The source
What comes in
- Requisition or PO draft with total value
- Approval matrix and delegated-authority rules
- Supporting quote and budget information
Purchase approvals agent The request is waiting.
The request is waiting.
Find the missing decision.
LaunchAI assembles the quote and request, identifies the approval route and follows the decision through your existing workflow.
The job in one minute
What the agent takes off your desk.
Purchase approval workflow automation routes a request to the people authorized to approve it and records their decision. LaunchAI can prepare the supporting evidence, monitor status and follow up on missing decisions. The workflow should never interpret silence, a reminder or an unrelated email as approval to spend.
The finish
What comes out
An approval packet, recorded decision and visible waiting reason.
Your rules
Who owns the decision
The buyer and the responsible team keep commercial, qualification and financial authority. The agent does the permitted work and brings exceptions to their owner.
See it run
Watch the agent work through it.
In this conceptual walkthrough, an AI agent reads two material requisitions under policy BUY-03: Rosa Delgado's for job 2241 (phase 23-3100 Ductwork, category M, need 11/10/2026 at Gate 2) and Tom Whitaker's for job 2258 (phase 23-0719 HVAC insulation, need 11/12/2026 at the loading dock), both from Tri-County HVAC Supply. It signs in through single sign-on and keys a PO for job 2241 with job, phase and category on every line (total 1,126.80), then starts a separate PO for job 2258 rather than adding it to the first (total 3,235.80). The budget check shows 7,350.00 remaining on 2241 / 23-3100 / M but only 2,680.00 on 2258 / 23-0719 / M, 555.80 short. The agent saves PO-2241-0087 as Open and PO-2258-0031 On Hold, verifies both by reopening them, and asks project manager pm03, who keeps the hold until change order CO-07 is executed. It writes an evidence log and sends both foremen a status note copied to pm03.
Conceptual walkthrough with sample data. Screens are generic stand-ins modeled on the named system, not its own interface; workflow and screens vary by ERP.
- Construction · Acumatica Construction EditionHow to Turn an Approved Submittal into a Material PO in Acumatica Construction Edition7:42
- Manufacturing · Oracle NetSuiteHow to Create, Approve and Track a Partially Confirmed PO in Oracle NetSuite7:04
- Manufacturing · SAP S/4HANAHow to Handle a Supplier Confirmation with Price and Date Changes in SAP S/4HANA7:16
- Manufacturing · Epicor KineticHow to Turn MRP Purchase Suggestions into an Approved PO in Epicor Kinetic7:18
- Property Management · Yardi VoyagerHow to Create a Property-Coded PO from a Maintenance Work Order in Yardi Voyager7:30
- S06 · short · 1:18Audit trail from source document to ERP record
At the buyer’s desk
The work is spread across several windows.
A manager approved the first quote. The supplier revised the total. The buyer is copied on both threads, but the order now crosses a different spending limit. Another reminder will not tell you who can approve the change.
Approval delays often come from missing context: the quote changed, the request crosses a threshold, or the named approver is absent. Sending more reminders does not solve the underlying issue. The agent needs to identify which rule applies and why a request is waiting.
How the agent does it
Same screens. Your rules. A checked result.
LaunchAI follows the purchasing task through your existing applications. Each step has a source to read, a rule to apply or an outcome to check.
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Determine the route
Use entity, category, amount and cost center to identify the correct approval path.
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Assemble decision evidence
Link the specification, quote, commercial terms and any relevant exception.
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Monitor and remind
Track status and send permitted reminders. Escalate only through the approved delegation rules.
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Record the decision
Capture approver identity and the scope of approval. Recheck authority if price, quantity or terms change afterward.
The detail that changes the job
What gets caught before the next step.
A quote revision increases the order value after the department manager approved the original request.
Move the divider to see how the starting information becomes a checked outcome. The complete fields are in the table below.
| Field | Starting information | Checked outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Approved scope | Original quote total | Revision compared with approved scope |
| Authority | Original manager | Threshold rule reevaluated |
| Next action | Send PO immediately | Route the changed request |
Worked example, not a customer result. Values and documents illustrate what to test.
Exact rules. Context. A person where needed.
The exception has somewhere to go.
The agent needs to recognize the point where the next action depends on missing information or another person’s authority.
- The requester is also the only proposed approver.
- A change to value or terms invalidates the original approval route.
Define the allowed fields and actions in your software. A draft, an external commitment and an approved payment are different steps.
Show the working
Measure the work that actually gets done.
Agree on the baseline and the finish before the pilot. Count review and exception work as well as completed transactions.
Measure 01
Approval waiting time by reason
Measure 02
Requests routed to the correct owner
Measure 03
Orders released outside approved scope
A format your team can use
Write the approval workflow before automating it.
Keep internal request approval separate from permission to release an external order. Use your purchasing policy to complete these fields; the agent should follow the defined route rather than invent an approver.
| Decision point | What to establish | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Complete request | Item, quantity, need date, quote and cost allocation | Return missing information to its owner |
| Approval route | Category, site, spending limit and authorized approver | Present the same evidence to the responsible person |
| Changed request | Revised quantity, total, specification or terms | Check whether the earlier approval still applies |
| Decision record | Accepted/rejected values, approver and timestamp | Keep the decision attached to the buying record |
| Order release | Permitted release action and communication owner | Commit externally only through the authorized step |
The practical questions
What buyers ask.
Can an AI agent approve purchases?
Authority comes from your organization. A useful first workflow prepares and routes decisions while named approvers retain purchasing authority.
Does an email reply count as approval?
Only when your policy accepts that channel and the reply clearly identifies the request and approved scope. Otherwise route it for clarification.
How should we evaluate purchase approval software?
Test your actual spending limits, delegated approvers, incomplete requests and a quote that changes after approval. Check the resulting audit trail and whether the decision stays connected to the requisition and PO. A reminder alone is not an approval.
Your applications. Your purchasing rules.
See the work happen on your screens.
We’ll scope the input, the saved output and the exception that needs your team.