Trackline
Approving or rejecting what is delivered
Delivered does not mean acceptable. How to review without stalling everything.
A supplier uploads an expired certificate, or the policy of another company in the group, or a screenshot instead of the document. Delivered, yes; valid, no. Approval is what separates the two.
How to reject well
- 1
Say what is wrong, specifically
"It expired in March" or "it is a different company" gets fixed first time. "Not valid" generates three emails.
- 2
Keep the original
It is not deleted: it stays as an attempt, with its date. That is what shows it was asked for in time.
- 3
The request reopens itself
The third party gets a notice with your reason and the same link as always.
| What usually goes wrong | What to write when rejecting |
|---|---|
| Expired certificate | "Expired 12/03; a current one is needed" |
| Wrong legal entity | "This is the parent company; we need the invoicing entity" |
| Illegible photo | "The number is unreadable; a scan is needed" |
| Incomplete document | "Pages 3 and 4 are missing" |
Watch out
Reviewing everything by hand does not scale. Keep manual approval for what genuinely needs it — insurance, qualifications — and let the rest be accepted on delivery.
Worth knowing
If you reject the same document type from many people, the problem is how you ask for it. Change the request title before continuing to reject.
›Does the person who delivered find out?
Yes, with the reason you write.
›Can I approve with reservations?
You can approve and leave a note; the case moves on and the note stays.
›Who can approve?
Whoever holds that permission. It is often better that it is not the person who asked.
A real case
The situation
Four suppliers send the parent company's insurance instead of the invoicing entity's.
What you do
- Rejects them stating exactly that
- Changes the request title to "Insurance for the entity that issues the invoices"
What you get
All four correct it first time and it stops happening with later suppliers.
The situation
Everything that arrives is approved without looking.
What you do
- Checks at least validity and that it is the requested document
What you get
A complete file means something.
The situation
It is rejected without explaining why.
What you do
- States exactly what is missing
What you get
The second attempt arrives right.
The situation
Reviews pile up and hold everything back.
What you do
- Shares reviewing among those who can do it
What you get
The bottleneck stops being one person.
The situation
An expired document is approved unnoticed.
What you do
- Checks the date before approving
What you get
The expiry warning stays true.
The situation
Nobody knows what is awaiting review.
What you do
- Checks the list of deliveries pending review
What you get
Reviewing stops depending on remembering.
This article answers
- review documents a supplier delivers
- reject a document and request another
- approve received documentation
- the delivered document is not valid