# Numbering, purchase approvals and the change board (/docs/settings/numbering-and-approvals)

Each app has a **Settings** page at `/<app>/cfg`, for example `/purchasing/cfg` or `/engineering/cfg`. It has
two parts: **Documents** (numbering) and, for Purchasing and Engineering, the approvals. The Org admin
(Grace Ooi) normally does this. You need full access to Settings to save. With less, the fields are read only.

## Change a document prefix [#change-a-document-prefix]

<Steps>
<Step>

Open the app's Settings page, for example `/purchasing/cfg`. The **Documents** tab shows one row for each
numbered document with **Document**, **Prefix**, **Next number** and **Last issued**.

</Step>
<Step>

Edit the **Prefix**. Use letters, digits, `-` and `/`, up to 16 characters, starting with a letter or digit.
The **Next number** shows where that prefix will continue. Each prefix counts on its own.

</Step>
<Step>

Choose **Save**. The message reads `{n} prefix updated` or `{n} prefixes updated`.

</Step>
</Steps>

A new prefix applies from the next record. Numbers already issued stay as they are. Each change goes to the
audit trail. A blank prefix means the number is typed by hand and the row shows `Assigned on save`.

Records that the app numbers on save are on the same table after the documents above, for example
**Line clearance** on `/production/cfg` (`LC-2026-`), **Planned downtime** on `/config/cfg` (`PD-2026-`) or
supplier evaluations on `/purchasing/cfg`. Their Add form shows the number as `Assigned on save`, and their
prefix cannot be blank: the message reads `{label}: enter a prefix. The system gives the number when you save.` A
prefix with a year (`LC-2026-`) rolls to the next year by itself, and the counter goes on across years.

<GuideStep
  title="Purchasing settings: document numbering"
  description="One row per numbered document with its prefix, next number and last issued."
  src="/guide/numbering-and-approvals/1.png"
  alt="Purchasing settings on desktop with the Documents and Approvals tabs and the numbering table"
  width={1440}
  height={1000}
  callouts={[
    { x: 20, y: 18, caption: "Documents and Approvals tabs." },
    { x: 45, y: 35, caption: "Prefix field. A red border shows a prefix that is not allowed." },
    { x: 85, y: 35, caption: "Next number and Last issued." },
  ]}
/>

## Set the purchase approval levels [#set-the-purchase-approval-levels]

On **Purchasing** settings, open the **Approvals** tab.

<Steps>
<Step>

Under **Approval flow**, choose the **Signing order** for **Requisition** and **Purchase order**:
**Sequential** (levels sign one after another, lowest threshold first) or **Parallel** (all levels that apply
can sign at the same time).

</Step>
<Step>

In the table, each row is a rule with **Document**, **Purchase type** (**Any type**, **Production**,
**Project**), **From value (RM)**, **Approval level**, **Approvers** and **Rule** (**Any one** or **All**).
Every rule that matches the document, its type and its value applies.

</Step>
<Step>

Choose **+ Add level** for a new rule, **Remove level** on a row, or **Reset to defaults**. The messages read
`Approval level added`, `Approval rules updated` and `Reset to defaults`.

</Step>
</Steps>

How the levels work for the person approving is in
[How purchase approvals work](/docs/purchasing/approval-ladder).

## Approval levels for other documents [#approval-levels-for-other-documents]

Where a document family has a sign-off chain, its Settings page shows **Approval levels**. In Engineering the
families are **Product**, **Production method** and **Work instruction**. The same person cannot sign twice.
Use **Add level** and **Remove level**. A chain has between one and five levels. Changes apply to the next
submission.

Each family has a **Signing order**. Choose **Sequential** (levels sign in order, from the first to the last)
or **Parallel** (all levels can sign at the same time). Sequential is the default, and an organization that
never changes it works as before. With **Parallel**, a person signs any level that is still open and that
they hold, for example the production supervisor and the QA manager approve together after Engineering
submits. The document is released when the last level is signed. The message reads
`{family} · signing order: parallel` or `{family} · signing order: sequential`, and the audit trail records
the change. A change of the levels or of the signing order applies to the documents you submit next. A document
already in review keeps the levels and the signing order it had when it was submitted, so nobody can move a
level under a review that has started. To use the new levels, return the document to draft and submit it
again.
If a review has a level that nobody can sign, for example because the person who held it left, return
the document to draft and submit it again. The signatures already given are dropped.

## Set the change board route [#set-the-change-board-route]

On **Engineering** settings, **Change board route** sets who signs an engineering change note and when each
function is required. Choose **Sequential** (each function signs in the order listed) or **Parallel**.

Each row has a **Function**, an **Approver** and **Required when**: **Always**, **Risk high**, **Regulatory
impact**, **EHS impact**, **Customer approval required**, **Revalidation needed**, or a **Type**
(**Product**, **Process**, **Material**, **Mould / tooling**, **Document**, **Supplier**). Use **Move up**,
**Remove** and **+ Add function**. The route applies to change notes sent to the board from now on. Notes
already in review keep the route they were sent with.

<GuideStep
  title="Engineering settings: change board route"
  description="Functions, approvers and the condition that makes each required."
  src="/guide/numbering-and-approvals/2.png"
  alt="Engineering settings on desktop with the change board route table"
  width={1440}
  height={1000}
  callouts={[
    { x: 25, y: 20, caption: "Sequential or parallel signing order." },
    { x: 50, y: 45, caption: "Function, Approver and Required when for each row." },
    { x: 85, y: 70, caption: "+ Add function." },
  ]}
/>

<Callout type="warning">

Full access to Settings is not signing authority. You cannot add, move or change a level you can sign
yourself, and you cannot leave a chain with only levels you can sign. Another administrator makes the
change. This also covers levels that people you sign for by delegation hold.

</Callout>

## If the system refuses [#if-the-system-refuses]

Every message is in [Settings refusals](/docs/settings/refusals#numbering-and-approvals).

| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| `Letters, digits, - and / only, up to 16 characters.` | Fix the prefix. |
| `You cannot add or change a purchase approval level you can sign yourself (...). Ask another administrator.` | Ask another administrator. |
| `You cannot add or move a level you can sign yourself (...). Ask another administrator.` | Ask another administrator. |
| `Each purchase approval level needs its own id.` | Reload the page and try again. |

<NextSteps>

<NextStep href="/docs/settings/refusals" title="Settings refusals" description="Every message and the fix." />

<NextStep href="/docs/purchasing/approval-ladder" title="How purchase approvals work" description="What the approver sees." />

<NextStep href="/docs/settings/master-data" title="Master data" description="Reference tables." />

</NextSteps>