How to set up cost approval workflows

In this article, you’ll learn how to enable and manage approval workflows for cost documents in Planyard.

Introduction

Cost approval workflows help ensure tight control over project budgets. When activated, all costs must be reviewed and approved by selected users before being fully processed. You can configure approval flows either across the entire company or locally within individual projects. Each flow is round-based, meaning costs must be approved in a specific order before being finalized.

1. Activate the approval workflow feature

Before setting up any approval flows, the Approval workflow feature must be enabled.

1. Click Company in the top menu.
2. Click Settings on the far right.
3. Open the Company-wide features tab.
4. Enable Approval workflow.

Once enabled, a new Approvals button will appear in the top header:

• Approvers can see all documents pending their approval.
• Users with the correct permissions can see everything pending approval across the company.

2. Set up cost approval at the company level

Company-level approval flows apply globally across all projects. When a cost is processed (regardless of which project it belongs to), it will be routed through the approval rounds set at the company level.

This is ideal for organizations that want centralized financial control, where department leads or finance managers approve all cost documents before they’re finalized.

To configure:

1. Scroll to Cost approval flow under Company-wide features.
2. Toggle the feature on. A popup will appear.
3. Choose one of two options:
   • Add approver – Select a user from the dropdown and click Create workflow round.
   • Configure separately within projects – Skip company-level approvals and manage approvals per project only.
4. To add additional approval rounds, click Add next round.
   • Approval rounds are sequential: each round must be approved before the next one begins. For example, if Claire is Round 1 and Timothy is Round 2, Timothy won’t see the cost until Claire has approved it.
5. You can update any round by clicking Update approvers, removing the current user, and selecting a new one.

3. Set up cost approval at the project level

Project-level approval flows apply only to a specific project. When costs are processed within that project, they will go through the defined project approval rounds.

This is useful for delegating control to project managers or site leads without requiring central approval for every single cost.

To configure:

1. Navigate to the relevant project.
2. Click Settings in the project menu.
3. Scroll to Cost approval workflow.
4. Click Select approvers, choose a user from the dropdown, and click Create workflow round.
5. To add another round, click Next round and select another user.
6. You can update rounds at any time using Update approvers.

Note: A user must have access to the project to be added as an approver.

If both project-level and company-level approval flows are active, the cost must first be approved at the project level. Only after all local rounds are completed will the cost move on to the company-level approval sequence.

4. Notifications

Approvers receive notifications both via email and inside Planyard when action is required.

Event	In-App Notification	Email Notification
You have a cost to approve	Yes	Yes
A cost you processed has been approved	Yes	No
A cost you processed has been rejected	Yes	Yes

To disable email notifications:

• Click your name in the top right corner
• Select Settings
• Turn off Approval workflow notification