Delegation of Authority in Deep Space

1The 60-second brief

DoA lives at Admin › Finance › Delegation of Authority. The page has four tabs: Approval Workflows, Approval Thresholds, Approval Requests and Delegations. The Highest Authority card and the approval settings sit above the workflow list.

The Show Sample Data switch at the top right loads a worked example set so you can explore a populated setup without touching your own configuration. Switch back to Show Real Data before you make changes.

2What DoA covers

The Entity type selector lists every record type DoA can govern. Each type has its own workflow, so a PO can route one way and a subcontract variation another.

3Roles, thresholds, workflows and Highest Authority

Roles

DoA always points at roles. Workspace roles come from Admin › Security (Project Manager, Commercial Director, CFO and so on). Project team roles come from each project's Team (the project's Project Manager, Contract Administrator, Site Manager and so on). Change who holds a role and the approvals follow automatically.

Approval Thresholds (the DoA matrix)

Each row gives one role a dollar limit: Role, Threshold Amount, Currency (AUD, NZD or USD) and an optional Description. Tick Project-level roles only in Add Threshold to give a project team role (for example the project's Site Manager) its own limit.

• Rows are versioned. To change a role's limit, add a new threshold for that role and the previous row is superseded automatically.
• Click any row to see its change history. Tick Show inactive (superseded / deleted) to see retired rows.

Approval Workflows and their steps

A workflow is an ordered list of steps for one entity type. Steps run top to bottom. For each step you choose:

The Threshold simulator on the right of the editor lets you type a test amount and see which steps would activate and who each DoA-driven step would go to. It previews routing only; it does not show auto-approve.

Highest Authority

The Highest Authority card names one or more roles. Any one of them can approve an amount above every threshold, and they can override a step that is stuck because its approver is unavailable (a comment is required). It also catches any step whose role currently has nobody in it. Highest Authority is always company-wide. Use Edit history on the card to see who changed it in the last 30 days.

Set it up early. While it shows Not set, amounts above all thresholds fall back to the largest threshold and then a workspace admin, and nobody can override a stuck step.

4Company default and project overrides

DoA workflows and thresholds are company-wide by default. The workflow editor says so under the entity type: "One workflow per type — applies workspace-wide, across every project". Most companies never need anything else.

When one project genuinely needs different rules (a joint venture, a client with its own limits), give that project an override:

1. Deep SpaceSelect the project
   Pick the project in the project selector at the top of the page.
2. Deep SpaceCreate the override
   For a workflow, use the Set a project override for this project only action on the workflow's row. For thresholds, click Project Override on the Approval Thresholds tab.
3. Deep SpaceConfirm
   The Set a project override? dialog explains that Deep Space creates a project-specific copy, starting from the current company configuration. Click Create Project Override, then edit the copy.

A project override shows a Project Override badge on the workflow row, or the banner "Project override active for project" on the Approval Thresholds tab. To go back, use Revert to workspace default and confirm with Revert.

5Setting up DoA for your company

Work in this order. Each step depends on the one before it.

1. Admin › SecurityCreate the approval roles
   Make sure the roles your business approves with exist and have people in them (Project Manager, Commercial Director, CFO…). Check the project Team roles you plan to use are filled on each project.
2. Approval ThresholdsBuild the threshold matrix
   Add Threshold once per role that holds spending authority, with its limit and currency.
3. Highest Authority cardSet the backstop
   Click Edit and pick the role or roles that can approve anything and rescue a stuck step.
4. Approval WorkflowsCreate one workflow per entity type
   Add Workflow, name it, pick the Entity Type (it cannot be changed later), add the steps, check them in the Threshold simulator, then save. Repeat for each record type you want to control.
5. Approval settingsDecide on the two settings
   Skip approval when unconfigured (section 6) and Auto-approve within submitter's authority (section 7). Both are off until you turn them on.
6. Project selectorAdd project overrides only where needed
   See section 4. Every other project keeps the company default.

6When no workflow is set up

A submission never fails because a workflow is missing. Deep Space uses the first of these that exists:

The last two are a safety net: a one-step approval sent to the project's Project Manager (from the project Team) or, if there is none, to the roles with Admin access.

