VANGELDER SOLUTIONS E-Invoice Platform · Help Nederlands Product

docs.vangeldersolutions.be/e-invoice-platform/setup-approval-workflow

Set Up an Approval Workflow for Purchase Documents

Setting Approval for Incoming Documents to Send for Approval does nothing until an approval workflow for purchase documents is enabled in Business Central. This article covers the standard setup you need for that: approval users, a workflow from a template, and enabling it. It is deliberately the short version, scoped to what this app needs.

If no workflow is enabled, incoming documents are left alone and the reason is written on the Incoming Supplier Recognition list. Nothing is lost, but nothing is approved either.

Step 1: Set up approval users

Every person who requests or grants approval needs a row here. Set the approver up first — you cannot point somebody at an approver who does not exist yet.

  1. Choose the Tell Me. Search icon, enter Approval User Setup, and then choose the related link.
  2. Choose the New action.
  3. Fill in User ID for the approver, and select Unlimited Purchase Approval if they may approve any amount.
  4. Add a row for each person whose documents need approval, and set their Approver ID to the approver.

Fill in Salespers./Purch. Code where you use it. If a workflow step has Approver Type set to Salesperson/Purchaser, the approver is taken from that field — and an empty value is the most common reason an approval request fails halfway, leaving a document stuck on Pending Approval with nothing to approve. See Send Incoming Invoices for Approval for how to repair one.

Step 2: Decide how approvers are notified

  1. On Approval User Setup, select the approver's line and choose the Notification Setup action.
  2. Set Notification Type to Approval.
  3. Set Notification Method to Note for an internal note, or Email to send mail.
  4. Choose the Notification Schedule action and set Recurrence to Instantly if approvers should hear about a request straight away.

Email notifications need email set up in Business Central. An internal note needs nothing and is the quickest way to get a working setup for testing.

Step 3: Create the workflow from a template

  1. Choose the Tell Me. Search icon, enter Workflows, and then choose the related link.
  2. Choose Actions, then New, and then the New Workflow from Template action.
  3. On Workflow Templates, pick the approval template that covers the document type you want approved.
  4. Leave the steps as they are for a first setup, and choose OK.

Pick the template deliberately. This app creates purchase invoices and purchase credit memos from incoming e-documents, so a workflow built from a purchase order template will not fire on them. If you are unsure, create the workflow, then read the When Event on the first line — it names the document type the workflow reacts to.

Templates whose code starts with MS- were added by Microsoft. The new workflow's Code is the template's code with -01 appended.

Step 4: Enable it

On the Workflow page, turn on the Enabled toggle. A workflow that is not enabled behaves exactly as if it did not exist.

Verify the setup

  1. Set Approval for Incoming Documents to Send for Approval on E-Invoice Platform Setup.
  2. Let a supplier document arrive, or choose Scan Inbox Now on the Vendor Bank Approvals page.
  3. Open Incoming Supplier Recognition and read the Approval column.

Sent for approval means it works. No workflow enabled means step 4 did not take effect, or the workflow reacts to a different document type. Approved immediately means the request landed on somebody allowed to approve their own — check the approval user setup if you expected a second pair of eyes.

You can also test without e-invoicing at all: create a purchase invoice by hand and choose Request Approval, then Send Approval Request. If that does not raise a request, the workflow is not right yet, and the problem is in Business Central rather than in this app.