How To Set Up Approval Levels
- Alesja Alewelt
- Jan 1, 2026
- 2 min read
Manually sending Purchase Orders, Invoices or Expenses from one person to another for approval can be time-consuming. DPO automates this process by routing documents to the correct approvers based on the approval structure you define.
Choose the correct approval workflow
To get started, go to Settings and open the relevant approval section. The Approval Levels tab is used for Purchase Orders, while invoices and expenses have their own approval workflows under the Invoice and Expense tabs. All three workflows are configured in a similar way, although some settings may differ depending on the document type.
Define your approval levels
First, decide how many approval levels your organization requires. You can create as many or as few levels as needed to reflect your approval process. Each approval level can apply to all documents or only to documents within a specific value range. For example, you can configure a level that applies only to Purchase Orders above 5,000 USD or create a level for documents below a defined value.
Create department-based approval routes
Multiple approvers can be assigned to the same approval level. If individual approvers are responsible for specific departments, DPO also allows you to create department-based approval routes. Enable Approval by Department Only for the relevant level. Approvers will then receive only Purchase Orders, Invoices or Expenses submitted by users within their assigned departments.
Control document ID visibility
You can also decide whether document IDs should be visible at individual approval levels. If you want to hide Purchase Order IDs for declined Purchase Orders, activate the corresponding option at the top of the Approval Levels settings.
Assign approvers
Once the approval structure has been created, assign the users who should approve documents at each level.
You can do this in two ways:
Select a user directly within the approval level and click the + icon
Open the Users tab, select a user profile and assign the appropriate approval level there
Once the approvers have been assigned, the automated approval workflows are ready to use.
Automate your approval process
Approval Levels allow you to define who should approve which documents and under what conditions. By combining multiple levels, value ranges, department-based routing and assigned approvers, DPO can automatically send Purchase Orders, Invoices and Expenses to the appropriate users.
Want to see DPO in action?
Book a personal demo with our team and discover how DPO can simplify your Purchase Order and spend management processes.
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