# Use approvals

Find approval requests, review their history, and understand which actions change the underlying document.

Canonical: https://demo.qixcount.com/help/period-close-and-audit/approvals-in-use

Who can do this: Owners and active business users; approvers must meet the workflow and document rules

Where: Approvals

You'll need: Approval workflows turned on in Features; an active business user and a request you submitted or can approve

Use **Approvals** to find requests and see who has acted on them. An owner sees all requests.

## Find and review a request

1. Select **Approvals**.
2. Select **Pending**, **Approved**, or **Rejected**.
3. Choose a **Document Type**, then select **Filter** if needed.
4. Select the document label to open its details.
5. Read **Request Details**, **Workflow**, and **Approval History**.

![Approval requests with status cards and a document type filter](https://demo.qixcount.com/images/help/approvals-list.webp)

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Pending | The request is waiting at an approval step. |
| Approved | The final step is complete. |
| Rejected | An approver rejected the request; the reason appears in its details. |
| Cancelled | The requester or an owner cancelled the request. There is no separate cancelled status card. |

## Understand approval actions

Open a pending request to act on it. If you are eligible, **Take Action** offers **Approve** and **Reject**.

> [!WARNING]
> Final approval can post a bill or outgoing payment to the general ledger, the record of accounting entries. Other request types can activate a vendor, apply pending vendor bank details, or approve a purchase order.

1. Enter optional approval comments, up to 1,000 characters, then select **Approve** to complete the current step or finish approval.
2. To reject instead, enter **Rejection Reason**, up to 1,000 characters, then select **Reject**. The request becomes rejected and retains the reason.

A successful approval or rejection returns you to the approval list. For several requests, select their checkboxes on the list and select **Approve Selected**. Each request still has its eligibility checked.

The requester or an owner can select **Cancel Request** on a pending request and confirm. Cancellation marks the request cancelled; it does not run approval or rejection actions on the underlying document. Review that document’s status before deciding what to do next.

## Troubleshooting

If an action is refused, check the request’s current status and your eligibility. Check its history and the underlying document before retrying after an error.

To change who can approve future requests, see [Set up approval workflows](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/period-close-and-audit/approval-workflows).

## Good to know

Other active business users see their own requests and pending requests they can approve.

## Who can do this and what you need

If the menu is hidden, someone with **Manage business settings, roles & permissions** permission can turn on **Approval workflows** under **Settings**, then **Features**. This controls menu visibility. The workflow itself determines whether a document needs approval.

Normally, a staff approver must match the current workflow step and hold the document's approval permission. Staff cannot approve a request they submitted or a document they created. Owners can approve their own requests. An active delegation lets the delegate approve a step the person they cover could approve, unless that person submitted the request or created the document.