Approval chains

An approval chain defines the sequence of approvers a record passes through before it posts to the ledger or takes effect. Use chains for any record where you want a second pair of eyes.

What can have a chain

• Service charge budgets.
• Debtor invoices.
• Credit notes.
• Creditor bills.
• Creditor payment batches.
• Freeholder payouts.
• Manual journals.
• Write-offs.
• Bulk announcements.

Configure a chain

1. Open Settings → Workflows → Approval chains → Add chain.
2. Pick the record type.
3. Set conditions for the chain to apply (amount over £X, specific site, specific category).
4. Add approvers in order. Each approver can be:
   • A specific user.
   • A role (anyone with the Approve bill permission).
   • A user or their delegate (if they are on leave).
5. Pick whether the chain is sequential (each approver in turn) or parallel (any one approver suffices).
6. Save.

Example

For creditor bills over £5,000:

1. Manager approval.
2. Operations director approval.
3. Optional finance director approval over £20,000.

PropLink posts the bill to the ledger only after every approver has signed off.

Delegating approval

If an approver is on leave, set a delegate:

1. Open Profile → Delegations → Add delegate.
2. Pick the colleague who can approve on your behalf.
3. Set start and end dates.
4. Save.

The delegate sees your pending approvals on their dashboard. PropLink records the delegated approval on the audit log so the chain of custody is clear.

Bypass

For genuine emergencies (a last-minute supplier invoice that must be paid the same day), an Organisation Owner can bypass an approval chain. The bypass is recorded prominently in the audit log and a notification goes to every chain member.

Use bypass rarely.