Setup Approval Levels

Use the Approval Levels feature to define automated, multi-step approval chains based on PO value, department, or user roles. This ensures purchase orders are reviewed by the right people without manual handovers — saving time and increasing control. This guide shows you how to configure the chain, assign approvers, and customize workflows for your organization.

Approval levels are applied separately in the Admin settings for:

Approval Levels (P.O.s)

Invoices

Expenses

How User Assignment and Approval Levels Work in DPO

There are two ways to set up user approvals depending on whether a user should only approve certain invoices, P.O. or Expenses.

Approving only for assigned departments:

1. In the user settings, assign the appropriate departments
2. Activate the checkbox “Approval by Department only” in the approval levels

Approving across all departments:

• If a user, typically a Production Manager, should see and approve everything, leave the “Approval by Department only” box unchecked
• Place them in a different approval level

Approval Rules and Department Settings

• Users can set up custom email notifications in their account to be informed about activities such as new documents or approval requests
• When a P.O., Expense, or Invoice is created within a department, all users assigned to that department in their profile, as well as any users without a department who hold approval level 1, 2, 3, etc. in the approval chain, will be required to approve it
• If you need to limit a user’s access within a department, create a separate department. For instance, if two people work in the same department but shouldn’t see each other’s items, place them in different departments
• Note: If a person appears twice in the approval chain, their second appearance will be skipped automatically
• Approval Levels by Amount: You can create approval levels that apply only to amounts under or over a specified value, giving you greater control over the approval process. This option can be added directly when setting up the approval level

How to Build an Approval Chain

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

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

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

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, invoices or Top Sheets within their assigned department

11. For each approval level, set conditions using the drop-down menu

• Applies to all Purchase Orders, Invoices, or Top Sheets
• (Applies to special P.O.s only)
• If Purchase Orders, Invoices, or Top Sheets net total is equal to or greater than [amount]
• If Purchase Orders, Invoices, or Top Sheets 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.
14. **Save your changes **

Any Questions?

Our support team is happy to help:

Email: support@digitalpurchaseorder.com

Phone: +1 888 376 7254

Or schedule a free demo – we look forward to hearing from you

Updated on: 12/01/2026