# Discount Approval on Sales Orders > Require manager approval when an order's margin falls below a floor or a line is priced below cost - a clean request, approve or refuse trail. - **What it is:** Require manager approval when an order's margin falls below a floor or a line is priced below cost - a clean request, approve or refuse trail. - **For:** Sales - **Odoo versions:** 16.0, 17.0, 18.0, 19.0, 20.0 - Community and Enterprise - **Runs on:** Odoo.sh or Odoo you host yourself - not Odoo Online, which accepts no third-party apps - **Price:** 89 EUR, one-time, on the Odoo Apps Store - **Technical name:** bambooforge_discount_approval - **Not for:** Said before you buy, because it is the half that decides whether the app fits:; Let a salesperson approve their own discount, through the button or by creating the order approved.; Change prices: it holds confirmation until a Sales Manager approves a discount above the threshold. - **Manual:** https://docs.bambooforge.dev/bambooforge_discount_approval/ - **Live demo:** https://demo20.bambooforge.dev/odoo/action-sale.action_orders - **Store page:** https://apps.odoo.com/apps/modules/20.0/bambooforge_discount_approval - **Manual last updated:** 2026-10-15 --- # Discount Approval on Sales Orders Stop margin erosion from over-discounting. Set the maximum discount your salespeople can give on their own — anything above it must be **approved by a sales manager** before the order can be confirmed. This page is the complete manual. Follow it top to bottom and you can install, set your threshold and run the workflow **without contacting support**. ## Overview - You set a **discount threshold** (a percentage) per company. - When a quotation has a line discount **above** that threshold, it cannot be confirmed until a **Sales Manager** approves it. - Salespeople **request approval**; managers **approve** or **refuse**, with the whole decision logged on the order's chatter. - Lower the discount back under the threshold and the order confirms normally — no approval needed. ## Requirements - Odoo 20.0 with **Sales** (`sale_management`). Installing this app pulls it in automatically. No Enterprise modules and no external Python libraries are required. ## Installation 1. Copy `bambooforge_discount_approval` into your addons path. 2. Update the apps list (Apps > Update Apps List). 3. Search for **Discount Approval** and click *Install*. ## Setting the threshold Go to **Settings > Sales > Pricing > Discount Approval** and set *Needs approval above* to the maximum self-service discount (for example 15%). The threshold is per company. ## The workflow 1. A salesperson builds a quotation. If any line's discount exceeds the threshold, an **Approval Pending** state applies and confirming is blocked. 2. The salesperson clicks **Request Discount Approval** — a to-do activity is raised for the team leader and the order shows *To Approve*. 3. A **Sales Manager** opens the order and clicks **Approve Discount** (or **Refuse Discount**). Both are logged on the chatter. 4. Once approved, the order confirms normally. If refused, it stays blocked until the discount is reduced or re-approved. If the discount is lowered below the threshold at any point, the block clears automatically. ## Frequently asked questions ****Who can approve?**** Any user in the **Sales / Administrator** (Sales Manager) group. Salespeople cannot approve their own discounts. ****Does it look at the order's overall discount or each line?**** It uses the **highest line discount** on the order, so a single deep-discounted line still triggers approval. ****Can I set different thresholds per company?**** Yes — the threshold is stored per company. ****What if a manager builds the quotation?**** A manager can approve and confirm in one go, since they hold the approval right. ****Does it block other ways of confirming?**** Confirmation is blocked wherever it runs, including the portal and back-office, because the check is on the confirm action itself. ## How we make sure it works Before every release, **20 automated checks** run against this app on Odoo 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Among them: - Rep cannot self approve via create. - Rep cannot self refuse via create. - Salesperson cannot self approve margin hold. - Non manager cannot approve directly. - Non manager cannot approve. The complete list is in the source you receive. ## Support Questions or ideas: **support@bambooforge.dev**. ## What it does not do Said before you buy, because it is the half that decides whether the app fits: - Let a salesperson approve their own discount, through the button or by creating the order approved. - Change prices: it holds confirmation until a Sales Manager approves a discount above the threshold. ## Troubleshooting ### Order stuck at "To Approve" with no one to approve it ***Cause*** Requesting approval schedules a to-do activity for the sales team leader (`team_id.user_id`) or, failing that, the salesperson — but only a user in the **Sales / Administrator** group (`sales_team.group_sale_manager`) can actually approve. If the team has no leader, or the leader is not a Sales Manager, the activity lands on someone who cannot press **Approve Discount**. ***Diagnosis*** Open the order: the **Approval Pending** ribbon shows and *Discount Approval* reads *To Approve*. Check the activity assignee against the members of the Sales / Administrator group. ***Resolution*** Have any Sales Manager open the order and click **Approve Discount** (or **Refuse Discount**) — the buttons are visible only to that group. Optionally set the team's *Team Leader* to a Sales Manager so future requests route to the right person. ### "Only a Sales Manager can approve or refuse a discount" ***Cause*** The **Approve Discount** / **Refuse Discount** buttons