How tiers work
Approval tiers are groups of authorized approvers organized by escalation level. You can create as many tiers as your organization requires. Example structure:| Tier | Label | Typical members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sales Manager | First-line managers, team leads |
| 2 | Deal Desk | Deal desk analysts, pricing specialists |
| 3 | VP of Sales | VP-level leadership |
| 4 | Finance | CFO, finance approvers |
Routing: the “Ball in Court”
Veles uses your org hierarchy to determine who specifically within a tier should review the deal. Responsible party. When a rep requests approval, Veles identifies the closest manager to that rep within the required tier. That manager becomes the primary approver — the person with the “ball in court.” Fallback approvers. Other users assigned to the same tier also have authority to approve the deal. This prevents bottlenecks when the primary approver is unavailable (on PTO, in back-to-back meetings, etc.). Notification settings. For each tier, you can choose to notify all members when an approval is requested, or only the responsible manager. Notifying the full group is useful for high-urgency deals; notifying only the manager keeps noise low for routine approvals.Configuring approval tiers
Navigate to Admin Console > Calculator > Approvals.- Click Add Level to create a new approval tier.
- Name the tier with a clear label (e.g., “Sales Manager”, “Deal Desk”, “VP of Sales”, “Finance”).
- Assign users to the tier. These are the people authorized to approve deals that reach this level.
- Set notification preferences — notify the full group or just the responsible manager.
- Click Save.
Linking tiers to rules
Approval tiers become useful when they’re connected to Rules. When configuring a rule, you specify which approval tier is required to clear a violation. This creates a direct link between the condition (what went wrong) and the escalation path (who needs to sign off). Example workflow:| Rule condition | Required tier |
|---|---|
| Discount between 10% and 20% | Tier 1: Sales Manager |
| Discount over 20% | Tier 2: VP of Sales |
| Non-standard payment terms (Net-60+) | Tier 3: Finance |
| Deal includes unapproved product bundle | Tier 2: Deal Desk |
| TCV exceeds $500k | Tier 3: VP of Sales |
The rep experience
When a rep is building a Pricing Option and triggers a rule that requires approval:- Rule alerts appear on the line item or at the option level, explaining what was triggered and which tier needs to approve.
- The Publish button dynamically changes to Request Approval.
- The rep clicks Request Approval. The request is routed to the appropriate tier(s) based on the rules triggered.
- The rep can see which tiers are required and where the approval currently sits (the “ball in court”).
- Once all required tiers approve, the Publish button becomes available and the quote can be sent to the buyer.
Approval statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | The quote is being edited. No approval has been requested. |
| Pending | An approval request has been sent. Waiting for the required tier(s) to respond. |
| Approved | All required tiers have signed off. The quote can now be published. |
| Rejected | An approver has sent the deal back with comments. The rep needs to revise and re-request. |
Rejection workflow
When an approver rejects a deal, they include comments explaining what needs to change. The quote returns to the rep in Draft status. The rep makes the requested changes and re-submits for approval. The full approval history (requests, rejections, comments, re-submissions) is preserved for audit purposes.Approvals and the publishing workflow
Approvals sit between the Build and Publish steps in the quote lifecycle:Best practices
Start simple. Two or three tiers cover most organizations. You can always add more as your approval needs become more nuanced. Align tiers to decision authority, not job titles. Name tiers by the decision they represent (“Discount > 20%”, “Non-standard terms”) rather than organizational hierarchy. This makes it easier to reassign people when roles change. Use Deal Desk as a tier. If you have a deal desk function, make them a tier. They can serve as the first line of review for complex deal structures before escalating to executive approvers. Audit quarterly. Review who’s in each tier, whether the rules linking to each tier are still appropriate, and whether approvals are causing unnecessary bottlenecks. If a tier is approving 100% of requests, the threshold may be too low.What’s next
Rules & Approvals
Configure the rules that trigger approval requirements.
Quote Overview
See how approvals fit into the full quote lifecycle.
Adding Users
Set up the org hierarchy that drives approval routing.
Web Portal
Share approved quotes with buyers via the branded portal.