Every business wants control over its sales process. Some sales orders may need a manager's approval. Some orders may go to a senior team member because the amount is too high. Others may need more than one person to approve. Odoo makes this very easy with the Sale Order Approval Route, a feature that helps you manage approvals with clear rules and a smooth workflow.
In this blog, you will learn how the Sale Order Approval Route works in Odoo, why it is useful, and how you can set it up using approval templates, custom domains, user and group approvals, and automated notifications.
Why Do You Need Sale Order Approval Routes?
Sales orders often involve discounts, special pricing, or large amounts. Without proper approval, mistakes can happen. With approval routes:
- You can control who approves what
- Avoid unwanted discounts
- Reduce errors
- Maintain clear accountability
- Keep the entire sales team aligned
Odoo gives you a flexible system to design your own approval flow based on your business needs.
How the Sale Order Approval Route Works
The approval route is based on Approval Templates. These templates hold all the rules, such as:
- Amount limits
- Who needs to approve
- Custom conditions
- Workflow actions
Once a sales order meets the conditions in a template, it automatically goes into "To Approve" status. From there, assigned users or groups can approve or reject.
Let's understand each feature in detail.
1. Approval Templates – The Heart of the Approval System
Odoo lets you create approval templates for different sales order scenarios.
Each template can contain:
- Minimum amount
- Maximum amount
- Approval type
- Assigned users
- Assigned groups
- Custom rules
Example:
- Orders above ₹50,000 need Manager approval
- Orders above ₹1,00,000 need Finance + CEO approval
- Orders with more than a 20% discount need Senior Sales approval
Because templates are configurable, you can create as many as you want. This gives complete freedom to control every type of sales order situation.
2. Custom Domain Configuration – Create Your Own Rules
Sometimes, just amount limits are not enough.
Maybe you want an approval only when:
- The customer belongs to a specific category
- The order contains a particular product
- The margin is below your target profit
- The salesperson is new
- The payment term is "30 Days"
Odoo allows you to add Custom Domains inside the approval template.
These domains act like filters written in simple logic.
Example:
[('payment_term_id.name','=','30 Days')]
This means the approval is required only when the payment term is "30 Days".
With custom domains, you can create exact and innovative approval rules.
3. User-Based Approval – Assign Specific People
Some businesses want specific people to approve sale orders.
With Odoo's User-Based Approval, you can set:
- A single user
- Multiple users
- Approval by any one user
- Approval by all users
Example:
Assign the approval to:
- Sales Manager
- Sales Head
This is useful when approvals depend on personal responsibility.
4. Group-Based Approval – Approval by Team or Department
Sometimes approval is not tied to a person, but to a team.
Odoo supports Group-Based Approvals.
You can assign approval to:
- Sales Manager group
- Finance Manager group
- Admin group
- Director group
If you choose "All users must approve", then every member in that group must approve the order.
This is useful when multiple departments need to check the same order.
5. Automated Workflow – No Manual Checking Needed
The best part of Odoo is automation.
Once the approval templates are configured, Odoo automatically:
- Checks if a sale order meets any approval rule
- Sends it to "To Approve" status
- Creates activities for approvers
- Sends notifications
- Blocks order confirmation until approval is done
This removes manual checking and saves time.
6. Approval or Rejection – Clear Action on Every Order
Assigned users or groups will see two options:
- Approve
- Reject
When the order is approved:
- Status changes to Confirmed
- Related operations like delivery and invoicing can start
When the order is rejected:
- Status becomes Rejected
- Salesperson gets notified
- The order stops moving to the next step
This ensures clarity in the process.
7. Notification and Activity Creation – Keeps Everyone Updated
Odoo automatically sends updates to the right people.
When a sale order needs approval:
- Activities are created for assigned approvers
- Notifications appear in their Odoo Inbox
- They can see all pending approvals from one dashboard
- Reminders can also be created if needed
This ensures there is no delay and no confusion.
8. Flexible Approval Configuration – Create Any Flow You Want
Every business is different.
Odoo understands that.
That's why it allows multiple approval templates with different conditions.
Some examples:
- Template A: Orders above ₹20,000 → Sales Manager
- Template B: Orders above ₹50,000 → Finance Team
- Template C: Orders with discount > 10% → Senior Sales
- Template D: Orders from new customers → Admin Check
Templates are checked one by one.
If a sale order matches a template, it follows that approval route.
This flexibility allows you to create a complete approval system tailored to your company.
Real-Life Example of How It Works
Let's say you have a sale order worth ₹80,000.
Your template rules:
- ₹20,000 – ₹50,000 → Sales Manager Approval
- ₹50,001 – ₹1,00,000 → Sales Manager + Finance Approval
- Discount above 15% → Director Approval
If the sale order has a 10% discount, then:
- Rule 2 is applied
- Order moves to To Approve
- Activities go to Sales Manager + Finance
- After both approve → Order becomes Confirmed
If Finance rejects → Order becomes Rejected
This is how Odoo ensures accuracy and control.
Benefits of Using Approval Route in Odoo
- No more manual checking
- Accurate and transparent workflow
- Approvals based on rules, not guesswork
- Complete control over discounts and pricing
- Faster processing of high-value orders
- Clear communication between teams
- Easy to audit and track
Businesses that use approval routes usually see fewer mistakes and better control over their sales process.
Conclusion
The Odoo Sale Order Approval Route is a powerful Odoo App for companies that want clear and precise control over their sales order process. Devintellecs helps businesses set up approval templates, custom domains, user approvals, group approvals, and automated workflows so every sales order follows the correct path before confirmation.
This feature saves time, reduces errors, improves accuracy, and keeps the sales process clean and simple. You get faster approvals, precise tracking, and smooth communication, making your overall workflow more straightforward to manage and more organized.
