Approvals

Approvals in Silkline provide a fast and flexible way to request purchase approvals. This workflow is meant to serve as a speed limit sign—guiding behavior and flagging issues—rather than a spike strip that brings everything to a halt.

The Basics

Here are the need-to-know basics for how Approvals in Silkline work:

• Purchase approvals in Silkline are based on organization structure and approval limits per user

• The default routing for a purchase approval starts with requester and then ladders up the org chart until the approver's limit is above the order amount

• The buyer can flexibly modify the approval routing by adding, removing, and reordering approval steps

• The only enforced requirement is that at least one approver must have the authority to approve the order

• Even that requirement has a "break-the-glass" option for when approvals happen outside Silkline

Setting your Approval Rules

Users with sufficient privileges can set the organization chart and approval limits that define your organization's approval rules.

Default Approval Threshold

Set the approval limit that's used when a user doesn't have a limit specified. If a user has a limit set that's less than then default approval threshold, the user's lower limit will be used. For example, if the default limit is $500, but Joan has a limit of $250, she can only approval orders up to $250.

Reapproval Threshold

Specify a dollar and percent variance that is allowed without requiring re-approval. If either rule is exceeded, reapproval will be required.

Let's say an organization says reapproval thresholds of 10% or $10,000. The Organization's default approval threshold is $1,000.

Example 1: A $500,000 purchase changes to $520,000. The $20,000 increase is only 4%, but reapproval is required because the change is more than $10,000.

Example 2: A $5,000 purchase changes to $6,000. The $1,000 increase is less than $10,000, but reapproval is required because the order changed by 20%.

Example 3: A $250 purchase changes to $750. The $500 increase trips the 10% rule, so re-approval is required. However, at $750, the purchase is under the organization's $1,000 default approval threshold, so the user can self-approve the purchase.

Organization Chart

Specify a reporting structure and dollar value limits for each user. Click the pencil icon next to a user to define their job title, approval limit, and who they report to.

Approval Settings

Sending for Approval

1

Start the approval

When viewing a draft order, click the Send for Approval on the top right of the page. Note, this button will only show if Approvals are activated for your organization.

2

Select approval steps

The default approval steps start with the requester and ladder up your org chart until the approval threshold is met. You can flexibly modify the approval steps however you see fit.

We'll warn you if you select an approval routing where none of the approvers have the authority to approve the order, but you can still start the approval process.

3

Add notes

Add notes or instructions you'd like to share with the approval request. This will be included in the email to the approver.

4

Send for approval

Send the request for approval by clicking Send for Approval button. The first approver will be notified immediately. Subsequent approvers, if applicable, will be notified once the prior approval steps have been completed.

Alternatively, users can self-approve or expedite approval

	The order is immediately approved and the current user is recorded as the only approver. This option is available when the current user's approval limit is above the order amount.
	The order is immediately approved and the current user is documented as having used this expedited approval option. This option is only available to users with sufficient privileges when they ordinarily would not have the authority to self-approve a purchase.

Approving an Order

When it's your turn for approval, you will receive an email with key details of the order, notes, an overview of the approval steps, and an option to approve directly from then email.

If you have all of the details you need, simply click the Approve button. If you'd like to review the order details, or leave a comment in the order's activity feed, click the Review button to view the order.

Once you have approved, the next approver will be notified.

Currently, users must be logged in to complete the approval from clicking the Approve button in the email

Example Approval Request email

Approving early

Although users are only notified when it's their turn to approve, users can approve an order before its their turn. To do this, navigate to the order in question and click Approve for your step. You can also go to the Approvals page to search and filter across all approvals.

Rejecting an Order

Approvers can reject an order by clicking the "Reject" button on the approval step. This sets the order back to draft and cancels the approval chain. The user must provide a reason for rejection. The buyer for the order will receive an email notification indicating that the order was rejected.

Completing Approvals

An approval is complete when all listed approval steps are complete.

