---
title: "Item approval"
slug: "item-approval"
description: "Manage item approvals in Life Sciences Supply Chain Management with workflows that support compliance and controlled product transactions."
updated: 2026-06-29T03:48:51Z
published: 2026-06-29T03:48:51Z
canonical: "docs.staedean.com/item-approval"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.staedean.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Item approval

Pharmaceutical companies must ensure that designated users approve items maintained in the ERP system before they can be transacted.

Life Sciences Supply Chain Management allows users to manage the item approval process via workflows. Users can enable the workflow by setting the **Item approval** parameter to **Yes** in the **Released products** tab of the **Product information management parameters** form (**Product information management** > **Setup** > **Product information management parameters**). When this parameter is enabled, newly created items are by default blocked for transactions, that is, the **Stopped** parameters are enabled in the **Purchase order**, **Inventory,** and **Sales order** tabs of its **Default order settings** form. On the other hand, when the **Item approval** parameter is disabled, the system behavior follows Standard Microsoft, and newly created items are available for use with no approval required.

> [!NOTE]
> Note
> 
> If the Standard Microsoft “Engineering Change Management” configuration key is enabled, the **Product lifecycle state** field can also be used to block the item for specific processes in combination with the approval status.

For a more configurable and controlled approval process, it is also possible to enable the **Item approval workflow** parameter in the **Released products** tab of the **Product information management parameters** form (**Product information management** > **Setup** > **Product information management parameters**). When the workflow is enabled, it is possible to configure it in the **Product information management workflows** form (**Product information management** > **Setup** > **Product information management workflows**).

Life Science Solution workflow templates leverage Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management workflow engines and standards. Please refer to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management training material for information on how to configure a workflow instance.

An example of an item approval workflow can consist of the following steps:

- Conditional decisions: if the item is an inventory item, the system runs all workflow steps. If it is a non-inventory item, it goes directly to the last step.
- Parallel tasks to verify the item setup. For example: verify the formula setup, verify the route setup, verify the planning setup.
- Sequential review tasks (check the quality setup, check the cost setup for the product).
- A final review and approval step.

Upon creation, an item is blocked for transactions, that is, the **Stopped** parameters are enabled in the **Purchase order**, **Inventory**, and **Sales order** tabs of its **Default order settings** form.

The **State** of the item is used to indicate the status of the workflow (for example, **Not submitted**, **Pending approval**, etc.). Once an item is submitted to the workflow and all the approval steps have been completed, the item **State** is automatically set to **Completed**.

After the item approval workflow has been completed, an authorized user can perform the final approval step by clicking the **Approve** button from the **Released product details** form, **Product** tab. The **Approved**, **Approved by**, and **Approved date** fields are automatically populated for the item based on the approver’s username and the approval date and time.

Once the item is approved, the system will automatically disable the **Stopped** parameters in the **Purchase order**, **Inventory**, and **Sales order** tabs in the **Default order settings** form, thus allowing the item to be transacted.

It is possible to secure the final step for item approval via electronic signature by enabling the **Signature required** parameter for the **Approve item** requirement in the **Electronic signature requirements** form (**Organization administration** > **Setup** > **Electronic signature** > **Electronic signature requirements**).