Prevent orders under approval from being printed and sent

An order sent for approval should not leave the building before it is approved. Even so, an order that is pending approval can often be both printed and sent. This article explains what the Pending Approval status does in Business Central, what the workflow block covers, and which practical rules can fill the gap. You also get an assessment of how big the risk really is, and when a technical block is worth considering.

What approval locks

When a document is sent for approval, the status changes from Open to Pending Approval. Microsoft Learn says the document is locked for processing until all approvers have approved. After that the status becomes Released.

This means the order cannot be edited or posted while it is pending. Learn does not say that printing and sending are blocked.

It is worth testing on a test order: send a purchase order for approval, and see which actions are still active on the page. Then you know exactly what your version allows, and can write the rules accordingly.

What the block in the workflow covers

Business Central has two workflow responses that add and remove a block on a record. Learn says that standard supports blocking posting, blocking export as payment and blocking printing as a check. If other actions are to be blocked, a partner has to adapt the code.

Printing or sending a purchase order is therefore not on the list. The idea of disabling printing of purchase orders that are pending approval has about 163 votes on Microsoft's ideas portal.

Note that the block is set up as a workflow response, so it is controlled by your setup. It is not something you have to opt out of on each order.

Practical rules today

Make the rule visible. A small note in the procedure description and a fixed status column in the list of orders make it easier to keep.

Date the rule, and review it when you get new employees.

Only send released orders. Teach the team to sort or filter the list on status Released before they send anything out. You can save filters so it is one click.
Use approval on creation. Learn mentions the creation of purchase orders as an event, so you can start the approval automatically instead of waiting for someone to remember to press the button.
Remove the print permission from those who should not send. Permissions can be changed per user or group, but it is a blunt tool, so test thoroughly.
Write it into the procedure: an order is never sent to the vendor before the approver has replied.

What a print does in the system

Learn says that the number of prints is updated on documents, also when you send them as email, because a PDF is created. The number is updated even if the email is not sent. If archiving is turned on, a new archived version is also created when you print, download and email. This can be used to discover that an order was sent before it was approved.

Use the archived version as a check in the opposite direction: look at orders that have been sent, and check that the approval was completed before then.

How big is the risk

The risk depends on what is sent. If you send purchase orders to vendors, an unapproved order can lead to a delivery and an invoice that you have not approved. If you send order confirmations to customers, you may promise something that has not been settled internally.

If it happens rarely, a procedure and a spot check may be enough. If it happens often, or if the amounts are large, it is worth looking for a technical block. Start by counting how many times it happened in the last quarter, by looking at archived versions and sent emails.

The idea

Print Guard is on our list of possible apps. It is meant to block printing and sending while the approval is pending. It is an idea we are considering, and not something you can download or buy today.