# Send a request for approval

Pick a request type, fill what it asks for, add your files, check who will decide, send the request for review, and cancel or resend it when plans change.

A request starts as a draft of a type: a purchase, an expense, a trip, an asset handover. The type decides which fields the request shows, which of them must be filled, and the steps it goes through. A draft has no number yet; it gets one when you send it. The example is a **Purchase Request** for printer toner.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- **Type** offers only the types you may send. Who may send a type is set on the type: [Configure a request type](configure-an-approval-type).
- Have your files at hand, such as a quotation: once the request is sent, its files stay for the record and can no longer be removed or replaced.

## Fill the draft {#fill-the-draft}

1. Open **Approval/My Requests**, click **New** and choose the **Type**. The draft names you as **Requester**; only a supervisor can name someone else.
2. Type a title that says what is needed, here "Approval demo: toner for the second floor".
3. Fill the fields the type shows: **Contact**, **Date**, **Period**, **Place**, **Reference**, **Quantity**, **Amount**, an **Items** tab, **Attachments**, a **Signature** tab, and custom fields of its own. A Purchase Request shows **Contact**, **Amount**, **Attachments** and **Items**.

![A Purchase Request shows Contact, Amount, Attachments and the Items tab.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17752-975aa91d/approvals-start-a-request-purchase_form-en.png)

4. In **Items**, click **Add a line** for each thing you ask for: a **Product**, or a **Description** when the thing is not in your catalog, and a **Quantity**.
5. Click **Add Attachments** to upload your files; the paperclip of the chatter adds files too. On a wide screen, a PDF or an image of the request is shown beside the form.
6. When the type has a **Signature** tab, sign there. The signature saved in **My Preferences** under **Saved Approval Signature** is filled in for you.
7. Explain the need in the **Description** tab. Some types fill it with a short text of their own when the draft is created.

## Check who will decide, then send {#send}

Open the **Approval Path** tab and click **Save manually**: the tab lists each step, its rule and the people it would ask if you sent now. Click **Send for Review**.

![The filled draft, saved; one step, Supervisor Review, decided by the first answer.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17758-f6512b87/approvals-start-a-request-purchase_path-en.png)

If something the type requires is missing, the **Invalid Operation** message names every missing part at once, such as **Please fill in: Items, Amount**. A field marked in red must be filled too.

![Sending a draft that misses required parts names all of them at once.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17756-01b1abac/approvals-start-a-request-missing_parts-en.png)

On a phone, the message fills the screen; **Close** leaves the draft as it was.

Once sent, the request has its number and reads **Under Review**. **Waiting On** names the people who decide now, and **Next Deadline** shows when the first of them is due when a step has a deadline, two days for a Purchase Request.

![Sent; the step must be answered within two days, shown as the Next Deadline.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17762-f47a4f73/approvals-start-a-request-sent_purchase-en.png)

## Cancel or resend {#cancel-or-resend}

Choose **Cancel Request** in the **Actions** menu, give the reason in **Why** and click **Cancel the Requests**. A draft, a request under review and an approved request can be cancelled; the people still deciding lose their activity and the reason stays on the request. Only a supervisor can cancel an approval given on a business record.

![Cancelling asks for the reason, which stays on the request. Discarded here.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17766-c5e7cfff/approvals-start-a-request-cancel_dialog-en.png)

On a phone, the dialog fills the screen. A rejected or cancelled request comes back with **Edit and Resend**: it returns to draft, you change it and send it again for a new round, under the same number; the earlier decisions stay in the **Decisions** tab.

## FAQ {#faq}

### Sending is refused because a step has nobody to ask. {#nobody-to-ask}

The step found nobody who can decide, or fewer people than the acceptances it needs. Only the type can be fixed: ask your approval administrator.

### Can I change a request after sending it? {#change-after-sending}

No. Cancel it with a reason, then use **Edit and Resend**, change it and send it again.

### Can I delete a request? {#delete}

Only a draft that was never sent. A request that was sent once is kept: archive it instead, which is refused while it is under review.

### How do I print a request? {#print}

Choose **Request with Decisions** in the **Actions** menu: the PDF holds the request and every decision of every round.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/approvals/start-a-request
- Updated: 2026-11-01
- Version: Approval 19.0.1.0.0
- Verified: 2026-11-01