Why did my request go to someone else?

When you send something for approval, you choose Who should approve? in the form. Usually it goes to exactly that person. These are the cases where it doesn't.

How to see who has it#

• Open My requests. Each request shows who it was sent to.

• Or open the Activity log: each request has a line like "… asked for approval on … Sent to Marcus Lee".

The reasons#

You left it on "Any admin"#

If you don't pick anyone, the request goes to every owner and admin. Whoever gets to it first decides. That's why someone you didn't expect may have approved it.

An approval rule sent it to a set person#

On the Small plan and up, admins can set Approval rules by amount in Settings › Approval rules. When a bill, transaction or payment is at or above a rule's starting amount, the rule's approver gets it instead of the person you picked. The form warns you: "Your workspace's approval rules may send big amounts to a set person."

For a payment toward a bill, the rule looks at everything still owed on the bill, not just the part you're paying now.

It needs two approvals (or a chain)#

A rule can ask for 2 approvals (Team plan and up) or a chain of approvers in order (Business plan). After the first person approves, it moves to the next one. That person gets "Second approval needed". The same person can't give both approvals.

Your department has a manager#

On the Business plan, if you're in a department with a manager and you leave the approver on Any admin, the request goes to your department's manager.

The approver is away#

If the person you picked set a stand-in while they're away, the stand-in gets your request too. Whoever gets to it first decides, and the log shows who stood in.

The approver is no longer an admin#

If the person you picked has left, been turned off or isn't an admin any more, the request goes to all owners and admins instead. The same goes for a department manager: when the manager stops being an admin, the department is set to No manager (any admin approves) until an admin picks a new one.

Someone took it over#

The owner can take over any waiting request. Other admins can take one over after it has waited 3 days, or straight away if it wasn't sent to anyone in particular. The Take over button only shows when taking over is allowed. An admin can also move a request to another admin with Move to….

You can't approve your own#

Nobody approves their own request. If you're an admin and tick Needs approval on your own entry, it goes to another admin.

Want it to go to someone else?#

If it's still waiting, you can Withdraw it from My requests and send it again with another approver. Admins can use Move to… to pass it on. To change who approves big amounts in future, an admin can edit the rules. See Approval rules.