Approvals is where you configure who can approve transactions and at what dollar amounts. Edlio Accounting uses a sequential, role-based approval workflow.
Approval thresholds
Each role has a maximum dollar amount they can approve:
| Role | Approval limit |
| Bookkeeper | $1,000 |
| Principal | $5,000 |
| CFO | $25,000 |
| Superintendent | Unlimited |
Transactions above a role's threshold are routed to the next level.
Sequential workflow
Approvals flow sequentially — they cannot skip levels. For example:
A bookkeeper submits a transaction.
If it exceeds $1,000, it goes to the principal.
If it exceeds $5,000, it goes to the CFO.
If it exceeds $25,000, it goes to the superintendent.
A bookkeeper cannot send a transaction directly to the CFO — it must pass through the principal first.
Auto-escalation
Completed approvals automatically move to the next step every 48 hours. This prevents transactions from sitting idle if an approver is unavailable.
Administrative override
An urgent administrative override is available for time-sensitive situations where an approver is unavailable for an extended period (e.g., the superintendent is out of town for a month). This allows a transaction to be approved outside the normal chain when necessary.
Why it's streamlined
The old approval system was complex — you could designate different people to take on a role, but the system had to search through all other approvals, which took 5–10 minutes per approval. The new system is streamlined and straightforward.
Approval notifications and email routing
When staff members submit purchase orders or vendor records that require sign-off, Edlio Accounting automatically routes email notification alerts with direct action links to designated reviewers:
District Default Recipients: Central office approvers who receive review alerts district-wide when no building-level override is active.
School-Specific Overrides: District administrators can configure up to 5 designated email recipients per campus under Settings > Email > Notification Recipients, ensuring purchase order and vendor approval alerts reach the right building principals and financial secretaries.
48-Hour Auto-Escalation: Pending transactions automatically escalate to the next sequential approval tier every 48 hours to prevent requisitions from stalling during absences.
💡 Best-Practice Adoption Tip: Keep campus approval routing aligned with building administrative turnover by auditing school overrides in Settings > Email > Notification Recipients each semester. For full setup instructions, see Notifications and Alerts.