Workflow Template

Sales Order Approval Workflow

Captures a sales order, validates pricing with sales operations, checks customer credit with finance, routes high-value or on-hold orders to a finance manager for approval, and releases the order for fulfilment — notifying the rep at each key decision point.

Organisations managing a steady flow of sales orders need a consistent, auditable process for pricing validation, credit checks, and approval of high-value or on-hold accounts, rather than relying on ad hoc emails or spreadsheets. This workflow captures each sales order as a record from a request form, routes it through sales operations for pricing validation and finance for credit checking, and escalates orders that are on credit hold or exceed $50,000 to a finance manager for approval before release. Sales representatives, sales operations staff, finance staff, and finance managers are all involved at defined points, with the rep notified by email at each key decision.

Business Outcomes

Helps reduce delays between order submission and fulfilment release
Supports more consistent pricing validation before orders proceed
Improves visibility into which orders are on credit hold or awaiting manager approval
Reduces reliance on informal follow-up emails by notifying reps automatically at each stage
Makes it easier for finance managers to focus approval attention on high-value or flagged orders

Workflow Steps

Steps

1
Create Sales Order Recordcreate record
Registers the submitted sales order as a record.
2
Set Status to Submittedupdate record
Marks the order status as Submitted.
3
Email Acknowledgement to Repsend email
Sends the rep an acknowledgement email with the order reference number.
4
Sales Ops: Validate Pricingcreate task
Assigns sales operations a task to validate the order pricing and terms.
5
Save Pricing Validation Resultupdate record
Persists the pricing validation result and comments to the order record.
6
Route on Pricing Validation Result
Branches based on whether the pricing was found valid or invalid.
pricing_validation_result: "Valid"→Finance: Check Customer Credit
pricing_validation_result: "Invalid"→Set Status to Returned
Default→End
7
Set Status to Returnedupdate record
Marks the order status as Returned due to invalid pricing.
8
Email Rep: Order Returnedsend email
Notifies the rep that the order was returned with sales operations' comments.
9
Finance: Check Customer Creditcreate task
Assigns finance a task to check the customer's credit standing and available credit.
10
Save Credit Check Resultupdate record
Persists the credit status and available credit to the order record.
11
Determine if Manager Approval Needed
Checks whether the credit is on hold or the order value exceeds $50,000, requiring finance manager approval.
credit_status: "On hold"→Finance Manager: Approve Release
order_value: "50000"→Finance Manager: Approve Release
Default→Set Status to Released
12
Finance Manager: Approve Releaserequest approvalrequires approval
Requests the finance manager's approval to release the order given the credit hold or high order value.
13
Route on Finance Manager Decision
Branches based on whether the finance manager approved or rejected the release.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Released
approval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to Not Released
Default→End
14
Set Status to Not Releasedupdate record
Marks the order status as Not Released following the manager's rejection.
15
Email Rep: Order Not Releasedsend email
Notifies the rep that the order was not released.
16
Set Status to Releasedupdate record
Marks the order status as Released.
17
Create Fulfilment Taskcreate task
Creates a fulfilment task due in 1 day without waiting for its completion.
18
Email Rep: Order Releasedsend email
Notifies the rep that the order has been released.

Fields

Show all 11 fields

FormSales Order Submission

Sales Rep Name*· Text
Sales Rep Email*· Email
Customer Account*· Text
Order Details*· Long text
Order Value ($)*· Number
Pricing and Terms*· Long text

TaskSales Ops: Validate Pricing

Pricing Validation Result*· Choice
Pricing Validation Comments*· Long text

TaskFinance: Check Customer Credit

Credit Status*· Choice
Available Credit ($)*· Number

Other fields

Order Status· Choice

Sales Rep Name*
Sales Rep Email*
Customer Account*
Order Details*
Order Value ($)*
Pricing and Terms*

Forms

Sales Order Submission

6 fields

Data Views

Sales Orders

customer_account, order_value, credit_status, order_status

Dashboard Widgets

Orders by Order Status

Recommended integrations

Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.

Send email in the workflow
AWS SES

sales order approvalorder approvalcustomer ordercredit holdsales operations

Similar Workflows

Credit Limit Approval Workflow Deal Desk Approval Workflow Order Fulfillment Workflow

Similar Categories

Sales & CRM Finance & Procurement Supply Chain & Logistics

FAQs

What does this workflow record about each sales order?

Each sales order becomes a record with a reference number, a status such as Submitted, Returned, Not Released, or Released, and a timeline showing what happened at each step. The pricing validation result and comments from sales operations, and the credit status and available credit from finance, are all saved to the record. Fulfilment notes entered on the fulfilment task are kept with that task and shown in the record's task list.

Who is involved in reviewing and approving a sales order?

Sales operations staff are assigned a task to validate order pricing and terms, and finance staff are assigned a task to check the customer's credit standing. If the credit is on hold or the order value exceeds $50,000, a finance manager is asked to approve or reject release of the order. The sales rep who submitted the order is notified by email at each key decision point, from acknowledgement through to final release or rejection.

What happens if sales operations finds the pricing invalid?

If the pricing validation result is Invalid, the order status is set to Returned and the rep is emailed with sales operations' comments explaining the issue. If the result is Valid, the order proceeds to the finance credit check. Any other outcome is handled according to the workflow's routing logic without moving the order forward to credit checking.

When does an order require finance manager approval?

An order is routed to a finance manager for approval when the credit status is On hold or when the order value exceeds $50,000. Otherwise, the order proceeds directly to being marked Released without that additional approval step. The finance manager's decision is captured and drives whether the order is released or marked Not Released.

What happens after the finance manager makes a decision?

If the finance manager approves release, the order status is set to Released and the rep is emailed accordingly. If the finance manager rejects release, the status is set to Not Released and the rep is notified by email. Both outcomes are reflected in the order record's status and timeline.

Does releasing the order trigger fulfilment automatically?

Once an order is marked Released, a fulfilment task is created with a due date of one day out. The workflow does not wait for this task to be completed, so notes entered on it are kept with that task and shown in the record's task list rather than saved directly to the order record.

How do we change this workflow if our approval thresholds change?

A workspace admin can update the workflow by describing the change in plain English or by editing the relevant steps directly in the workflow editor, for example adjusting the $50,000 order value threshold. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so changes can be reviewed or compared over time.

How does the sales rep stay informed without needing an account?

The sales rep submits the order through a public request form and receives email notifications at each key decision point, including acknowledgement, returned pricing, manager rejection, or final release. They take part in the process entirely through these emails and forms without needing to log in to the workspace.

Can we see how many orders are on hold or awaiting manager approval at any time?

Table views and dashboards show sales order records grouped by status, so orders that are Submitted, Returned, Not Released, or Released can be reviewed at a glance. Workspace activity is also logged, giving visibility into how orders are progressing through pricing validation, credit checks, and approval.

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