Transaction Approval Workflow

Once Approvals is configured for a module, users of your organization can submit transactions created in that module for approval. Approvers can either accept or reject transactions submitted for approval. In this help document, you’ll learn how to perform these actions in Zoho Books.

Submit a Transaction for Approval

You can create a transaction and submit it for approval. Here’s how:

Create a transaction and fill in the required details.
Click the dropdown next to Save and Send and select Save and Submit.

Click Save and Submit to submit the transaction for approval

You can also submit an existing transaction for approval, provided it is in the Draft status. Here’s how:

Go to the module in which you created the transaction.
Click the transaction that has to be submitted for approval.
Click Submit for Approval on the transaction’s Details page.

Click Submit for Approval to submit the transaction for approval

The transaction will be sent to the approvers for approval. If notifications are enabled in the module’s Notification Preferences, approvers will receive in-app and email notifications, and the submitter will be notified when the transaction is approved or rejected. Notification Preferences are configured per approval type — see Simple Approval, Multi-Level Approval, or Custom Approval.

Approve a Transaction

Users with permission to approve records of the module can approve transactions submitted for approval. The approval behavior depends on the approval type configured for the module:

Simple Approval — Any one admin or approver can approve the transaction.
Multi-Level Approval — Transactions move through the configured hierarchy. Each level’s approver must approve in turn. Admins can also Final Approve to override the hierarchy.
Custom Approval — Transactions are routed to the approver defined by the matching custom approval criteria.

To approve a transaction:

Open the transaction that has to be approved.
Click Approve on the transaction’s Details page.

Click Approve to approve the transaction

Bulk Approve Transactions

To approve multiple transactions at once:

Go to the module in which you want to bulk approve transactions.
If the module’s approval type is Simple Approval, select the transactions you want to approve.
If the module’s approval type is Multi-Level Approval, click All at the top of the page, select My Approvals, and select the transactions you want to approve.
Click Approve at the top of the page.

Select the transactions and click Approve at the top to approve them

Final Approve a Transaction

In Multi-Level Approval, admins can bypass the approval hierarchy and approve a transaction once and for all using Final Approve.

To Final Approve a transaction, admins should:

Select the transaction that has to be approved.
Click Approve and select Final Approve from the dropdown.

Click Final Approve to approve the transaction

If an admin is not the current approver for the module or not part of the approval flow, they can still Final Approve transactions:

Select the transaction that has to be approved.
Click the More button and select Final Approve from the dropdown.

Reject a Transaction

Admins and approvers can reject transactions submitted for approval if they have incorrect details. By doing so, the submitter can make the necessary changes and resubmit the transaction for approval if required.

To reject a transaction, the admins or approvers should:

Select the transaction.
Click Reject on the transaction’s Details page.

Enter a reason for rejecting the transaction.
Click Reject.

Pro-tip: If you do not want to reject a transaction, you still want the submitter to edit the transaction, you can convert a transaction to a draft by entering a reason.

Note: In Multi-Level Approval, if any of the approvers rejects the transaction, it will be rejected even if previous approvers approved it.

Resubmit a Rejected Transaction for Approval

If your approver rejects a transaction due to missing or incorrect details, you can correct these details and resubmit the transaction for approval. Here’s how: