A custom field approval workflow routes an expense for approval based on the custom field values selected on the document. Custom fields are often used to represent things like projects, departments, events, or cost categories. When a person submits an expense, Perk looks at the custom field values used and sends the document to the approvers defined for that custom field.

There are two ways this workflow can behave:

1. Any approver can approve: If more than one approver is assigned to the selected tag value, any one of them can approve the expense to complete the approval step. This is typically used when an approval group shares responsibility and a single decision is enough to move the document forward.
2. All approvers must approve: In cases where multiple people must give explicit approval, the workflow can require that every assigned approver reviews and approves the expense before it moves to the next stage. This is usually used for sensitive spend categories, strict project budgets, or audit-heavy environments.

Approving expenses with a custom field approval workflow

When the expense is submitted, the workflow reads the custom field value selected on the document. Each custom field value has a set of approvers that you have set in the custom field setup. The workflow automatically assigns these approvers to the expense. 

Depending on the setup, either any one of them or all of them must approve before the expense can progress.

This workflow is ideal when approval responsibility depends on the business area, project, or cost bucket linked to the spend. Typical examples include:

• Project-based approval
• Departmental, cost centre or campaign approval
• Additional oversight required for specific spend types
• Cross-functional cost ownership where multiple stakeholders need visibility or sign-off

Note: A custom field approval workflow can be combined with other approval flows, such as line manager or cost object approval, when you require multi-stage governance. The sequence and logic depend on the your internal policies.

Using a custom field workflow

This workflow is available as a template in the workflow designer. Select Tag approval. You can adjust the settings or add additional steps in the flow, as required.