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# Approval Levels P.O. - Old DPO Design

Create automated multi-step approval workflows based on PO value, department, and user role. This ensures the right people review purchase orders at the right time no manual forwarding needed.

||| **Already using DPO's new design?** [You can find the corresponding article here](https://help.digitalpurchaseorder.com/en/article/approval-levels-po-in-dpo-19yr5ap/)

### **Approval levels are applied separately in the Admin settings for:**

**Approval Levels (P.O.s)**
[Invoices](https://digital-purchase-order.crisp.help/en/article/invoices-cnlzt6/)
[Expenses](https://digital-purchase-order.crisp.help/en/article/expenses-1wl701f/)
 
### **Quick Overview: Approval Levels & Settings**

Before setting up approval levels, the approval processes should be clearly defined. The levels should reflect the actual organizational structure, responsibilities must be assigned clearly, and regular adjustments should be made when internal processes change.
In the settings, you can hide rejected P.O.s to improve clarity. Each approval level can be configured flexibly — either for all P.O.s or based on criteria such as amount, department, or special P.O.s.


|| If a person is assigned to an approval chain twice, only their first entry will be active — the second will be automatically skipped.

### **What Are “Special P.O.s” and How to Hide Rejected P.O.s?**

**Special P.O.s:**

You can optionally configure an approval level specifically for Special P.O.s. To do this, enable the setting **“Applies to special P.O.s only”** for that approval level. This ensures that only users assigned to this level can be added, via the exclamation mark, as an additional approval step.

Purchase Orders (P.O.s) can be marked as **“Special”** **by clicking the exclamation mark (!) icon** within the Purchase Order or during the creation process.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/bildschirmfoto-2025-11-17-um-1_11fgo4o.png =832xauto)

**Hide Declined P.O.s:**
In the settings, you can enable an option to **hide the P.O. numbers of declined purchase orders**. This helps keep irrelevant or confidential P.O.s out of view, improving clarity and reducing unnecessary clutter in the interface.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/bildschirmfoto-2025-11-17-um-1_1laskte.png =824xauto)

###### Example of an Approval Chain
The following example illustrates a multi-level approval process:

* **Approval Level 1:** Approval for all P.O.s within the department only, typically handled by the **Head of Department**.
* **Approval Level 2:** General P.O. approval for all POs, usually by the **Production Manager**.
* **Approval Level 3:** Higher-level approval for all P.O.s, managed by the **Accountant**.
* **Approval Level 4:** Final approval for P.O.s exceeding a specified amount (e.g., 5,000 EUR), assigned to the **Managing Director**.

| Want to know more about setting up the approval chain? [Read here.](https://digital-purchase-order.crisp.help/en/article/setup-approval-levels-242trr/)


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/image-16_1cqafin.png =729xauto)


### **How to Build an Approval Chain for P.O.s**  

|| Note: A change to the approval chain will update all purchase orders (P.O.s) that are still pending.

1. Open **Administration > Approval Levels**
2. Choose the number of approval levels you need (e.g. 1, 2, 3)
3. Click **“+ Add Approval”** to add additional approval levels


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/6b39ce70-89b3-4078-8364-95dae0_1h52tz0.jpeg =762xauto)


4. Arrange approval levels using the **up and down arrows** to reorder them as needed
5. **View assigned approvers** by clicking the **person icon** to see which users are included in the approval workflow


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/d9fffb13-42bc-46fe-805b-cc0e09_1prf2q.jpeg =761xauto)


6. Search for the user’s name in the **“Add New Approver”** field on the right
7. Click the **plus (+)** icon to add the user to the approval level
8. If multiple users are assigned to the same approval level and department, the first available user will complete the approval

|| If the person icon is blinking red, it means the checkbox is ticked but the person in the approval level has no department assigned



![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/242c1972-8d4d-4bf6-970e-5cb1f5_11en8pd.jpeg =762xauto)


9. You can assign multiple approvers to the same approval level
10. Enable **Approval by Department** if the user should only approve P.O.s within their assigned department


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/946a5da6-598b-4d43-bc5c-df6d4c_v844wy.jpeg =767xauto)


11. For each approval level, **set conditions** using the drop-down menu
* **Applies to all** **Purchase Orders**
* **Applies to special P.O.s only**
* If Purchase Orders **Net total is equal to or greater than [amount]**
* If Purchase Orders **Net total is less than [amount]**

12. Make sure every approval level has at least one user assigned.
13. Once all levels are assigned, the automated approval workflow will be activated.


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/e/f/8/7ef8b3dbb012a000/57966cfd-77bd-4967-a934-165381_oqr7w3.jpeg =770xauto)



**Any Questions?**
Our support team is happy to help:
Email: support@digitalpurchaseorder.com
Phone: +1 888 376 7254
[Or schedule a free demo](https://calendly.com/d/gpk-ppc-rjg) – we look forward to hearing from you.