Hi,
This is standard behavior in Business Central, once a document is re-opened, the approval entry is reset, so the system requires a new approval. The same applies to Blanket Purchase Orders, both the blanket and the linked PO will trigger approval workflows. Unfortunately, BC does not track “previous approval” as a condition to skip re-approval.
That said, you have a couple of options:
1. Workflow condition filtering
> You can extend the workflow to include conditions (e.g., based on status, amounts, or a custom flag) so that if the document has already been approved once, it can auto-release.
> This usually requires creating a custom field (e.g., “Previously Approved”) that is set after first approval, and then using it in your workflow conditions.
2. Custom development
> Through AL, you can intercept the approval request trigger and check if the document was approved earlier. If yes, you can bypass or auto-approve instead of requiring user approval again.
3. Process suggestion
> For Blanket POs, some organizations avoid putting them through approval workflows and instead only approve the actual POs generated. This reduces duplication.
In short, out-of-the-box BC requires re-approval after re-opening or for linked Blanket POs, but with workflow conditions or light customization, you can achieve what you’re describing.
If you’d like, me and my team can also help design/customize such workflows to reduce re-approval overhead.
Regards,
Rishabh
