Sales Order Approval in Odoo#
Large sales orders may require manager review before confirmation - to check discount levels, margin impact, delivery feasibility, or credit risk. Odoo's sales order approval feature adds this step automatically.
Enabling Sales Order Approval#
Sales → Configuration → Settings → enable Sales Order Approval:
- Minimum Amount: orders above this amount require approval (e.g., $10,000)
How It Works#
- Salesperson creates a sale order > $10,000
- Clicks Confirm
- Instead of confirming, the order moves to Waiting for Approval status
- An approval request is sent to the manager (configured in the workflow)
- Manager reviews:
- Approve: order confirms and proceeds to delivery
- Reject: order is returned to Draft with a rejection comment
Configuring the Approver#
Sales → Configuration → Sales Teams → [Team] → Manager: this person receives approval requests for the team's orders.
Or use an automated action to route to a specific user based on:
- Salesperson
- Amount range (different approver for $10K vs. $100K)
- Product category
Approval Notification#
The manager receives:
- Email notification with order summary
- In-app notification (Discuss)
- The Waiting Approval filter in their Sales view
Multiple Approval Levels#
For very large orders (e.g., >$100,000), configure a two-stage approval:
- Sales Manager approval → order moves to "Senior Approval"
- VP/Director approval → order confirms
Implement via Odoo Studio or automated actions with custom status fields.
Audit Trail#
Every approval action is logged in the order chatter:
- Who approved/rejected
- When
- Any comment (rejection reason, approval conditions)
This audit trail is important for SOX compliance and internal audit purposes.
Bypassing Approval for Trusted Customers#
Some customers have pre-approved credit limits:
- On the customer record → add a note or custom field "Pre-approved to $X"
- Create an automated action to skip approval for orders where the customer has this flag
This avoids unnecessary delays for long-term, trusted accounts while maintaining controls for new or risky customers.