Skip approval when unconfigured

Some companies don't want approvals for record types they never set up. Turn on Skip approval when unconfigured and those record types are approved immediately instead of going to the Project Manager or workspace admins. No notification is sent, and the approval route shows Skipped · no workflow configured. A workflow you have actually set up is never skipped. The setting is off by default and applies to all projects.

7Auto-approve within the submitter's authority

When the person raising a record already holds the authority to commit that amount, asking someone else to approve it adds delay without adding control. With Auto-approve within submitter's authority turned on, the approval steps that the submitter's own DoA limit covers are approved automatically the moment they submit. Each one is recorded in the audit trail under the submitter's name.

Which records it applies to

PO, PO Invoice, Subcontract Agreement, HC Variation (Client), Subcontract Variation, HC Progress Claim, Head Contract (Client), Subcontract Payment Schedule, Client Payment Schedule and Tender Recommendation.

It never applies to PS Drawdowns, Company General Inductions, HSEQ records (SWMS, Site Induction, Permits to Work, Plant Inductions) or submittals. Those always follow their workflow.

Turning it on

1. Deep SpaceOpen the approval settings
   Admin › Finance › Delegation of Authority → Approval Workflows tab. The settings card sits under the Highest Authority card.
2. Deep SpaceSwitch on Auto-approve within submitter's authority
   The switch saves immediately. An amber note confirms it is on: "Enabled — this relaxes segregation of duties". Only workspace admins with the Delegation of Authority admin permission can change it; anyone else gets "Only a workspace admin may change approval-engine settings."
3. Deep SpaceOptionally set a maximum amount
   Type a figure in Maximum auto-approve amount and press Enter or click away. Leave it empty to use each submitter's DoA threshold as the only limit.

The submitter's limit

Deep Space works out one limit for the person submitting:

• It looks at every role they hold for that record: their workspace role and any project Team role on that project.
• It takes the highest active threshold among those roles. If the project has its own threshold override, the project's thresholds are used.
• Holders of a Highest Authority role have no upper limit.
• If none of their roles has a threshold, they have no authority and nothing is auto-approved.

The maximum amount exists because a DoA ladder is usually set for approving other people's records. You can keep a Project Manager's $50,000 limit for approving others while letting them clear only their own records up to, say, $5,000. The maximum never changes who a record is routed to; it only decides whether auto-approve fires.

The setting applies to records submitted after you turn it on. Records already waiting for approval are not affected.

8How auto-approve decides each step

Deep Space walks the workflow's steps in order when the record is submitted:

• A step already skipped by its Min amount stays skipped and the walk moves past it.
• A DoA-driven step is approved automatically when the limit covers the amount.
• A Fixed role step is approved automatically when the submitter holds one of that step's roles and the limit covers the amount.
• A Fixed role step with Require all approvers ticked is never approved automatically.
• The walk stops at the first step it cannot approve. That step opens normally and its approvers are notified. Auto-approve never jumps over a step.

If every step is approved, the record is approved as soon as it is submitted and nobody is sent an approval notification. If only the first steps are approved, the rest of the workflow runs as usual. The submitter is never asked to approve their own record.

Worked example

Workflow for POs: 1 · PM Review (Fixed role: Project Manager), 2 · Commercial Review (Fixed role: Commercial Director, Min amount $10,000), 3 · Executive sign-off (DoA-driven). Thresholds: Project Manager $25,000, Commercial Director $100,000, CFO $1,000,000. Auto-approve on, no maximum unless stated.

What you see on an auto-approved record

An auto-approved record can be reverted exactly like any other approved record (section 13).

When auto-approve never applies

• The record has no amount.
• The record was raised by Deep Space itself rather than a person.
• The submitter has no threshold for any role they hold, or their user account is inactive.
• The record type is not on the list in section 7.

9Approving records day to day

When someone submits a record for approval, Deep Space picks the workflow, skips steps below their Min amount, routes DoA-driven steps by amount and notifies the approvers of the first open step by email and in-app notification.

The email names the record and shows its key details: a tender recommendation names its trade package, an invoice shows the Description entered on the invoice, and a subcontract shows its name and project.

A record starts one approval at a time. If a purchase order, subcontract, invoice or tender recommendation is submitted twice at once (a double click, or trying again while a slow submission is still going through), the second attempt is refused with "… is already being submitted for approval. Refresh in a moment to see it."

