Configuring PO Approval Thresholds

Overview

PO approval thresholds let you require manager or finance sign-off before a purchase order is released to a vendor once it crosses a dollar amount you define — for example, requiring approval on any PO over $500. This is built with standard Salesforce Approval Processes and Flow, so you can fully configure thresholds, approvers, and notifications to match your organization's procurement policy.

This article walks through setting up a basic threshold-based approval workflow, adding approvers, and configuring notifications.

Before You Begin

You'll need:

• System Administrator access, or a profile with permission to create Approval Processes and Flows
• A clear picture of your approval policy: the dollar threshold(s), who approves at each level, and what happens if a PO is rejected
• The names of the users or queues who will act as approvers

Tip: If your policy has more than one threshold (e.g., $500, $2,500, $10,000), map out each tier and its approver(s) before you start configuring — it's much easier to build multi-step approvals when the logic is planned out first.

Step 1: Define Your Threshold Criteria

1. Navigate to Setup > Object Manager > Purchase Order.
2. Confirm the field that holds the PO total (typically Total_Amount__c) is available and populated before a PO is submitted for approval.
3. Decide whether your threshold applies to the PO total, a line-item total, or a combination (e.g., total AND vendor risk category). This determines the entry criteria you'll use in Step 2.

Step 2: Create the Approval Process

1. Go to Setup > Process Automation > Approval Processes.
2. Click New Approval Process and select the Purchase Order object.
3. Under Specify Entry Criteria, set the condition that triggers approval, for example:
   • Total Amount greater than 500
4. Under Select Approver, choose one of the following approaches:
   • Automatically assign to approver — good for a single fixed approver (e.g., the Procurement Manager)
   • Let the submitter choose the approver — useful if the approver varies by department
   • Use a queue — routes the request to any member of a designated approval team
5. Save the approval process, but leave it inactive for now — you'll finish configuring steps and notifications first.

Step 3: Configure Multi-Tier Thresholds (Optional)

If your policy has multiple thresholds, add additional approval steps within the same process rather than building separate processes:

1. On the approval process detail page, click New Approval Step.
2. Set the step's entry criteria to the next threshold (e.g., Total Amount greater than 2500).
3. Assign the approver for that tier.
4. Repeat for each threshold tier, in ascending order.

Each step fires only when its criteria are met, so a $600 PO stops at the first-tier approver, while a $3,000 PO routes through both tiers in sequence.

Step 4: Set Up Notifications

1. From the approval process, go to Initial Submission Actions.
2. Add an Email Alert action using a notification template (create one under Setup > Email Templates if you don't already have one).
3. Repeat for Approval Actions, Rejection Actions, and Recall Actions so submitters and approvers are notified at each stage.
4. For real-time alerts, consider pairing the approval process with a Flow that sends a Slack or Teams notification in addition to email.

Step 5: Lock the Record During Approval

To prevent a PO from being edited or sent to the vendor while it's pending approval:

1. On the approval process, go to Final Approval Actions and Final Rejection Actions.
2. Add a Field Update action to lock or unlock the record, or update a Status field (e.g., Pending Approval, Approved, Rejected).
3. Optionally, add a validation rule that blocks PO submission to the vendor unless Status = Approved.

Step 6: Activate and Test

1. Return to the approval process and click Activate.
2. Create a test PO just above your lowest threshold and submit it for approval to confirm:
   • The correct approver receives the request
   • Notifications are sent as expected
   • The PO status updates correctly on approval and on rejection
3. If you configured multiple tiers, repeat the test at each threshold boundary (just above and just below each amount) to confirm routing is correct.

Common Configurations

Troubleshooting

• PO isn't triggering approval: Confirm the PO's total field is populated before submission — approval criteria are evaluated at submission time, not on later edits.
• Wrong approver receiving requests: Check whether the process uses a hierarchy-based, fixed-user, or queue-based approver setting; hierarchy-based approvals depend on the submitter's manager being set correctly on their user record.
• Notifications not sending: Verify the email alert's template and recipient fields, and confirm the related Flow (if used) is active.
• PO approved but still editable: Confirm your field update and/or validation rule for locking the record is included in the Final Approval Action.

Related Articles

• Setting Up Purchase Order Templates
• Managing Vendor Records
• Configuring Notification Preferences