An approval is sufficient when any completed steps have an approval limit above the order amount

When all steps in an order's approval workflow are complete, the order will automatically be marked as Approved.

Once an order is approved by any approver whose approval limit is above the order amount, the order can be manually moved the Approved status by using the order state dropdown:

Managing Approvals

A frequent complaint about approval workflows is that it can be hard to see all of the pending approvals requiring your attention, or identify where an approval you've requested is blocked.

Silkline's Approvals page makes it easy to monitor approvals and keep them on-track. Users can see see three tabs:

• Waiting on Me – approval requests where you are the current reviewer

• Coming Up – approval requests where you are are an upcoming reviewer

• My Completed – approvals you've already completed

• All Approvals – all approvals across all orders

You can identify which approvals someone is blocking by navigating to the All Approvals tab and filtering on Next Approver.

Example: I want to see all orders that are being held up by my Head of Finance

Approval Delegation

Each user can indicate a delegate who may approve on their behalf. This can be useful when an approver is going out of office or has an executive assistant that helps with approvals.

When using approval delegation, the designated individual is copied on approval requests and will see a "Approve as Delegate" button for orders where they are a delegated approver. When a delegate approvers on behalf of an original approver, the user completing the approval is recorded.

The applicable approval threshold is based on the original approver's authority, not the delegate. For example, let's say that Connor has an approval limit of $5,000 and Stacey has an approval limit of $10,000. If Stacey designates Connor has her delegate, Connor can approve on behalf of Stacey for up to $10,000. If an approval is requested of Connor directly, his approval limit is $5,000.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all approval steps need to be complete for an order to be approved?

Nope! An order can be approved when any steps are complete where the approver has an approval limit above the order amount.

Keep in mind that an order won't automatically move to the Approved state until all approval steps are complete.

Can I change approval steps after I send?

Yes! To edit an active approval workflow, navigate to the order and click on the pencil icon at the top right of the approval widget.

If the current step changes as a result of your edits, the new current approver will be notified of the approval request.

Can I re-request approval once someone has already approved?

Yes! To re-request approval, edit the approval workflow and simply remove the approval tag from the corresponding approver(s)

What is a self-approval, and when should I use this?

A self-approval allows a user to immediately approve the order without starting an approval workflow. This option is only available to users that have an approval limit above the order amount.

What is an expedited approval, and when should I use this?

An expedited approval is a "break-the-glass" option that allows select users to bypass the normal approval limits.

This is useful when:

• Relevant approvers have already agreed outside Silkline

• The approval is time-sensitive but required approvers are unavailable

When using an expedited approval, the order is immediately approved and the user exercising this option is recorded as having used this option. A reason for using expedited approval is required.

What happens if none of the approvers in an approval workflow has the authority to approve an order?

This can happen in several cases:

• The order amount changes after an approval workflow has started

• Approval limits change after an approval workflow has started

• The user starting the approval intentionally sends an incomplete approval workflow – this can be useful if they want to get approvals started

When this occurs, a message like this will be shown:

Order total of $55,000 exceeds highest approval limit of $50,000

In these cases, the order cannot be approved until the workflow is edited to add a qualified approver.

Are foreign currencies supported for approval limits?

No, foreign currencies are not yet supported for Approval limits. Orders in other currencies will nominally be compared to approval limits in USD.

Where can I see the approval history of an order?

You can view the approval history of an order by clicking on the approval event in the order's activity feed, or from the Approvals page.

Do you support group approvals?

Currently, approvals can only be routed to one individual at a time. Approvers can approve early, but they won't be notified until it's their turn.

Our research shows that group approvals actually slow down approvals because when reviewers know that there are multiple available approvers, each individual approver is less likely to take action.

Can I add a "cameo" approver?

Yes! In some cases you may want to add additional approvers that wouldn't typically be necessary for an approval. In Silkline, you can easily add cameo approvers to document their review.