My Approvals

Open My Approvals from the clipboard icon in the top bar. It has four tabs:

• Returned to me: records you submitted that were rejected and are waiting for you to fix them (see section 10). My Approvals opens on this tab when it has something in it.
• Pending my action: records waiting on you.
• Requested by me: everything you submitted, including closed ones. A rejection you have since resubmitted is marked Resubmitted.
• Finished: approvals you took part in that have closed.

Click a row to open its panel with the details, the approval steps and the history. View approval route opens the full route, where approvers Approve, Reject or Delegate, with an optional comment.

Approval Requests (admins)

The Approval Requests tab on the DoA page has two views: My Pending, and All Requests across the workspace (admins only), each with type and status filters. Create Approval raises a request by hand.

10When an approval is rejected

When an approver rejects a record, its approval closes and the record goes back to a state where it can be fixed, usually Draft. The person who submitted it gets an email and an in-app notification with the approver's reason, and the record appears on their Returned to me tab in My Approvals until it is dealt with.

Returned to me

The Returned to me tab lists every record you submitted that was rejected and is still waiting for you. Each row shows the record, who rejected it and at which step, their reason, and how many days are left before it clears. When the tab has items, My Approvals opens on it, and the number on the My Approvals icon in the top bar includes them.

Click a row to open its panel. It leads with a red box: who rejected it and when, their reason, and the date it clears ("Returned to you. Clears automatically on 27 Nov 2026 if it isn't resubmitted."). The approval steps and the history are underneath.

Fixing and resubmitting

1. Deep SpaceOpen the record
   On the Returned to me tab click Edit & resubmit. The record opens in its own register, in a new tab. Most records repeat the reason at the top, in a red Rejected box or next to a Rejected tag.
2. Deep SpaceMake the changes
   Edit the record the way you normally would. It is back in its editable state (see the table below), so the usual Edit and Save actions are available.
3. Deep SpaceSubmit it again
   Use the record's normal submit button, for example Submit for Internal Approval, Send for Authorisation or Resubmit for approval. A new approval starts, the item leaves Returned to me, and the old one is marked Resubmitted on your Requested by me tab.

Who can fix it. A rejected record can be fixed and resubmitted by anyone who can normally edit it. Purchase orders are stricter: only the person who requested the PO or a workspace manager can edit a rejected PO. A workspace manager can fix and resubmit any rejected record. The item itself only appears in the Returned to me tab of the person who submitted it.

Where each record goes after a rejection

Records submitted from DS Site or raised by Deep Space itself (company general inductions, SWMS, site and plant inductions and permits) don't appear in Returned to me. They follow their own rejection process.

Tender recommendations

A rejected recommendation goes back to draft on the package's Recommendation tab. The red box at the top shows who rejected it, when and why. The recommended bidder, award value, notes and shortlisted comparison are all kept, so you can revise only what was questioned and click Resubmit for approval. The audit trail records the rejection.

Until a revised recommendation is approved, nothing on the package can be awarded and no subcontract can be created from it. The Award buttons on Compare Bids are locked and a banner explains why.

PO invoices

When the approval of an invoice sent for authorisation is rejected, the invoice goes back to Review Completed. A red box at the top of the invoice reads "Approval rejected by name · Reason: …", and the Invoice Register shows a Rejected tag next to the status. Correct the invoice (for example its coding or matched PO) and click Send for Authorisation again; that starts a new approval.

• While an invoice's approval has not been approved, payment can't be authorised by hand. It is authorised automatically when the final approver approves.
• The Reject button on the invoice itself is different: it rejects the invoice outright, and that is final. If the invoice was out for authorisation, its approval is cancelled at the same time, so it leaves the approvers' My Approvals.

Subcontract variations

Subcontract variations you create by hand start in Draft, so you can prepare one and have it signed off before it counts. (Variations created from a subcontractor's claim don't.) Submit for Internal Approval sends it for approval; it stays in Draft while the approval is in review and moves to Pending Approval automatically once it is approved. If it is rejected it stays in Draft: the variation panel leads with a red box showing who rejected it, when and why, with Resubmit for approval, and the register shows a Rejected tag next to its status. Edit it from the register's Edit action and submit it again.

