100%
email-based purchase order approvals without NetSuite login
3
stage approval routing across AP, Pending, and Escalated Approval
99%
validated approver access with PDF backed notifications
About
Client
Business
Purchase Order Management
At BrightEdge, purchase orders are managed through a multi-level approval process via Oracle NetSuite.
Multi-Stage Approval Workflow
There is a multi-level approval process in place at the client site that entails a number of steps where purchase orders must be approved before processing.
Need for Email- Based Approvals
The approvers would log in to NetSuite, locate the purchase order and select either Approve or Reject from there. An email-based approval process was required by the client.
Our Solutions
We enabled email-based purchase order approvals within the existing NetSuite workflow.
Email-Based Approval Processing
Email responses with specific structures detect purchase orders and perform the correct Approve/Reject workflow process inside NetSuite.
Multi-Stage Workflow Automation
This solution includes AP Approval, Pending Approval, and Escalated Approval levels in the workflow processing.
Approver Validation & Access Control
Sender email addresses are compared to approved NetSuite approvers and ensure that only authorized users can perform any action on each stage.
Rejection Tracking & PDF Notifications
Rejection reasons are recorded in NetSuite, whereas emails with approval information contain the current PDF file of purchase order.
Challenges
The client needed email approvals without compromising workflow accuracy, access control, or rejection data quality.
Secure Approver Validation
Email approvals required a mechanism that would verify the sender such that only authorized approvers approved or rejected the order.
Accurate Workflow Routing
It was essential for each reply to show the right stage, action, transaction, and record, all while keeping the existing escalation logic.
Clean Rejection Data
There was no restriction on what free-form emails included, including signatures and brackets, which required clean rejection reasons in NetSuite.
Results
The solution streamlined purchase order approvals while preserving security, workflow controls, and approval traceability.
Faster Approval Experience
Approvals can be conducted straight via email which eliminates the need for users to log in to NetSuite making the purchase order approval workflows faster.
Preserved Business Controls
The business controls such as the existing approval limits, escalation paths, status and notifications will still apply to each purchase order going through the current NetSuite process.
Improved Approval Security
Validation of the approver stops any other unauthorized email response from triggering individual assignment of approval stages of purchase order approvals.
Tested, Deployed & Traceable
This was validated on the sandbox and implemented on the production environment, with execution logs providing the approval visibility.
