Why Requesters Cannot Change Item Quantities After Approval
Issue
Requesters are unable to change an item’s quantity to zero for items that were not delivered or physically received. Approver/Accounting, however, are able to make this change. Requesters want the ability to do this themselves.
Cause
This behavior is by design. Once a document has gone through the approval process, it becomes locked from further modification by the requester to maintain audit integrity and approval traceability. Only users with permissions at the current approval level (or higher) can modify the document.
Resolution
Unfortunately, requesters cannot modify a document once it has completed the approval process. However, there are available options depending on your workflow setup:
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Using the Receiving Process
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Requesters can receive items that have been delivered and leave the backordered lines unreceived.
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If a line needs to be canceled, the requester can enter a cancel quantity during the receiving process.
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This will remove the corresponding quantity from the Purchase Order (PO).
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If the Receiving Process Is Not Used
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Only the user at the current approval level can modify the document.
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Alternatively, the document can be re-rerouted back to the requester to make necessary changes.
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The document must then go through the approval process again.
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Partial Payments
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If some lines have been received while others have not, Accounts Payable (AP) can create a partial payment for the received items.
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Another invoice can then be applied once the remaining items are received.
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Additional Notes
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This restriction ensures data integrity and prevents unauthorized modifications to approved financial records.
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If you wish to allow requesters more control, consider reviewing your approval workflow configuration or if you have a purchasing department that need to modify purchase orders before or after placing the order with a vendor, then consider added a purchasing level to your workflow routing process.