A variation in Pending Approval can be taken back with Revert to Draft. That removes its pending scope items from the subcontract so it can be edited, and it can't be done while a claim or payment schedule includes those items. It also revokes the variation's internal approval, so the edited variation needs a new internal approval before it can be submitted again (see section 13).

Dismissing a returned item

If a rejected record is no longer needed, for example because the work was re-tendered, open it from Returned to me and click Dismiss…. Give a Reason and click Dismiss. The item leaves your list without being resubmitted. The approval stays rejected and the record is left as it is. The person who submitted the record or a workspace manager can dismiss it.

After 30 days

Each returned item has 30 days, counted from the rejection. On day 23 the submitter gets a reminder email and notification. On day 30 the item clears from Returned to me automatically. Clearing doesn't change the record: it stays in its rejected state and can still be fixed and submitted later from its own register.

11When an approver is away

Out-of-office rules

Before you go on leave, open Delegation of Authority › Delegations → My out-of-office rules → Add Rule. Choose who to Delegate to, a Start date and an End date, and optionally a Reason. While the rule is active, approvals waiting on you can be actioned by your delegate, and the decision is marked via delegation, showing who they acted for. Your delegate sees a banner on those approvals: "You're acting for you while they're away."

Hand one step to someone else

An approver on the current step can click Delegate in the Approval Route, pick a person and give a reason (required), then Confirm Delegate. The Delegation history on the Delegations tab lists what you delegated and what was delegated to you.

Highest Authority override

If a step is stuck and its approver can't act, a Highest Authority holder can open the Approval Route and use Override Approve or Override Reject. A comment is required (for example "approver on leave"), and the decision is marked Override in the route.

12Approving a record you submitted

On Subcontract Payment Schedules, the person who submitted the schedule cannot approve or reject it. The Approval Route tells them: "You submitted this record for approval — someone else must decide it." Someone else holding the step's role has to act. If nobody else is available, a Highest Authority holder can act with a comment, and the banner names them.

Gate and reminder steps

Some steps are a hand-off rather than an approval, such as "CA to send" after the Project Manager has signed. Tick Submitter can act on this step on that step and the submitter can act on it like anyone else in the step. Every other step keeps the block.

With auto-approve on, a payment schedule submitter who is one of a step's approvers and is within their limit is auto-approved on that step; auto-approve takes precedence over the block.

Workspace managers deciding their own submission

A workspace manager is the one exception to the block. When a workspace manager opens the Approval Route on a schedule they submitted themselves, the banner says that segregation of duties normally blocks deciding your own submission, but as a workspace manager they can override it. The buttons read Override Approve and Override Reject, and a comment explaining why is required. The decision is marked Override in the route and recorded in the history. Only the block is lifted: the workspace manager still has to hold one of the step's roles or a Highest Authority role.

13Reverting an approval

An approved record can be taken back when it was approved by mistake or needs correcting. Most records can be reverted by the person who submitted them for approval, a Highest Authority holder or a workspace manager; the exceptions are noted below. The person who submitted it is whoever sent it for approval, even if someone else created the record. Every revert asks for a Reason, revokes the completed approval (or cancels one still in review) and is recorded in the history. Resubmitting starts a brand-new approval. Auto-approved records revert exactly the same way.

Purchase orders and subcontracts: Revert to Draft

Revert to Draft on an approved PO or subcontract revokes its approval and returns it to Draft.

• Every approver, the person who drafted it and the Highest Authority holders are notified, and the revocation is recorded in the history.
• Until it is approved again, it no longer counts toward committed cost in the budget.

Head contracts: Revert to Draft

When a head contract's Agreement tab shows "Internally approved — ready to issue.", the Revert to Draft button beside it withdraws the internal approval so the contract can be edited and submitted for internal approval again. The contract's own status does not change, and nothing already raised under it is touched.

The revert is blocked once the contract has been relied on: progress claims, variations, client payment schedules, invoices, provisional sums, bank guarantees or retention recorded against it, a contract status other than Draft, an executed copy on file, or a signing request still out for e-signature. A workspace manager can force past these (see the last part of this section).

Progress claims and payment schedules

• Head contract progress claim: Revert Internal Approval revokes the internal sign-off and reopens the claim for editing. It is offered while the claim is still in Draft, before it is served on the client.
• Subcontract payment schedule: Revoke Approval revokes the sign-off and moves the schedule to Revise and Resubmit, so its lines can be re-decided and the schedule resubmitted.
• Client payment schedule: Revoke Approval revokes the internal sign-off so the schedule can be corrected and resubmitted.

Tender recommendations: Reset recommendation to draft

On a tender package's Recommendation tab, Reset recommendation to draft takes a recommendation that is pending approval or approved back to draft (a rejected one is already back in draft, see section 10). An approval still in review is cancelled and a completed one is withdrawn. The recommendation unlocks for editing, and if awards wait on an approved recommendation, nothing can be awarded until it is approved again. It is available to the person who submitted the recommendation, a Highest Authority holder or a workspace manager.

If a bid has already been awarded or a subcontract has been created from the package, the reset is blocked. A workspace manager can force it, and the award and the subcontract stay exactly as they are.

Head contract and subcontract variations: Revert Approval

Revert Approval takes an Approved variation back: a head contract variation returns to Submitted and a subcontract variation to Pending Approval. It is available to workspace managers only and needs a Reason. The client is not notified automatically.

The variation comes back out of the contract. Lines it added return to pending and stop counting toward the contract sum, and lines it changed get their previous value and progress back.

• Variations generated by a provisional sum drawdown or created from a subcontractor's claim cannot be reverted.
• If the variation is already on a claim or payment schedule, or already certified, Deep Space warns first and the workspace manager has to confirm.

Head contract and subcontract variations: Revert to Draft

A variation that is Submitted (head contract) or Pending Approval (subcontract) can go back to Draft with Revert to Draft, so it can be edited:

• Its pending lines are removed from the contract.
• If the variation was approved internally, that approval is revoked, and the confirmation says so. The edited variation needs a new internal approval before it can be submitted again, so a changed amount is always approved.
• Once it has been approved internally, only the person who submitted it, a Highest Authority holder or a workspace manager can revert it.
• It is blocked while a claim or payment schedule includes the variation's lines.

To take an Approved variation all the way back, use Revert Approval and then Revert to Draft. The contract ends up exactly as it was before the variation.

PO variations: Revert Approval

A PO variation is approved by setting its status to Approved, and approval writes it straight onto the purchase order: lines it changes get the new quantity and price, and lines it adds are added to the PO. A workspace manager can take an approved variation back off the PO with Revert Approval in the variation's window (PO Register › the PO › Variations & Revisions). A Reason is required.

• Lines the variation changed get back the values they had before it was approved.
• Lines it added are removed from the purchase order.
• The variation returns to Draft, so it can be edited and approved again.
• The supplier is not notified, and a PO already in Xero is not updated.

It is blocked if the PO is cancelled or closed out, if invoices are already recorded against a line the variation added, or if another approved variation also changed the same line (revert that one first). If a line would go back below what has already been invoiced against it, or a line was edited after the approval, Deep Space warns first and the workspace manager has to confirm.

When something blocks a revert: workspace manager override

The revert window lists anything standing in the way (for example the record is already in Xero, claims or invoices have been raised against it, or it is out for e-signature), each with how to fix it. Fix it in another tab and click Re-check; the window stays open. A workspace manager can instead go ahead without fixing them, in two deliberate steps:

1. Deep SpaceChoose to force
   In the red Workspace manager override panel, click Force revert anyway… (the wording follows the action, for example Force reset anyway… on a recommendation).
2. Deep SpaceConfirm with a reason
   Read the list of blockers you are overriding, type a Reason and click Force revert.

The override is recorded against the record with your name, your reason and every blocker you overrode. Forcing never changes the linked records: a document already in Xero, and any claims, invoices or schedules raised under the record, stay as they are and have to be dealt with by hand. The Workspace manager override guide covers everything a workspace manager can undo, including reopening closed tenders and won or lost opportunities.

Deleting or cancelling a record cancels its pending approval, and approvers keep it on their Finished tab. If the record was rejected and is waiting in its submitter's Returned to me, deleting it closes that item too.

14Quick reference

Badges in the approval route

15Common questions