Putting Guardrails on Quotation Approvals and Accountability
Industry: Computer Application Software & Hardware Reselling Odoo Module: Sales / CRM Odoo Version: Odoo18
The Challenge
Not every quotation carries the same risk. A small order and a six-figure hardware deal shouldn’t go through the same approval path — but in the client’s standard Odoo setup, they did. Any sales associate could generate and send a quotation of any value without a manager ever reviewing it, creating real exposure on pricing and margin for high-value deals.
Compounding this, when deals did fall through — a manager rejecting a quote, or a sales associate cancelling one — the reasoning behind that decision usually lived in a phone call, a hallway conversation, or nowhere at all. There was no institutional memory of why deals were lost, which meant no way to learn from them.
The Solution
We built a threshold-based approval workflow directly into the quotation process. When a sales associate creates a quotation above a value set by the Sales Admin (for example, ₹1,00,000), it’s automatically routed for managerial approval before it can be released to the customer.
The quotation’s state is visible at all times — Waiting for Approval, Approved, or Rejected — and managers get a dedicated dashboard showing every quote awaiting their decision, so nothing sits unnoticed.
We paired this with a built-in accountability layer: if a manager rejects a quote, they’re prompted to enter a reason, which is automatically logged for the sales associate to see. The same happens if a sales associate cancels a quotation — a reason is required and logged. Once a deal is won, the system displays a real-time “WON” banner on the opportunity and a matching “Quote Status: Sale Order” banner on the record, so status is obvious at a glance without digging through notes.
Key Features
- Configurable approval threshold set by the Sales Admin
- Real-time quotation status (Waiting for Approval / Approved / Rejected) visible on every record
- Manager dashboard showing all pending approvals in one place
- Mandatory, logged reasons for both manager rejections and sales associate cancellations
- Automatic status banners across CRM and Sales (“WON,” “Quote Status: Sale Order,” etc.
Business Impact
- Protected margins — high-value deals can no longer leave the building without a manager’s sign-off.
- Faster manager response time — a dedicated approval dashboard means quotes aren’t stuck waiting in someone’s inbox.
- Built-in coaching data — logged rejection and cancellation reasons give the sales team clarity on what’s not working, without any extra reporting effort.
- Instant deal visibility — anyone glancing at a record or opportunity immediately knows its real status, no interpretation needed.
