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Routing approvals by invoice total ​

A common policy: small invoices get approved by one person, mid-size invoices need a manager, large invoices need a VP. This recipe sets up the workflow that routes by total. Teaches range matching, conditional logic at the workflow level, and the approvers_N_M convention.

Teaches: Matching Types (Less Than / More Than), multi-rule workflows, conditionality at workflow level, the approvers_N_M field convention.

The scenario ​

Acme Corp's policy:

  • Invoices under €500 — approved by the assignee directly (no extra approver).
  • €500 to under €10,000 — approved by a department manager.
  • €10,000 to under €50,000 — approved by both a department manager and a director.
  • €50,000 and above — approved by manager, director, and a VP.

The routing should happen automatically at extraction time based on the document's total. This recipe sets it up.

Step 1 — Design the entity ​

Create an entity called Approver Routing with these columns:

  • SubTotalFrom — lower bound of the range (inclusive).
  • SubTotalTo — upper bound of the range (exclusive).
  • approvers_1_1 — first approver of Group 1 (manager).
  • approvers_2_1 — first approver of Group 2 (director).
  • approvers_3_1 — first approver of Group 3 (VP).

The approvers_N_M naming follows Recognito's convention: N is the group number, M is the slot within that group. approvers_1_1 means "Group 1, slot 1." Most groups have one slot; you can add approvers_1_2 if Group 1 needs multiple approvers.

Populate the entity:

SubTotalFromSubTotalToapprovers_1_1approvers_2_1approvers_3_1
0500(empty)(empty)(empty)
50010000manager@acmecorp.com(empty)(empty)
1000050000manager@acmecorp.comdirector@acmecorp.com(empty)
50000999999999manager@acmecorp.comdirector@acmecorp.comvp@acmecorp.com

Four rows, each covering one range. The empty cells in lower-amount rows are deliberate — they tell the engine "no approver in this slot."

Use ranges that cover all valid totals

The lowest row starts at 0 (or a very negative number if you might have credit notes). The highest row uses a large upper bound (999,999,999 is conventional). This avoids gaps where a total wouldn't match any row.

Step 2 — Create the definition ​

Inside the Approver Routing entity, create a definition:

Definition Name:   Approver Routing by Total
Type:              Mapping Definition
Target entity:     Approver Routing

Context columns:
  1. SubTotalFrom     Matching Type: Less Than or Equal
  2. SubTotalTo       Matching Type: More Than or Equal

Mapped columns:
  - approvers_1_1 (metadataFields)     Transform: No Transform
  - approvers_2_1 (metadataFields)     Transform: No Transform
  - approvers_3_1 (metadataFields)     Transform: No Transform

The Matching Types are the trick:

  • SubTotalFrom Less Than or Equal — the entity row's SubTotalFrom is at or below the document's total.
  • SubTotalTo More Than or Equal — the entity row's SubTotalTo is at or above the document's total.

Combined with AND, this finds the row whose range contains the document's total.

For a document with SubTotal=247.15:

  • Row 1 matches: 0 ≤ 247.15 ≤ 500 ✓
  • Row 2 doesn't match: 500 ≤ 247.15 is false.
  • Row 3 doesn't match: 10000 ≤ 247.15 is false.
  • Row 4 doesn't match: 50000 ≤ 247.15 is false.

So row 1's values write — which are all empty. No approvers; assignee approves directly.

For a document with SubTotal=15000:

  • Row 1 doesn't match: 500 ≥ 15000 is false.
  • Row 2 doesn't match: 10000 ≥ 15000 is false.
  • Row 3 matches: 10000 ≤ 15000 ≤ 50000 ✓
  • Row 4 doesn't match: 50000 ≤ 15000 is false.

Row 3's values write — manager and director. The document needs both groups.

Step 3 — Add the definition to the Initial Workflow ​

Edit Initial_Workflow and add a step:

Step N:   Run definition: Approver Routing by Total

Place it after any steps that establish the document's SubTotal value (typically the SubTotal is set by extraction, so this step can be early in the workflow — but always after extraction-fed Main fields are available).

Step 4 — Optional: re-route on total changes ​

If you want approver routing to re-compute when the assignee corrects the SubTotal, create a user-driven workflow:

Workflow Name:   Reroute on Total Change
Trigger:         On field select: mainFields.SubTotal

Steps:
  1. Run definition: Approver Routing by Total

When the assignee de-focuses the SubTotal field after editing it, the workflow fires and re-computes the approver list.

Text-field trigger fires on de-focus

SubTotal is typically a numeric field that behaves as a text field for trigger purposes — fires when the assignee clicks elsewhere or tabs out, not on every keystroke. Document this for your team so they don't expect immediate re-routing as they type.

Step 5 — Test ​

Upload a sample invoice with SubTotal=247.15. After extraction, the document arrives in the queue with:

  • approvers_1_1 = (empty)
  • approvers_2_1 = (empty)
  • approvers_3_1 = (empty)

The assignee can approve directly — no other approver group needed.

Upload another invoice with SubTotal=25000. After extraction:

The document waits for the manager, then the director, then arrives at the assignee for completion. (The exact routing depends on your Approver Groups configuration, but the approvers_N_M values control who can act when.)

Variations ​

Multiple approvers in a group ​

If a group should have more than one approver, add approvers_1_2 (then approvers_1_3, and so on) as columns in the entity and as Mapped columns in the definition, and fill them with the extra approvers' emails.

Be clear on how group approval works before you do this: every approver in a group must approve before the document clears that group. A second slot is a second required sign-off, not an optional backup. If you want sequential, staged sign-off instead, use separate groups (approvers_2_1, approvers_3_1) — groups gate in order.

Routing by department instead of total ​

Replace the Context columns:

  • Context: department Exact (single column).
  • Entity rows: one per department, with that department's approvers.

Same shape, different lookup key.

Routing by department AND total ​

Combine:

  • Context column 1: department Exact.
  • Context column 2: SubTotalFrom Less Than or Equal.
  • Context column 3: SubTotalTo More Than or Equal.

The entity has rows per (department, range) combination. The lookup narrows by both. More entity rows; more granular routing.

What this teaches ​

  • Range matching is composed from Matching Types, not encoded in values. No "BETWEEN" operator; just Less Than or Equal plus More Than or Equal on paired columns.
  • The Initial Workflow is where extraction-time routing lives. Most approver-routing logic runs in Initial_Workflow because it should happen automatically.
  • The approvers_N_M convention is just a field-naming pattern. The system uses these fields to know who can approve; the names are the customer's choice (but approvers_N_M is the standard).
  • Conditionality lives at the workflow level via multiple sequential steps or, in this case, via multiple entity rows. No "IF total > 50000" expression — just rows that cover the cases.

What's next ​