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Understanding and Configuring Approval Pools

Updated this week

What are Approval Pools?

Approval Pools are a feature in Procurify designed to streamline the approval process. Instead of a request going to a single approver at each level, Approval Pools sends the request to all designated approvers within a level simultaneously.

The first person in the pool to take action—either approve or deny—finalizes the decision for that level. This immediate action allows the request to move to the next level or be resolved, eliminating delays caused by a single person's unavailability.


Configuring Approval Pools: A Step-by-Step Guide

Prerequisites: You must have the appropriate administrative permissions to manage Approval Groups.

Approval Pools can be configured on the web app. Once enabled, the approval logic will apply to both web and mobile approvals.

Step 1: Navigate to Approval Groups

  1. From the left-hand navigation bar, click on SETTINGS.

  2. Select Manage Approval Groups.

Step 2: Select or Create an Approval Group

You can either modify an existing Approval Group or create a new one. Click on the name of the group you wish to edit.

Step 3: Confirm Request Type

In the Approval Group's settings, ensure that Request for Order is selected under the Request Type section.

Note: The Approval Pools option is only available for Request for Order groups.

Step 4: Enable Approval Pools

  1. Look for the new checkbox labeled Approval Pools.

  2. Check this box to activate the feature for this specific Approval Group.

  3. A confirmation notification will appear.

  4. The Approval Group overview screen will now display that Pools are 'On' for that group.

Important: All new requests that are routed to this Approval Group will now use the new pool logic. This change will not affect requests that are already in progress.


Common Questions & Troubleshooting

  • Can I enable Approval Pools for other request types (e.g., Expense Reports)?Currently, Approval Pools are only available for Request for Order. We are exploring the possibility of expanding this feature to other request types in future updates.

  • What happens if multiple people approve at the same time? The system will register the very first action it receives. Any subsequent approvals or denials from other members of the pool will be disregarded, and the request will move forward.

  • Will this feature change my existing approval workflows? It will only change the workflow for the specific Approval Groups where you have enabled the Approval Pools feature. All other groups will continue to function as before.

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