Approve Transaction When the Next Approver Is Unavailable for SuiteApprovals

User may need to approve the transaction (e.g. Purchase Order) instead of the Next Approver in case that he/she is not available for approving. Even Administrator cannot approve the transaction manually.

1. Navigate to Transactions > Purchases > Enter Purchases Orders > List
2. Click View by Purchase Oder in Pending Approval status
3. Result:
   • Next Approver: Employee populated is not available for approval
   • Approval Status: Pending Approval is not editable for Administrator
   • No Approve/Reject button shown for Administrator

Product:  NetSuite 2023.1
SuiteApp/Bundle:  SuiteApprovals | Bundle ID 203059

Scenario

User may need to approve the transaction (e.g. Purchase Order) instead of the Next Approver in case that he/she is not available for approving. Even Administrator cannot approve the transaction manually.

1. Navigate to Transactions > Purchases > Enter Purchases Orders > List
2. Click View by Purchase Oder in Pending Approval status
3. Result:
   • Next Approver: Employee populated is not available for approval
   • Approval Status: Pending Approval is not editable for Administrator
   • No Approve/Reject button shown for Administrator

Solution

To achieve this an Administrator can delegate the approval to another employee within the subsidiary indefinitely or for a period of time, specified by start and end dates.

1. Navigate to Lists > Employees > Employees
2. Click Edit next to the Next Approver that is not available
3. Click Human Resources tab
4. Click Approval Delegation subtab
   Note: If this is not visible, it may be hidden on your custom Employee form. To display it customise the form to show this subtab or switch to the standard Employee form.
5. Delegate Approval: Enter Checkmark
6. Delegate To: Select the Employee you want to delegate the approval to
   Example: Select particular Administrator or Supervisor
7. Start Date/End Date: Select the Date range for approval delegation
   Note: Do not select a date range if you want your delegate to approve on your behalf indefinitely. You cannot back date the Start Date, but you can set it to today, and you still would be able to delegate the approval for all unapproved Purchase Orders assigned to this Next Approver in the past.
8. Click Save
9. Revert it back once the Next Approver is available again

When Delegated Approver access the transaction that is Pending Approval, it shows his/her name in Delegated Approver field, both Approve/Reject buttons are available, while Next Approver field still displays original approver.