Admin & end user · Yellow Dog Inventory 2026
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Purchase Order (PO) Approvals add a required sign-off step before a purchase order can be committed, so you can enforce purchasing amount restrictions or route orders through the right people. Use Threshold Approval for a single-approver method based on dollar amount, or Hierarchical Approval for a multi-approver, role-based email workflow. Both methods are configured under System Setup > Options > Global before use.
PREREQUISITES
• Access to System Setup > Options > Global to set the Purchase Order Approval Method
• For Threshold Approval: employee permissions granted in Employee Setup (Request Approval, Approve Rank 1–4)
• For Hierarchical Approval: Employee Roles, Store Approval Types, and employee email addresses configured in Employee Setup
• An existing purchase order to submit for approval
STEP BY STEP
Set Up Threshold PO Approval
1. Go to System Setup > Options > Global and set the Purchase Order Approval Method to Threshold.
2. Go to System Setup > PO Approval Setup.
3. Select the store you want to set up using the Store drop-down.
4. Select the checkbox for Use Rank 1 Approvals.
5. Enter the purchase order amount range that requires Rank 1 approval.
6. Repeat the previous two steps for additional ranks (up to four) as needed.
7. Optionally, enter an amount in After approval, allow purchase order increase of to let an approved PO increase by that amount without requiring re-approval.
8. Go to Employee Setup and, under Purchasing > Purchase Orders > Approvals, grant Request Approval and the appropriate Approve Rank permission to each employee who needs it.
Note: Users cannot approve a purchase order that they requested approval for. |
Set Up Hierarchical PO Approval
1. Go to System Setup > Options > Global and set the Purchase Order Approval Method to Hierarchy.
2. Go to System Setup > Employees > Employee Roles and build the roles that will receive approval emails, in the order they should receive them.
3. Assign employees to their roles in Employee Setup. Employees can have different roles at different stores, if needed.
4. Go to System Setup > Store Approval Types and build the approval types you need. A different store type can have a different hierarchy of approval, and you can set a backup notification role here for redundancy.
5. Assign each store to its appropriate Approval Type.
6. Go to System Setup > PO Approval Setup and, for each Store Approval Type, sequence the required approval roles under Hierarchy (First Approval, Second Approval, and so on), including an alternate role for each tier to cover conflicts.
Note: Approval Administrator is a default role included in the system. It lets an admin log in and approve POs without being part of the hierarchy structure or receiving emails. Everyone else who will approve POs — including anyone who doesn't otherwise use Yellow Dog — must have an employee login and email address assigned. The requester also needs an email address assigned, to receive approval and rejection notifications. |
Create a PO and Request Approval
1. Create the purchase order as usual. [confirm exact reference — see companion How To: Create a Purchase Order]
2. If approval is required, Commit will not be available. Select Request Approval instead.
3. Select Save & Close on the purchase order.
Once the purchase order has been approved by everyone required, you can reopen it and select Commit.
Approve a PO Using Threshold
1. Log in with Approval access — Yellow Dog opens directly to the Purchase Order Approvals list. You can also access this list from the Purchasing module.
2. Select the purchase order from the list.
3. Select Approve or Reject — or open the purchase order and approve or reject it from there.
a. If you reject the PO, enter a reason for rejection. Once saved and closed, the PO disappears from the Approval list but remains open in the Purchase Order list.
b. If you approve the PO, you'll be prompted to Commit it. Once committed, the PO appears as Ordered in the Purchase Order screen.
Approve a PO Using Hierarchy
1. When a PO is submitted for approval, Yellow Dog emails everyone assigned to the first approval tier.
2. Follow the link in the email to open the web review page.
3. Review the PO details and line items, then select Approve or Reject.
4. Once approved by one person on a tier, Yellow Dog emails everyone assigned to the next tier — this repeats until either the request is rejected, or every tier has approved it.
5. The original requester receives an email notification once the request is fully approved or rejected. The current approval status can also be viewed from the Approvals button in the Purchase Order editor.
6. Once fully approved, the purchase order can be committed.
Note: Although multiple users may be assigned to the same tier, a single PO can only be approved or rejected once per tier. |
RELATED ARTICLES
No related articles at this time.
Last reviewed: July 2026 · Applies to: Yellow Dog Inventory 2026