Approval Workflow#

Most records in Neriyam — items, customers, suppliers, purchase requisitions, purchase orders, sales orders — go through a short approval workflow before they can be used in live transactions.

The workflow is intentionally simple: two roles, four steps.

The four steps#

Draft  →  Pending Approval  →  Approved
  ↑              │
  │              └──────→  Rejected  (goes back to the creator)
  │
  └── Recall (only from Pending)

1. Draft — the creator is still working on the record
2. Pending Approval — the creator has submitted it for review
3. Approved — an approver has reviewed and approved it
4. Rejected — the approver sent it back with a reason; the creator can edit and resubmit

The two roles#

Every record type in the workflow has two permissions:

• Manage permission — can create, edit, delete drafts, submit for approval, and recall pending records
• Approve permission — can approve or reject pending records

These are separate permissions so an approver can review work they did not create — the classic maker/checker control.

Example: sales orders#

• SALES.MANAGE_SALES_ORDER — create, edit, submit, recall, delete
• SALES.APPROVE_SALES_ORDER — approve or reject

A single user can hold both permissions and approve their own work, but in most organizations these are split across two people.

Step-by-step#

1. Draft#

• Creator opens the new-record form, fills it in, and clicks Save
• The record lands in Draft status
• It is fully editable
• It can be deleted

Fields like a document code are not yet assigned at this point for transactional documents — the record shows a temporary "Draft Ref" placeholder instead. See Document numbering.

2. Submit for approval#

• Creator clicks Submit for Approval (usually from the row menu on a list, or the top of a detail page)
• The record moves to Pending Approval
• The record becomes read-only — no one can edit it while it is pending
• Depending on document numbering rules, the real code may be assigned now (replacing the draft ref)

3a. Approve#

• An approver (someone with the approve permission) reviews the pending record
• They click Approve
• The record moves to Approved
• It can now be used downstream (PO against a PR, GRN against a PO, etc.)

Once a record is Approved, most fields become read-only. For example, on an approved sales order you cannot change the customer, the line quantities, or the tax rates. You can still change things that do not affect the commercials, like notes or attachments.

3b. Reject#

• The approver clicks Reject
• They must enter a reason
• The record moves to Rejected
• It returns to the creator who can edit it and resubmit, or delete it

4. Recall (optional)#

• While a record is Pending Approval, the creator (or anyone with manage permission) can click Recall
• The record moves back to Draft without being approved or rejected
• This is useful when you realise you submitted too early and need to fix something

After approval#

Cancel#

Approved records can be cancelled (not deleted). Cancelled records stay in the database with status CN — you can still view them, but they cannot be acted on.

Mark as Sent (POs only)#

After approval, purchase orders can be marked as Sent — meaning the document has been formally communicated to the supplier. This is a separate step from approval because internal approval and external send-out are different events.

Editing an approved record#

Most fields are locked once a record is Approved. To make a change, you typically have two options:

1. Cancel and recreate — cancel the approved record and create a new one
2. Edit side-car data — a few non-commercial fields (remarks, attachments, contacts) may still be editable

For master data (items, customers, suppliers), a subset of fields stays editable even after approval — see the module-specific docs.

What requires approval?#

Whether the approval workflow applies depends on toggles in Settings › System Settings:

• Item requires approval — on/off
• Customer requires approval — on/off
• Supplier requires approval — on/off

Transactional documents (PR, PO, SO) always go through the workflow — there is no toggle to skip it.

Permission matrix#

Delete permission escalation#

For customers and suppliers, the delete permission depends on the record's current status:

• Draft / Pending / Rejected → requires the Manage permission for the role (e.g., SALES.MANAGE_CUSTOMERS).
• Approved → requires the Approve permission (e.g., SALES.APPROVE_CUSTOMERS). The stronger permission gates removing an approved record, since approval is a deliberate sign-off and undoing it carries more weight.

A user with only the Manage permission can delete drafts but cannot delete approved customers or suppliers — they get a 403 Forbidden from the API.

Related#

• Lifecycle and fulfillment status — where approval fits in the bigger picture
• Document numbering — when real codes are assigned vs. draft refs