Order approval gives operator admins control over which orders are sent before they go out. When enabled for a customer account, non-admin users can build and submit a cart for review, but only an account admin can place the final order with the supplier.
This is useful for accounts with multiple buyers or locations, where a manager or owner wants to review orders before they're confirmed.
User Roles
Admin: Receives notifications when an order is submitted for review. Reviews or edits the cart, then places the order.
User: Builds the cart and submits it for review. Cannot place the order directly when approval is required.
Note: Internal users such as sales reps can still place orders without approval, regardless of this setting.
Enabling Order Approval in PMC
Order approval is enabled per customer from the customer's page in the Management Center.
Go to Customers and open the customer's account.
In the Preferences panel, find the Ordering section.
Toggle on Require admin approval to place order.
Click Save.
Note: This setting must be enabled individually for each customer account that requires it.
How the Approval Flow Works
Submitting an order for review (User)
Once order approval is enabled for an account, users will see a Submit for Review button in their cart instead of Place Order.
The user builds their cart as usual.
The user taps Submit for Review. The order is sent to the account admin for review.
A confirmation message appears. The items remain in the cart until the admin places the order.
User view of the Order Summary when order review is enabled.
The confirmation screen shown to the user after submitting an order for review.
Reviewing and placing the order (Admin)
When a user submits an order, the admin receives two push notifications on their mobile device.
The first confirms that a draft order has been created:
The second notifies the admin that the order has been submitted and is ready for their review:
Tapping the second notification opens the app directly to the cart, where the admin can review the items.
Review the items and make any edits needed.
Tap Place Order to confirm and send the order to the supplier.
Once the order is placed, the admin and the user each receive an order confirmation email from the supplier. If the account has payments enabled, a payment notification email is also sent to the admin.
Notification received by the user after the admin has confirmed and placed the order:
Things to Know
Order approval is configured per customer and does not apply to all accounts by default.
The account admin must have the Admin role on the customer account to receive notifications and place orders.
Carts are shared across the customer account — only one active cart exists at a time, and any employee on the account can add items to it.
For accounts with multiple locations under one admin, a separate set of notifications is sent per location. The admin will need to switch between locations in the app to review and approve each order individually.
Orders pending approval are not visible to the distributor until the admin places them.