Multi-Level Approval Rules

Used when one signature is not enough above a certain value. One row reads: documents of this type, in this division, valued between these amounts, must be signed at this level, by one of these roles.

When To Use This Form

Only when you need tiers. With no rows here at all, the flow stays as usual: one approval completes the document.

Value thresholds: "purchases above 50 million need the manager, not just the supervisor".
Different divisions, different officers: "branches approve up to 10 million themselves, above that it goes to head office".
Signature chains: "large invoices need the supervisor AND the finance manager".

Fields Worth Noting

Field	What to note
Document Type	The rule applies to every document of this type. Sales and Sales Return are governed together because both move stock and money the same way.
Division	Leave empty to apply to every division — this is the common case. Fill it only when one branch has its own rule.
Minimum Value	Lower bound, inclusive.
Maximum Value	Upper bound. Enter 0 for no upper bound — that way you need not guess the largest amount that might appear later.
Level	Signature order, starting at 1. The highest matching level decides how many signatures the document needs.
Approving Roles	Which roles may sign this level. Leave empty to let any role authorised for this document type sign it.
Active	Switch off to suspend a rule without deleting it.

Example: Tiered Purchasing

These two rows make purchases below 50 million need one signature, and above that two:

Document Type	Division	Min	Max	Level	Role
Purchase & Purchase Return	(empty)	0	50,000,000	1	Supervisor
Purchase & Purchase Return	(empty)	50,000,000	0	2	Manager

A 30 million purchase matches only the first row, so the highest matching level is 1 — one signature. An 80 million purchase matches the second, so it needs two: supervisor first, then manager.

How the Chain Runs

The document is created as pending, at level 0.
The level 1 approver opens and approves it. The level rises to 1, but the status stays pending because the chain is not finished.
The level 2 approver sees it in the Approval Inbox and approves. The required level is now reached, so the document becomes Approved and all of its effects are created.

One signature raises exactly one level. Someone whose role is authorised at two levels still signs twice — no level is ever skipped silently.

Rules Worth Knowing

Rejection resets to zero. A rejection judges the document, not the previous approver, so a corrected document travels the chain again from the start.
Editing a document voids the signatures already collected. Otherwise the creator could wait for the level 1 signature, then change the contents, and level 2 would approve something level 1 never saw.
Rules are re-read every time a document is saved. Changing a rule takes effect for the next document, with no need to log out and back in.

Common Problems

Symptom	Most common cause
Document still pending although approved	The chain is not finished. Check the Level / Required column in the Approval Inbox.
Message saying this level is not yours	Your role is not listed at the level currently waiting. Check the Approving Roles column on that level's rule.
Rules have no effect at all	Multi-level approval is part of the Approval Workflow add-on. Without it every document uses a single level.
A rule with a blank maximum never matches	The maximum must be 0 for no limit, not left blank.

Menu Location

Approvals / Approval Setup / Multi-Level Approval Rules
/form/approvalrules