Who approves a request?

Updated 3 weeks agoSara AhlénStore & Ordering

Velory finds an approver for each item separately, from the approval rule that covers that item's hardware category. One request for a laptop and a mouse can therefore need your manager for the laptop and nobody at all for the mouse.

The rules themselves live in Settings → Policies → Approvals. See How do I set up approval rules?.

How the rule is picked

When several rules cover the same person, Velory picks one per item:

  1. A rule that names the item's category beats one that covers all hardware. "Laptops → IT lead" wins over "All hardware → manager" for a laptop, even if the catch-all is the stricter of the two.
  2. Among rules that are equally specific, the stricter approval wins. Instant is the least strict. Manager approval is stricter than Instant, and named people or groups are stricter still.
  3. Priority breaks a tie between rules that are equally specific and equally strict.

What each approval does for hardware

ApprovalWho decides a hardware item
Instant (no approval)Nobody. The item is approved on submission
Manager approvalThe requester's manager
Individual approver(s)Any one of the people you named
Group member approvalAny member of the groups you picked
Group admin approvalAn admin of the requester's group
Group hierarchy approvalApprovers up the group tree
Any approverThe requester's manager
Software owner approvalNobody can match it for hardware, so the item goes to the admin desk (below)
WorkflowThe requester's manager

When a rule resolves to several people, the first one to decide wins.

A rule's duration setting has no effect on hardware.

When nobody can approve

The requester never approves their own item, and only active people are considered.

  • If the rule names nobody who can act — the requester has no manager, or the named approver has left — the item goes to the admin desk: your company's active owners and admins with company-wide reach.
  • If the desk is empty too, the item shows No eligible approver and waits. It is not approved by default. Velory looks again whenever your approval rules, someone's manager or someone's status changes.

Good to know

Why was my own Store checkout approved automatically?

An admin's checkout goes through the same rules, applied to the admin. If no rule covers what they bought, it is approved automatically — the item shows Auto-approved by policy with the reason "No policy covers this purchase for a store admin." It still waits for Confirm & continue before anything is ordered.

Do I need a rule for every category?

No. One rule covering all hardware is enough to start. Add a category-specific rule only where that category should be handled differently.

Can an admin step in for an approver?

Yes. An admin with company-wide reach can approve or decline anyone's items, except on a request they made themselves.

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