Approval of fixed asset journals

What is covered in standard

According to Microsoft Learn, approval workflows in Business Central cover, among other things, purchase documents, sales documents and general journals before posting. In 2026 this was extended to item journals, physical inventory journals, output and consumption journals and planning worksheets. Microsoft's description of that extension does not mention fixed asset journals.

What we could not confirm

We found no page on Microsoft Learn that says fixed asset journals or fixed asset G/L journals can be sent for approval with a standard workflow. The idea of workflow and approval for fixed asset G/L journals has about 151 votes on Microsoft's ideas portal.

You therefore need to test it yourselves: create a journal in a sandbox, and see whether the action to send for approval exists on the fixed asset pages, and whether there is a workflow template that fits.

If fixed asset journals turn out to lack approval in your setup, write to Microsoft through the ideas portal. The votes are what Microsoft looks at when it sets priorities.

How to get a control today

• Approve the purchase instead of the journal. A fixed asset purchase can be recorded on a purchase invoice with the line type Fixed Asset. Purchase documents can go through an approval workflow, so the amount and the fixed asset number have been seen by someone else before the invoice is posted.
• Separate roles with permission sets. The person who creates the fixed asset journal should not also be allowed to post it. This requires no workflow.
• Use 'Preview Posting' and the test report before posting, and have someone else sign off on a fixed checklist.
• Build a Power Automate flow that notifies an approver and sends a request, if you need a proper audit trail.

Depreciation and disposals

Depreciation is typically calculated as a run that fills the journal. The control is therefore worth most before the run is posted: look at the total amount, check the posting date and compare with the previous period. For disposals of fixed assets, it is worth requiring that someone else has seen both the gain or loss and the documentation.

Write down the fixed controls and put them in the calendar for the month-end close, so they do not depend on who has time.

Also consider locking periods, so fixed asset entries cannot be posted in closed months. This is a standard setting in the general ledger setup and protects against a number of errors, whether or not there is a workflow.

Finally, keep the documentation. The invoice, depreciation schedule and disposal decision should be findable from the entry, so an auditor does not have to phone for them.

A fixed control every month

The fixed asset area is rarely a daily task, and that is exactly why the control slips. A fixed monthly control is easier to maintain than one that depends on someone remembering it.

Make a short checklist: Have all new assets been purchased through approved invoices? Does the depreciation run match last month, allowing for new assets? Are disposals documented? Are there assets with a depreciation book that is missing a start date? Let someone other than the bookkeeper sign off the checklist, and keep it with the month-end close.

Small companies can keep it simple: one sheet per month and a signature. Larger companies can set it up as a task in Planner or a Power Automate flow.

The idea

FA Journal Approval is on our list of possible apps. It is meant to give fixed asset journals the same approval as other journals, through the standard engine. It is an idea we are considering, and not something you can download or buy today.

If you have experience of handling fixed asset approvals differently, we would like to hear about it, so we understand the need better.