the same document.
Does editing a rule change approvals already in progress?
No. Each approval keeps a copy of the chain it started with, so documents part-way through finish on their original steps. The rules page shows how many are in progress.
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