When you place an order, it may have to go through an approval process. A designated person (an approver) has to sign off on the order. Sometimes, more than one level of approval is required, for example, by a series of managers. Each approver is associated with a level of approval (with 1 being the lowest level). So if three levels of approval are required, a level 1 approver must first sign off on the order, then a level 2 approver, and finally the level 3 approver. Not until all three sign-offs are complete is the order considered approved.
An order may require approval because of its price, for example, it is above a certain amount. Sometimes if you remove an expensive item from the cart you can avoid going through the approval process.
Some orders may require approval if you enter a particular cost center or accounting code as your payment method.
In addition, a product that you order may require approval. For example, a corporate report may require scrutiny and approval to ensure its contents are correct. Some products may have limited distribution so will require approval if you order them. Product approvals are not tied to price.
When an order you placed requires approval, the Order Confirmation page shows the Status of the order as Approval required. (The Order Confirmation page is the last step in the checkout process, but you can also open this page by clicking View Detail when checking your order history.) You can click Approval required to open an Approval Detail pane. This lets you see why the approval is required, how many levels of approval are required, and the status of the approvals. You also have the option of contacting an approver by e-mail to follow up on the status of the approval.
Notes:
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When an order requires more than one level of approval, you will be notified
by e-mail about the status of the approval after the highest level approver
is done and the approval process is complete. Only one e-mail is sent
to you, not one for each level of approval.
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The Approval
Detail pane may list more than one approver at the same level, for
example, three approvers may be level 1 approvers. In this case, only
one approver at that level has
to approve (or decline) the order before it moves onto the next level.