NetSuite SuiteApprovals: Boosting Productivity through Automated Approvals

SuiteApprovals is an application that’s been developed by NetSuite. It’s a first-party tool that helps NetSuite users easily set up approval processes. The best part is that you’ll get support directly from NetSuite, so there’s no need to go through a third-party provider. NetSuite SuiteApprovals offers an exciting way to make approval workflows simpler during NetSuite implementations. 

In this blog, we’ll dive into the details of NetSuite SuiteApprovals, exploring both its advantages and restrictions so you can get a complete picture of what it’s all about.

NetSuite SuiteApprovals SuiteApp

The SuiteApprovals SuiteApp simplifies the process of handling approvals for different types of records, including email approvals. You’ll have the flexibility to manage approvals for:

1. Journal Entries
2. Engineering Change Orders
3. Expense Reports
4. Purchase Orders
5. Requisitions
6. Sales Orders
7. Vendor Bills
8. Email Approval Logs

NetSuite SuiteApprovals is flexible and allows you to customize who can edit, approve, reject, or resubmit records. It’s got these approval rules based on criteria and hierarchy to ensure everything gets validated and routed correctly.

You can set limits for employees and amounts, allowing you to determine when a record requires approval. You can choose between hierarchical or custom approval routes and even delegate approval authority if necessary.

Regarding project-related approvals in expense reports, purchase orders, and vendor bills, SuiteApprovals has got you covered. It can even handle auto-generated regular journal entries with custom approval.

Setting up email approvals is easy; you can securely manage them through log gatekeeping. SuiteApprovals even supports multiple languages if that’s a feature in your NetSuite account. You can choose from various system-supported languages for your NetSuite user interface.

NetSuite SuiteApprovals Terminology

Approval Routing: This is a system that allows higher-ups to review and possibly reject transactions during processing.

Approver Gatekeeper: A person who oversees and manages all approvals made by different approvers through the email approval log.

Approver Type: Different categories of approval that a user can perform. Note: This doesn’t include specific record approvers like Journal Entry Approver, Expense Approver, Sales Order Approver, Vendor Bill Approver, or Purchase Approver.

Project Approver: A role assigned to project managers for project-based approvals. They can approve expense reports, purchase orders, and vendor bills linked to projects.

Record Type: A type of record used to store information. In SuiteApprovals, supported record types include:

• Journal Entries: Transactions that change ledger account balances by posting journal entries. These entries need approval before being posted.
• Engineering Change Order: Used with the Supply Chain Management SuiteApp to document changes in Bills of Materials (BOMs) and authorize changes using SuiteApprovals.
• Expense Reports: Records employee expenses for approval and conversion into bills. The expenses have no accounting impact until approved.
• Requisitions: Used when an employee needs something purchased using company funds, initiating the purchasing process.
• Purchase Orders (PO): Authorize vendors to provide items, materials, or services to the company. Tracks pending and received items.
• Vendor Bills: Track payables by entering bills from vendors. Can require approval for processing.
• Sales Orders: Records commitments to sell items or services to customers. Has no accounting impact until items are shipped or services are completed.

Purchase Order Approval Workflow: A SuiteApp combining features of standard NetSuite approval routing and the flexibility of the NetSuite workflow manager for purchase orders.

Automatic Approvals in SuiteApprovals

In the NetSuite documentation SuiteApprovals system, records get automatically approved under certain conditions depending on the type of transaction. Here’s how it works:

Journal Entry

Journal entries are approved automatically when the submitter’s journal entry limit is higher than the actual journal amount. But, if the amount goes beyond the specified limit, the entry is sent for approval. Moreover, if the “Use Employee Limit (Apply if Higher than Record Amount Limit)” setting is turned on and the employee’s journal entry limit is greater than the record amount, the journal gets approved automatically.

Purchase Order

For purchase orders, automatic approval happens when an employee’s purchase limit, mentioned in the Employee field, is higher than the transaction amount. If the Employee field is empty, the submitter’s purchase limit needs to be higher than the transaction amount for automatic approval to kick in.

Requisition

Requisitions get approved automatically when the submitter’s purchase limit is higher than the estimated total requisition amount. And guess what? If the estimated total requisition amount falls within the Record Amount Limit, it’s automatic approval time!

Sales Order

Sales orders are automatically approved when the submitter’s sales order entry limit exceeds the transaction amount. This streamlined process ensures efficient order management and makes handling transactions a breeze, delivering a seamless experience for customers and sales teams.

Vendor Bill

For vendor bills, automatic approval is granted when the vendor entry limit of the user or record submitter is equal to or greater than the transaction amount. Additionally, a vendor bill is automatically approved if it is determined not to require approval based on workflow exceptions.

Record Amount Limit (Require Approval for Amounts Over)

When the approval rule has the “Record Amount Limit (Require Approval for Amounts Over)” setting, any record with a transaction amount lower than the Record Amount Limit gets automatically approved. On the other hand, if the amount surpasses the Record Amount Limit, the record is sent for approval.

SuiteApprovals Functionalities

With NetSuite SuiteApprovals, you can easily create rules that align with your unique business needs. Simply choose your transaction type, subsidiary, active period, and priority to get started. 

Then, select your preferred currency, set the threshold for rule activation, and decide on the routing type. One exciting feature is using an employee’s purchase limit as a trigger for purchase order approvals. It’s all about giving you the flexibility and control you need!

When users choose custom routing, they get to set up the approval line by specifying the approvers and their approval amounts. They have the flexibility to either go through all the approvers or go directly to the one with the right approval amount. Approvers can be individuals, roles, or groups. Users can decide whether just one approver or all members must validate the transaction for roles and groups.

Once the rule is set, you can either approve or reject transactions. If a transaction is rejected, you’ll need to provide a reason, which will be visible on the record. This allows the employee to understand the feedback and make necessary edits before re-submitting the transaction.

Conclusion 

NetSuite’s SuiteApprovals is a powerful tool that makes approval workflows a breeze within the NetSuite platform. With its customizable options, users can easily manage approvals for records like journal entries, purchase orders, and expense reports. The system even supports automatic approvals under specific conditions, making everything more efficient. 

NetSuite SuiteApprovals also offers a user-friendly setup for email approvals, multi-language support, and many other cool features. While it simplifies the approval process, keep in mind that there might be limitations. Overall, SuiteApprovals is an excellent solution for businesses looking to streamline their approval processes, all directly supported by NetSuite.