Approval workflows in Business Central let you require one or more approvers to review and approve documents before they can be posted. This is commonly used for purchase orders, sales documents, and general journals where a sign-off process is required before financial impact.
Business Central includes built-in workflow templates that cover the most common scenarios. You configure them through the Workflows page, then define who approves what through Approval User Setup.
Enable and Configure a Workflow
- Search for Workflows using
Alt + Q. - Select New Workflow from Template.
- In the Workflow Templates window, locate the template named Purchase Order Approval Workflow (or the relevant template for your document type).
- Select it and choose OK. Business Central creates a copy of the template as an editable workflow.
- Open the new workflow. Review the workflow steps listed in the Workflow Steps section.
- Confirm that the trigger event is set to Approval of a purchase document is requested and the response is Send approval request for the record.
- Toggle Enabled to turn the workflow on. A workflow must be enabled before it takes effect.
Set Up Approval User Setup
The Approval User Setup page defines the approval chain, who approves requests, what limits apply, and whether approvals escalate.
- Search for Approval User Setup using
Alt + Q. - Select New to add a user, or select an existing user row to edit it.
- Fill in the following fields for each user:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| User ID | The Business Central user who will submit or approve requests |
| Approver ID | The user who will receive this person’s approval requests |
| Purchase Amount Approval Limit | Maximum purchase order amount this user can approve (leave blank for no limit) |
| Sales Amount Approval Limit | Maximum sales document amount this user can approve |
| Unlimited Purchase Approval | Check this to allow the user to approve any purchase regardless of amount |
| Unlimited Sales Approval | Check this to allow the user to approve any sales document |
- Repeat for all users who submit or approve documents.
Single Approver vs. Approval Chain
Single approver: Every request goes to one designated approver. If that person is unavailable, the request stalls unless a substitute is set.
Approval chain: Requests move up the chain of Approver ID links until they reach a user with sufficient approval limits or an unlimited approver. For example, if a purchase order for 50,000 exceeds the submitter’s approver’s limit, the request automatically escalates to the next person in the chain.
To use an approval chain, make sure the Approver Type field in the workflow step response is set to Approver and configure the Approver ID links in Approval User Setup to form a chain.
How Approvers Receive and Respond to Requests
When a user sends a document for approval, Business Central creates an approval entry.
Approvers can find pending requests in two ways:
- The Requests to Approve page, accessible by searching for Requests to Approve using
Alt + Q. - Email notifications, if your Business Central environment has email configured and the workflow step is set to send notifications.
On the Requests to Approve page, the approver selects the request and can choose:
- Approve, moves the document to the next approval step or releases it for posting.
- Reject, returns the document to the submitter with a rejection comment.
- Delegate, reassigns the request to another user.
The submitter can track the status of their request on the originating document. Open the purchase order, then check the Approval Status field to see whether it is pending, approved, or rejected.
If you need to restrict which users can submit or approve documents based on role, see How to Assign Permission Sets in Business Central.