An approval workflow is a configured sequence that sends a procurement record to authorized reviewers according to defined rules. Routing may consider value, category, business unit, budget, risk, exception type, or other agreed criteria. A well-governed workflow records the evidence presented, the decision, the decision-maker, the time, and any escalation or returned action.
In plain English
It moves a request to the right decision-makers and records what they decided.
Illustrative example
At Northstar Industrial Systems, a capital-equipment request routes to the plant owner, finance, and procurement because its category and value meet configured approval conditions.
- Related terms
- Decision right; Escalation; Audit trail; Role-based access control
- Lifecycle stages
- Request; Approve
- Stakeholders
- Requester; Approver; Finance; Procurement