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SAP B1 Approval Procedure Template: Documents, Thresholds and Approvers

SAP Business One approval procedures stop a document from posting until the right person agrees. The system settings are quick to build, but only if you have decided who approves what. This template turns that decision into a written, signable policy.

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Company name

Policy version

Effective date

Policy owner

PO limit, stage 1 approver (currency amount)

PO limit, stage 2 approver (currency amount)

Stage 1 approver role

Stage 2 approver role

Sales discount needing approval (percent)

Approval response target (working days)

Backup approver role when absent

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SAP B1 Approval Procedure Template

SAP Business One Approval Procedure

Company: Acme Precision Ltd Version: 1.0 Effective date: 2026-11-01 Policy owner: Financial Controller

Purpose: to set who must approve which business documents in SAP Business One before they are posted, so that spending and pricing commitments follow delegated authority.

1. Scope

This procedure applies to documents created in SAP Business One by employees of Acme Precision Ltd. It covers purchase orders, sales quotations and orders with discounts, manual journal entries and inventory adjustments. Documents that need approval are created as drafts and are not posted until approved.

2. Approval rules

Document	Condition	Approver	Stages
Purchase order	Total up to 5000	None (budget owner review)	0
Purchase order	Total above 5000 up to 25000	Purchasing Manager	1
Purchase order	Total above 25000	Purchasing Manager then Finance Director	2
Sales order or quotation	Discount above 10 percent	Sales Manager	1
Journal entry	Manual entries to control accounts	Financial Controller	1
Inventory adjustment	Any posting to stock write-off accounts	Warehouse Manager and Finance	1

3. Responsibilities

The originator prepares the document with complete supporting information. The approver reviews it within 2 working days. If an approver is absent, the General Manager approves in their place and the reason is recorded in the remarks. An originator must not approve their own document. The policy owner (Financial Controller) reviews these rules at least once a year.

4. System configuration notes

Approval Stages define the authorizers and how many must approve. Approval Templates link a stage to a document type and to conditions such as total, discount or a user query. Templates are set in Administration, Setup, General, Approval Procedures. Test each template in a copy company with an originator and an approver before go-live. Users who are authorizers need the Authorization to see the Approval Status report.

5. Exceptions and audit

Urgent purchases may be raised with verbal approval from Finance Director and must be documented within one working day. All approvals and rejections are retained in B1 and are subject to internal audit. Rejected documents are returned to the originator with comments.

Approval

Policy owner / Date

Finance Director / Date

IT or B1 administrator / Date

This is a starting point for your own policy, not legal or audit advice. Menu paths and options vary by B1 version, so confirm them in your system. Thresholds shown are examples; set them from your own delegation of authority.

Need approval logic beyond totals?

We can review your approval rules and suggest query-based conditions for B1.

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How to use the template

Fill in the fields on the left with your thresholds, approver roles and response target. The document on the right updates as you type. Export it to Word to edit wording or to PDF for signature. Review it with finance and the department heads whose spending is limited, then use the approval rules table as the specification when you configure stages and templates in B1. Keep the signed copy with your internal control documents.

How approvals work in B1

B1 approvals have two parts. An approval stage defines the authorizers and how many of them must approve. An approval template defines which document types and conditions trigger one or more stages, and who the originators are. When a document meets the condition, it is saved as a draft and sent to the authorizers through the alerts system. The authorizer approves or rejects, and on approval the document can be added. Conditions can use the document total, the discount, budget, or a saved user query for custom logic.

Stages: who approves and how many are needed
Templates: which documents and conditions
Originators: users the template applies to
Queries: custom conditions beyond total and discount

Choosing thresholds

Base thresholds on risk and workload. Set the first approval limit high enough that routine, low-value buying flows, since approvals on every small purchase teach people to split orders. Set the upper limit where one person should not decide alone. Review the number of approvals per month after a quarter: if one approver clears hundreds, the threshold is probably too low. Link purchasing limits to your existing delegation of authority document, so B1 and policy agree.

Common mistakes

Approval workflows fail in practice for people reasons more than technical ones. Plan for them from the start.

No backup approver, so documents wait during leave
Originators who are also authorizers, defeating the control
Thresholds in one currency applied to multi-currency documents
Templates tested only with the administrator account
No periodic review of who is an authorizer

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I set up approval procedures in SAP Business One?

In Administration, Setup, General, Approval Procedures you define approval stages and approval templates. Menu names can differ slightly by version. Define stages first, then templates that reference them.

Which documents can need approval in B1?

Most marketing and purchasing documents, such as sales quotations, orders, purchase orders and invoices, as well as payments and journal entries, can be linked to approval templates. Check your version for the full list of supported documents.

What happens if the approver is on leave?

The document waits unless another authorizer is in the stage. Include a backup approver in the stage, or add a second authorizer who can approve instead. Document this in the policy so people know who steps in.

Can I base approval on something other than the total?

Yes. Besides total and discount, B1 allows conditions based on a saved query, which lets you test fields like item group or payment terms. Keep queries simple and test them with real documents.

If approvals need logic beyond totals and discounts, such as supplier risk or contract status, we can help design the query and review the set-up. Get in touch with your approval rules.

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