are visible only to the Sales / Administrator group, and both the action and the underlying `write` are guarded — a salesperson (or an RPC call) attempting to set the state to *approved* or *refused* is rejected with this error. ***Diagnosis*** Confirm the acting user's groups under **Settings > Users**. Salespeople hold *Sales / User* only. ***Resolution*** Grant the approver the *Sales / Administrator* group, or route the approval to an existing Sales Manager. This is by design: it prevents self-approval by a salesperson. ### Confirmation blocked: "needs sales-manager approval" ***Cause*** `action_confirm` refuses to confirm while `approval_required` is set and the order is not yet *approved*. This fires on every confirm path (back office and portal), listing the trigger in the *Approval Reason*. ***Resolution*** Either reduce what triggered it (bring the top line discount back under the threshold, or lift the margin), or click **Request Discount Approval** and have a Sales Manager approve. Reducing the discount below the threshold clears the block automatically. ### Discount is over the limit but no approval is requested ***Cause*** Approval keys off the **highest single line discount** versus the per-company *Discount Approval Threshold*. An order-level discount spread across lines, a threshold set too high, or a threshold of 0 (which approves everything above 0%) can all leave `approval_required` unset. ***Diagnosis*** In developer mode inspect `max_line_discount`, `discount_approval_threshold` and `approval_required` on the order. Verify the threshold under **Settings > Sales > Pricing** for the order's company. ***Resolution*** Set the threshold on the correct company (it is per company) and apply discounts on the lines so `max_line_discount` reflects them. ### Margin floor or below-cost check never triggers ***Cause*** Gross margin is computed from each product's **cost (standard price)** in the company currency. When no line carries a cost, the order is treated as full (100%) margin and gives no signal, so neither the *Minimum Gross Margin* floor nor *Block Below-Cost Lines* can fire. A *Minimum Gross Margin* left at 0 also disables the floor check entirely. ***Diagnosis*** Check `bf_margin_percent` and `bf_below_cost` on the order, and confirm the products have a non-zero *Cost*. Confirm *Minimum Gross Margin* and *Block Below-Cost Lines* are set for the company. ***Resolution*** Maintain product costs, set the margin floor above 0, and enable *Block Below-Cost Lines* if below-cost deals should require approval. ### Approval clears itself after the order is edited ***Cause*** Changing the order lines revisits the decision: if the edit removes the trigger, the state falls back to *No Approval Needed*; if an already-approved order still needs approval, it drops back to *To Approve* so it is reviewed again. ***Resolution*** This is intended — margin and discount are re-evaluated on every line change. Re-request and re-approve after material edits. ## Upgrading & version compatibility This build targets **Odoo 20.0**. Each Odoo major series (16.0, 17.0, 18.0, 19.0, 20.0) has its own dedicated build of this module — always install the build that matches your Odoo version. Mixing a build with a different Odoo series is not supported. ### Patch upgrades (same series, e.g. 20.0.1.0.0 → later) 1. **Back up** your database and filestore first. 2. Replace the module folder with the newer build. 3. Restart Odoo with the module updated: ``` ./odoo-bin -c your.conf -u bambooforge_discount_approval -d your_db ``` 4. Odoo applies any schema/data changes automatically. Your existing records and configuration are preserved. ### Cross-version migration (moving to a newer Odoo) Upgrading Odoo itself is a database migration handled by Odoo's standard upgrade tooling. When you migrate the database to the next Odoo series, install the matching build of this module for that series. Data created by this module carries over with the database migration. ## Uninstallation You can remove this module at any time from **Apps → (this module) → Uninstall**, or from the command line. Uninstalling is clean and reversible by reinstalling — but note what is and is not deleted. ### What is removed - The fields, views and analysis definitions this module added. - The menus, actions, views and reports this module installed. ### What is preserved - Your standard Odoo data (partners, products, sales, invoices, inventory moves) is **not** deleted — this module only reads and annotates it; the underlying records stay. - Attachments and chatter messages on standard records are kept. As always, take a database backup before uninstalling in production. ## Changelog ### 20.0.1.2.2 - Built for Odoo 20: record rules and access rights rewritten onto Odoo 20's single ir.access model, the screens rebuilt on Owl 3, and every icon moved to the icon set Odoo 20 ships. ### 20.0.1.2.2 - A line another app says is already approved - a trade scheme's free units or scheme discount, from *Field Sales Trade Schemes* - no longer counts towards the order's maximum discount, so the scheme's order can be confirmed without a second approval. A discount raised above what the scheme gives still counts. ### 20.0.1.0.0 Current release for Odoo 20.0. This build includes: - Require manager approval when an order's gross margin falls below a configurable floor or a line is priced below cost. - On top of your existing discount-percentage threshold. Stop margin erosion, with a clean request-approve-refuse workflow and a guard against self-approval. Feature additions and fixes ship as new builds on the Odoo Apps store; this page and the module's `version` reflect the current published release. Always keep the build matched to your Odoo series (see *Upgrading & version compatibility*).